Nine Fair Trade Chocolate Bars

Green and Black's uploaded by Madzia Bryll

When Global Exchange starts advertising its Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit, I know we are entering chocolate season.  From Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to Valentine's Day to Easter chocolate lovers (like me!) have a multitude of excuses to buy and eat chocolate.  Yum.

Unfortunately, as John Robbins points out in his post, Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?, some chocolate companies don't treat their cocoa farmers well and/or use child labor.  That's where buying Fair Trade certified chocolate comes in.

According to Fair Trade USA:

"Even though Americans spend $13 billion a year on cocoa products, many small-scale family cocoa farmers face tremendous instability. They are often forced to sell their harvest to local middlemen who use rigged scales or misrepresent world prices. Recent media reports of child slavery on West African cocoa estates show the stark contrast between the delicious treat we enjoy and the often difficult working conditions of the people who produce it.

Fair Trade certification ensures that cocoa farmers receive a fair price for their harvest, creates direct trade links between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers, and provides access to affordable credit. On Fair Trade farms, slave labor is strictly prohibited and farms are inspected to ensure that Fair Trade standards are being met. "

I can't say I always buy Fair Trade chocolate, but I want to, and part of what stops me is not knowing all of my options.  After doing some searching around, I came up with a pretty good list (Who knew Cadbury Dairy Milk was Fair Trade certified?).

1. Alter Eco
2. Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bar
3. Dagoba Dark Chocolate Conacado Bar
4. Divine
5. Equal Exchange
6. Green and Black's
7. Shaman Organic Chocolates
8. Sweet Earth Chocolates
9. Theo's Chocolates

Let me know if more chocolate bars should be added to the list.

Related posts and articles:

• 13 Decadent and Fair Trade Chocolates on The Daily Green
• A Guide to Fair Trade, Organic Chocolate Companies on Ezine Articles
• Dairy Milk in Canada = Fair Trade on One Tiny Starfish
• Dark Pleasures for Eco-Ethical Chocoholics on Mother Nature Network
• Fair Trade Chocolate for Halloween a Real Treat on Care2  
• New 2010 Fair Trade Trick or Treat Kit on Growing a Green Family
• Where to Get Fair Trade Chocolate in Los Angeles on Green LA Girl

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Blogging for Writers at The Writing for Change Conference & The Writing Salon

Just wanted to let all of you writers who blog, or who want to start blogging, know that I will be teaching two Blogging for Writers classes this fall.  A one-day workshop at the Writing Salon in October, and a shorter session at the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference in November.

Hope to see you at one of them!

The Writing Salon
October 23, 2010
10 AM-4 PM
$95 for members/$110 for non-members
Strawberry Creek Design Center • 2121 Bonar St., Studio D, 2nd floor • Berkeley

San Francisco Writing for Change Conference
November 13-14, 2010
$450 till 11/12.  $495 at the door.
Hilton Financial District • 750 Kearny St. • San Francisco

Speakers include: John Robbins (Diet for a New America), Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior), Jean Shinoda Bolen (Goddesses in Everywoman), and Cami Walker (29 Gifts).  Attendees will have access to agents and editors.

Your Nominations: 13 People with Big Visions for a Better World

Flickr photo credit: Ray of Light . . . Madonna by Micky Zlimen

Wow, everyone!  Thanks for answering my post from last week, Who Should I Interview for the Big Vision Podcast?  I'm loving hearing all of your ideas.

Here's who you've suggested so far:

• Casey Golden, Small Act
• Dr. Jeffrey Bryan, a veterinary oncologist
• Emily Jacobi, Digital Democracy
• Jenny Ramo, New Mexico Appleseed
• Kavita Ramdas, formerly of Global Fund for Women (I interviewed Kavita in April 2008)
• Kenya Masala, Source Consulting Group, (he's the musician behind the Big Vision Podcast's intro and outro music).
• Kimberly Wilson, Tranquil Space Foundation (I interviewed Kimberly in November 2009)
• Lisa Rose Starner, Burdock and Rose
• Megan Webb, Oakland Animal Services
• Organizers of S. Kitchen presents...Sing for Your Supper
• Scott Beale, Atlas Service Corps
• Simon Berry, ColaLife
• Vanessa Stone, Amala Foundation

Who else should be on this list?

UPDATE: Below are more of your nominations.  Keep the names coming!

• Amber Chand, Prosperity Candle
• Brigid Hubberman, Family Reading Partnership
• David Bloom, Permaculture.com 
• Donna Lisenby, Watauga Riverkeeper
• Gemma Sisla, The School of St. Jude 
• Jalila Bouchareb, Amal Oils
• Jane Best, Refugees International Japan
• Jay Baydala, UEnd:Poverty
• Joe Demi, Yellow Leaf Hammocks
• Laura, Secret Agent L blog
• Patrick Kasper and Emily Gunkelman, Positive Motion
• Polly Higgins, author of Eradicating Ecocide 
• Steve Atamian, Global Brigades
• Rinku Sen, Author of The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization.

Who Should I Interview for the Big Vision Podcast?

Hello Have Fun, Do Gooders!

I'd love your suggestions for people to interview for the Big Vision Podcast for the rest of 2010, and as I start thinking about 2011.

• Who do you think has a big vision for a better world?
• Who do you know who is having fun and doing good?
  

Please share your ideas in the comments, along with the person's website, or contact information.

Update: I've posted a round-up of your ideas in the post, Your Nominations: 13 People with Big Visions for a Better World.  The list is longer than 13 people now because the names keep coming in.  Please continue to add your nominations in the comments of either post.  Thanks!

Here's who I've interviewed so far in 2010:

Rebecca Kousky, Founder of Nest
podcast, transcript

Ashley Rowe and Carolynn Webb of Fat Bottom Bakery
podcast, transcript

Melinda Kramer and Amira Diamond of Women's Earth Alliance
podcast, transcript

Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet
podcast, transcript

Tom Aageson, co-founder Global Center for Cultural Entreprenership (and my dad!)
podcast, transcript

Jessica Prentice, co-owner of Three Stone Hearth: A Community Supported Kitchen and author of Full Moon Feast: Food and Hunger for Connection
podcast, transcript

Temra Costa, author of Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat
podcast, transcript






You can listen to all of the shows (going all the way back to 2006!) on iTunes.

Your Free, Fun September/October 2010 Big Vision Worksheet

Hello Have Fun Do Gooders!

Today is the new moon, and a great day to make goals for the rest of your lunar month (Sept. 8-Oct.7)

We've also got the autumn equinox coming up on September 23rd so it's time to dust off your goals for the year and figure out what actions you want to commit to this fall to help you reach your 2010 Big Vision.

You can download a PDF of the newest Big Vision Worksheet (illustrated by my hubs) from Dropbox.

You can view and download past 2010 Big Vision worksheets here.