I met a lovely gal by the name of Kristian at a Blogger’s conference in Toronto this fall.  Since I am proud to say that D and I are new World Vision foster parents to one year old Ankita, I have been especially concerned about the global circumstances surrounding the welfare of children. I hate admitting my ignorance, but have only become aware that chocolate harvesting is a huge issue.   Here is the info that I received from Kristian:

Don’t let chocolate hurt children

An estimated two million children are doing 3D jobs – dirty, dangerous and degrading work in the cocoa industry, mainly in West Africa. They get hurt swinging machetes to cut down cacao pods. They get sick from pesticides and work in extreme heat with little pay, poor nutrition and no health care. They’re often separated from their families and can even be abused by employers. It’s happening mainly in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, and many of these children are trafficked from Mali or Burkina Faso.

The bitter truth is approximately 95 percent of chocolate sold globally is still not certified to be free of child labour.

But let’s not put the kibosh on Cupid this Valentine’s Day! Here are a couple ways that Moms and kids can find “ethical options” when shopping for chocolate:

1. World Vision’s new Good Chocolate Guide lists ethically-certified products sold in Canada by larger manufacturers.
2. A cool, new ChocoFinder app helps locate smaller stores that sell ethical chocolate. (The app will launch first in Toronto and will expand city by city across Canada. It will be available for free on the iTunes store beginning February 5.)  

World Vision is currently working on a “Chocolate Report Card” that will grade Canadian manufacturers such as Laura Secord and Purdy’s on their commitment to selling products made from ethically-sourced cocoa.

If you are concerned about this issue, I would add this advice:  shop at an artisan shop like Constance Popp Chocolatier and specifically ask what country of origin the chocolate in your potential selection is from.  If you have ever met Constance, you know that she is passionate about everything concerning chocolate making but especially the individual ingredients that are used in each recipe.  In fact, I think that this is sound advice for everything that we consume and I am fortunate as a writer to have access to many persons responsible for producing the food that I eat.  Constance is so accessible.  Visit her at one of her two shops.  I usually find her at 1853 Portage Ave. Find out more about the sometime mysterious world of chocolate.

So this Valentine’s day, give the true gift of love.  Not just in the chocolate gift that expresses your affection, but in loving and protecting the child harvesters  of your gift.

Kath’s quote: “Carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant; that it is nourishing and easily digested; that it does not cause the same harmful effects to feminine beauty which are blamed on coffee, but is on the contrary a remedy for them.”-Jean-Antheleme Brillat-Savarin

Love-that is all.

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