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| with Alison Anton • WholeGourmet.com | August, 2006 |
Worst of all is the sad truth of abusive child labor and even child slave labor on cocoa farms. According to Global Exchange, a leading international non-profit human rights organization, the International Labor Organization reports that trafficking of children for labor is widespread on the impoverished Ivory Coast of Africa, where 43 percent of the world's chocolate and cocoa is produced. Parents in this destitute part of the world may have no choice but to sell their children to traffickers hoping that they will work and send money home. These young kids are forced to work long hours with very little or no pay under hazardous conditions, such as working with machetes high up in trees and using pesticides and chemicals without protection. These abusive labor issues are largely connected to the insufficient income for cocoa producers. The major chocolate producing companies, namely Hershey's, M&M/Mars and Nestle, have refused to pay a fair trade price for this sought after commodity because we, in the west, are so used to getting our fix of chocolate for cheap. Since we can get it at such a low cost and at an arm's reach, we assume chocolate is a dime a dozen. In all actuality, though, chocolate should be pricey; it is an arduous crop to produce, taking 400 pods of cocoa to yield just one pound of chocolate. The solution to this economic problem is the "Fair Trade" label. Fair trade is an international monitoring and certification system that guarantees a fair price to the producer. The fair trade price gives farmers the sufficient income they need to adequately support their families and field workers. Without fair trade, it's a one way street -- we win, and they lose. Fair Trade Certified chocolate and cocoa products are marked with the "Fair Trade Certified" and "Fair Trade Federation" labels, and can be found mostly at specialty and natural foods markets. No organic chocolate comes out of the Ivory Coast, so you can be pretty sure that any organic chocolate or cocoa product is at least produced on a farm that does not support abusive child labor or slave labor. We can rightfully expect to pay more for these fair trade and organic chocolates, and, from a nutrition perspective, the higher cost backs up the idea that chocolate should be sipped and savored, not hogged and gorged as we do in the west. We can choose to pay the extra amount with heart, knowing that the farmers who produce them (and the people working for them) are getting their fair share. Popular Fair Trade Chocolates: *These companies use 100% fair trade cocoa for all of their chocolate products.
Agave NectarI use agave in my natural desserts because this sweet nectar is about 25 percent sweeter than table sugar, yet it has a significantly lower glycemic level, meaning that it absorbs slower than sugar into the bloodstream. This makes it easier on the body, without a quick rise and fall of energy. Agave is a natural, minimally processed nectar from the agave cactus, in the same family as the blue agave from which tequila is made. It comes lightly cooked and also in raw form, where its extraction process is kept below 120 degrees to ensure that any of its enzymes and delicate nutrients are left in tact. It is a light colored, almost clear syrup that comes in little plastic honey-like bottles that can be found in the baking or sugar section of your local natural foods market. I buy Madhava brand raw agave nectar. To replace white sugar with agave in your favorite recipes, use about 1/4 less agave than the amount of sugar, and decrease any of the liquid ingredients by about 1/4. If the recipe does not call for liquid ingredients, then leave out about 1/8-1/4 of the dry ingredient. |
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As we lick our bowls and bars of sumptuously rich chocolate (which, in our culture, connotes love and romance) most of us have no idea of the heartbreak that lies behind the sweetness of this most relished commodity. In reality, many cocoa farm workers have no idea what chocolate, the finished product, even tastes like.
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Copyright ©2006 - Alison Anton - All rights reserved |