Fair-Trade Chocolate

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Food Tastes Better When It’s Fair Trade Certified

You know how every now and then, you take a bite of something and it’s so insanely good, your eyes involuntarily roll back into your head? Moments like those are few and far between for most of us, especially because food that divine is often outrageously decadent or made with rare, expensive ingredients. But sometimes what makes that food so delicious – even beyond brilliant flavor combinations and expert preparation – is the knowledge that every single aspect of its production was handled with the utmost care and responsibility.

Call me crazy, but for me, that’s why Fair Trade Certified foods taste even better than food made with the same exact ingredients but produced in a way that screws over the environment, workers and community that created it. Would you treat a bar of Hershey’s chocolate the same way that you’d treat a bar that is not only organic, but sourced directly from well-paid Mayan farmers? Nope. While you might scarf down a cheap candy bar without a thought, this chocolate is special.

For Fair Trade Month, I got to try a few certified food products including a bar of Green & Black’s dark chocolate, some La Yapa quinoa and a tin of Rishi Wild Berry loose tea. All of these products are certified by Fair Trade USA, an organization that ensures that products labeled ‘Fair Trade Certified’ meet strict criteria including fair price, fair labor conditions, direct trade without unnecessary middlemen, democratic dealings between the producers, community development and environmental sustainability.
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Fair Trade, Fair-Trade Chocolate, Food & Drink, Product Reviews

5 Ways to Warm Up & Relax After a Cold Winter Day

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by Stephanie Rogers · 12/09/08

There’s something really satisfying about warming up and unwinding after a cold day out and about – whether you were hitting the ski slopes or just walking from store to store while holiday shopping. We all have our favorite ways to do it: curling up on a blanket in front of a roaring fire, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, taking a hot bath or getting cozy in some soft and warm pajamas. Here are 7 eco-friendly cold-weather comforts to enjoy when the weather outside is frightful (and as a group, they’d make a great gift basket!).

Peppermint shower steamers – These aromatherapy shower steamers are seriously little balls of absolute heaven, especially when you don’t have time to take a bath. You just place one on your shower floor just outside the stream of water and it slowly releases a relaxing minty aroma. Perfect for when you want some quick pampering or when you feel like you’re getting sick. (They also come in lavender, citrus and eucalyptus scents!)

Cozy organic robe – The unisex organic cotton terry hooded robe from EcoBodyWear is the perfect thing to wrap yourself in after getting out of the bath or shower. It’s made from certified organically grown, dye-free cotton and reaches to the mid-calf.

Organic fair trade spicy hot cocoa – On cold days, there’s just nothing more satisfying than a big mug of piping hot cocoa. It’s a must-have. Cocoa is combined with cinnamon and a kick of cayenne in this spicy fair trade offering from Equal Exchange.

Arnica muscle balm – After a long day of winter activities like skiing, snowboarding or ice skating, your muscles are bound to be a bit sore. I love this all natural arnica muscle rub from FaerieMade, which features arnica flowers infused in pure olive oil, unrefined shea butter, cocoa butter and beeswax. Menthol, lavender and peppermint essential oils give it a heavenly smell and add to the pain-relieving effects.

Mulled wine – Make yourself a big punch bowl full of organic mulled wine with your favorite bottle of red wine and some organic spices like cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, vanilla beans and cardamom pods. You can find a pre-packaged mulled wine spice sachet at your local health food store or just get all the ingredients from the bulk section, along with a reusable cotton tea bag. Epicurious has easy instructions.

Fair-Trade Chocolate, Herbal Remedies, organic spa, Wine

Help Fight Chocolate Extinction!

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by Starre Vartan · 07/09/08

First the honeybees (and duh, the honey) and now chocolate is on the decline? Say it ain’t so!!

According to this CNN article on the subject of chocolate extinction, “Yields are declining all across the cocoa plantations of West Africa, where two thirds of the world’s supply is grown, as soils are degraded and the area able to support the crop retreats>”

But wait, there’s a solution!

I only eat fair-trade chocolate made from organic cocoa beans- and you should too! Not only does it taste soooooo much better, it prevents the very situation that’s degrading the land where cocoa beans are grown. The deal is that to make money (and cheap chocolate), farmers in Ghana and other chocolate-growing countries have to take down the rainforest and plant cocoa bean plants in unnatural ways. And what happens when you mess with Mother Nature?

The problem is that cocoa is naturally a rainforest plant that grows in shady conditions surrounded by a high biodiversity, but recently hybrid varieties have been grown on cleared land as mono-cultures and in full sun.
While this will give higher short term yields, the soil quickly becomes degraded and the lifespan of plants can be cut from 75 or 100 years, to 30 or less. When the trees die and the land is exhausted the farmers must move on and clear more rainforest to plant cocoa.

No chocolate (horrors!) AND no rainforest (probably worse-no, I admit, definitely worse).

Three of my favorites are pictured above (and don’t forget, dark chocolate is healthier than milk and because it’s vegan, it has a lower carbon footprint), so stick to organic, fair trade dark chocolates, which support healthy growing conditions for cocoa plants- and for the people that farm them.

TRY: Divine Chocolate (from an awesome worker-owned cooperative, this stuff is AMAZING!)
Green and Black’s (crazy yummy flavors like Ginger)
Trader Joe’s house brand (my fave is with pecans and raisins)

Yes, they are more expensive- chocolate is a treat and should be labor-intensive to grow if done properly. So eat less of it, and enjoy it more! Commercial chocolate tastes like wax flavored with old cocoa beans swept off the floor of a Dickensian factory (probably I’m not far off). Hey, if we don’t save the chocolate, think about what’s left!! CAROB. ‘Nuf said.

Africa, biodiversity, car, carbon, carbon footprint, Events, Fair Trade, Fair-Trade Chocolate, farm, health, labor, Milk, oil, oils, Organic, Plants, rainforest, spa, trees, vegan

Green Your Easter

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by Olivia Zaleski · 03/08/08

Giant. Chocolate. Bunny.

In case you haven’t noticed, the retail world has gone full force “Easter-Spectacular.” With Christmas over, it’s “out with the mince pies, in with the marshmallow hatchlings.” Every supermarket, drug store and big-box retailer is a psychedelic zoo of neon stuffed animals, disposable baskets and giant Styrofoam eggs.

So much of Easter has become commercialized, mass-produced, crapola–a far cry from Easter’s original ode to nature and rebirth. Yet, as most of us recognize the irony, few of us are willing to give up the childhood traditions of bunnies, candy and brightly colored cutesy things.

This Easter, consider a compromise. Trade in the dollar-store trinkets for “greener,” yet equally festive, alternatives. From re-purposed baskets to organic and fair-trade chocolates to natural egg dyes, there’s plenty of colorful flair that won’t harm the planet. Here are some tips:

The Basket:
Instead of wasting money and precious natural resources on Kmart’s taffeta “Lamb Candy Holder Basket”, hit up the local secondhand store or crafts fair for a “real” basket. Feeling particularly ambitious? Then make your own basket. You can learn the “art of basketry” here, or follow this simple pattern for newspaper, magazine cut-outs and wallpaper-swatch baskets. For true eco-ingenuity, or if you’re just really broke, get crafty with colorful tissue boxes, paper bags and your supermarket’s berry containers.

The Grass:
Now that you’ve got such a great basket, don’t ruin it with plastic grass. Just snip some from the top of your lawn. If you prefer foliage that won’t wilt or wither, flip through the pages of a magazine and cut out anything green. Shred it up and you’ve got grass-like filler.

The Eggs:
Most supermarket eggs come from notoriously filthy and inhumane commercial outfits, not old MacDonald’s farm. As the conditions of factory farms come to roost, many conscious consumers are demanding eggs that meet environmentally sound standards. You can demand the same by purchasing USDA organic eggs. For extra eco-brownie points, support your local farm. Find yours at localharvest.org.

The Homemade Eggs:
If you’re super eco-conscious and vegan, then you’re probably skipping the laid eggs altogether. Good for you, but don’t get tempted to the dollar-store’s jumbo plastic selection. Make your own “fake ones” with homemade paper-mache or cornstarch clay.

The Egg Dyes:
Skip the unholy mess of pellets and artificial food dyes. Fruits, vegetables and spices offer a wide range of color possibilities: from bright red to lavender, orange and blue. Just boil eggs (local and organic please) in water and a teaspoon of vinegar. Add ingredients below for desired color. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes. For a darker shade place the brew in the fridge for some overnight saturation.

Pink: beets, cranberries, frozen raspberries.
Red: red onionskins.
Orange: yellow onionskins.
Lavender: grape juice.
Light Yellow: orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin.
Yellow: Ground turmeric, saffron.
Pale Green: spinach leaves.
Blue: canned blueberries, red cabbage leaves.
Beige/Brown: strong brewed coffee.
Eggs dyed with onionskins, from Instructables.com

The Candy:
Peeps, lollipops, pecan nougat, jellybeans, and even Smucker’s Puckers are just a few Easter favorites. Aside from creating hyperactive chaos on Easter morning, Easter candies are grossly over-packaged. Yes, it is nice to get your egg in perfect condition, but does it really need to come swaddled in corrugated body armor? Look for the candies that come in the least amount of packaging. Cadbury Schweppes has the idea and is now offering eggs wrapped only in foil and without a cardboard box, cutting the company’s Easter packaging by 798,073 pounds.

The Chocolate:
As most of us know, chocolate comes from the cocoa bean, a crop harvested in some of the most economically and environmentally disadvantaged parts of the third world. According to reports from the BBC and New York Times, cocoa producing regions are rife with environmental and humanitarian iniquity.

This Easter, why give your children chocolate made from the sweat and sometimes even blood of less fortunate children? Swap the waxy dollar-store chocolate for organic and fair trade alternatives. Fair trade certification ensures chocolate is made under both environmental and humanitarian standards. According to the Fair Trade Organization (FTO), these standards are quite stringent, ensuring the minimum use and safe handling of agrochemicals, conservation of water, controls on gathering from the wild and deforestation, a ban on GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). For a list of delicious organic and fair trade chocolate options click here.

The Bunnies: Live or Stuffed?
According to the House Rabbit Society, a national, nonprofit bunny welfare organization, each spring, unwanted “former Easter rabbits” fill local rescues, humane societies and worse dumpsters. Unless you’re in it for the long haul and know how to take care of one, please, don’t put a live bunny in your Easter basket! Leave little Peter Cottontail be . . . to hop down the old bunny trail . . . hippity hoppity, Easter’s on its way.

Happy Easter! Please leave your greener Easter suggestions in the comments section.

For more posts like this from Olivia Zaleski check out her weekly column on the Huffington Post

Easter Commercialization, Eco-Easter, Fair-Trade Chocolate, Green Living, Green Tips, Green Your Easter, How to Green Your Easter, Natural Dyes, Olivia Zaleski, Organic Chocolate

Cupid's Shooting Some Green Arrows

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by Starre Vartan · 02/12/07

I know you all wait until the last minute just like I do…..so here’s a list to help you out of the V-day crunch and still come up smelling like roses with your beau. Whatever your time schedule and budget, you should be able to do something special, even within the traditional tropes of the holiday.

(And hey, if you are anti-Valentine’s, I don’t want to hear it. I’m so happy that you express your adoration for your lover every single day and don’t need a predetermined time to do it, but we’re not all that fabulous, OK? I like celebrating holidays, especially those that have to do with promoting LOVE. You don’t have to buy some piece of crap or participate in the commercialism if you don’t want to, but you can still enjoy the holiday and not be a cupid-killer.)

Massage
Give a gift certificate to an independent massage therapist (high end)
OR
Pick up some extra-virgin olive oil and mix it with an essential oil like lavender (you can find both at your local health food store), and do the massage yourself. (low end)

Flowers
Order some organic fleurs from Organic Bouquet or Local Harvest, or head over to Wild Oats or Whole Foods, both of which carry organic bouquets. (high end)
OR
Make an artful arrangement of flowers crafted from old magazines, newspapers, or cardboard. Get funky with ribbon, old buttons or yarn and your sweetie will be able to keep your creation forever, unlike flowers. (low end)

If you don’t already know why you shouldn’t buy conventionally grown flowers, check this Coop America article.

Dinner
There’s nothing sexier than a fabulous meal made with care and attention. You’ll never be able to make reservations at this point, so make it yourself! You can go as high or low as you want; supermarkets will still have organic cheese so you can construct a cheese plate (cut the cheese into hearts…awww….) and grab a few bottles of organic wine or even better yet, champagne. Add some fresh fruit, some great music, and who needs to be at a crowded restaurant? Plan some star-gazing or a late-night walk in the cold winter air and keep eachother warm naturally.

Chocolate
There are so many great organic, fair-trade chocolates out there….from vegan truffles to raw treats.

But a really simple, romantic idea is to buy a bar of high cacao dark chocolate at Trader Joe’s (inexpensive and they carry organic/fair trade, but look for the label), or your local health food store, and make your own chocolates with your Valentine’s Day partner. Parents can do this with kids, with eachother, and it’s safe to do with your grandma too! You can make something complicated, with a fruit filling, or just make fun shapes with the melted chocolate. Try adding almond flavor, strong coffee, or fruit liquors to the chocolate when it’s melted and then let it harden. A really fun project that doesn’t cost much and will leave you with plenty of chocolate after Valentine’s Day too.

Speaking of projects, I found this wonderful article on making fun eco-friendly Valentine’s with kids! Being a kid at heart myself, I think these would be fun to do with friends and lovers of any age.