Examining the origins of a favorite indulgence

BY CLAIRE MOSER FOR GREENING OF OIL

Sweet! Literally. Chocoholics like myself always welcome a new reason to indulge, and fair trade chocolate sounds like a great excuse, but what and where is this “fair trade” chocolate bar that I have heard so much about?

Bittersweet. Literally.

As delicious as it might be, most of the world’s chocolate comes from cocoa plantations in West Africa that abuse human rights and the environment. Cocoa bean farmers are some of the poorest people in the world and can make as little as $80 a year, which is far from a living wage. In addition to the suffering of the farmers, the economies of many countries rely heavily on cocoa. In Ghana, cocoa accounts for 40 percent of the total export revenues employing more than 2 million farmers on cocoa plantations and the Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer supplying 43 percent of all cocoa. Additionally, because many of the plantations don’t have any regulation on how they operate their farms they end up creating excess waste and using resources in unsustainable ways.

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The farmers clearly are not paid enough and to make matters worse, there are many children forced to work on these plantations in hazardous and abusive conditions. In 2002, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture released a study saying that some 284,000 children were working on these farms using dangerous tools and applying pesticides without proper protective equipment. Without education and the basic health and safety precautions children continue to work on these farms stuck in a cycle of poverty and physically harmed by unsafe conditions.

U.S. chocolate manufacturers for years have said that they were not responsible for the horrible conditions on the plantations but as the abuse continued and the media got wind as to what was going on, they decided to finally take action. In 2001, the chocolate industry finally got moving and outlined their plans to eliminate child and forced labor.

Fair Trade

Child labor and wages for farmers go hand in hand. Farmers often force their own children to work because they don’t have enough money, so, in theory,  higher-paid farmers are less likely to put their children work. Yet there is another way to correct the economic imbalances—here comes the part where you get to eat—“Fair Trade.” I’m sure you’ve heard of it, and yes it means that farmers get paid a fair price. But with chocolate specifically, farmers get a “floor” price of at least 80 cents a pound for non-organic cocoa and 89 cents for organic cocoa.

The chocolate and cocoa is all marked with a “Fair Trade Certified” label. The process includes international monitoring and certifications that guarantee this minimum price, prohibit any form of child labor and promote environmental sustainability in all of the processes involved in the plantations and making the chocolate. This gives farmers a stable income to support their families AND gives us an excuse to go to the grocery store and pick up a chocolate bar.

But before I tell you what delicious fair-trade chocolate I’ve found and where you can get it, what about organic chocolate? I’ve heard the two confused a couple of times. Organic chocolate is made using cocoa beans which have not undergone any heavy pesticide spraying . Just because it’s organic does not mean that it’s fair trade certified—and the other way around. But ideally, why not eat organic and fair trade chocolate? Sounds deliciously perfect.

Fair Trade chocolate is becoming much more common and more attention is being drawn to organic products, so there’s a wonderful selection out there to chose from! Green and Blacks’ Maya Gold chocolate bar was the first product ever to be awarded the fair trade mark. They only use organically grown cocoa beans and they stand by green practices and the finest ingredients, “It’s where green meets black. Where it’s possible to respect the earth while indulging in the best things it has to offer.”

From personal experience, the sea salt caramel chocolates from Lake Champlain Chocolates are amazing, but I have a bias towards Ithaca Fine Chocolates. The Ithaca “Art Bar” comes with a reproduction of a piece of art inside the wrapper and 10 percent of profits go toward supporting art education.

And of course these wrappers, art cards, and all display boxes used for the art bars are made from recycled paper. What more could you want in a chocolate bar?

I’d like to hear from you, not only about which Fair Trade and organic chocolates surpass the taste test, but also any information you have on which companies are doing more than their fair share to promote Fair Trade or green practices.

About Claire Moser

Originally from Los Angeles, Claire Moser is a junior Urban and Regional Studies major at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY concentrating on environmental issues and natural resources.

Moser does research on environmental policies and land tenure issues with two professors in the City and Regional Planning Department of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She spent last summer as an intern in Washington DC following the American Clean Energy and Security Act attending numerous federal hearings and reading the all 1300 pages of the bill (HR 2454). She is also a part of the Cornell University Program Board and the Cornell Concert Commission bringing great speakers and performers to campus.

Claire is currently spending the spring semester of her junior year located in Trastevere, Rome studying the city and its green living.

Contact Claire Moser at claire.moser@gmail.com