A Greener, Sweeter Valentine's Day

Is Valentine's Day a beautiful celebration of love, commitment and denial?

Dating back hundreds of years, the origins of Valentine's Day--and its patron saint--have long been shrouded in mystery. Though little is known about St. Valentine or Valentinus, one thing is certain: Valentine's Day is not so sweet.

Second only to Christmas, Valentine's Day is one of the most wasteful holidays of modern day America. What's worse, much of Valentine's Day rests on commercialization and the mass marketing of products that are not only bad for the planet, but also small children. Flowers, sexy lingerie, chocolates and cuddly stuffed animals are just a few of the tokens produced by child laborers in third world countries. Would cupid ever want such a thing?

According to the American Greetings Corporation, over 36 million heart-shaped chocolate boxes are sold each year. Where do these chocolates come from? New York Times reporter Sharon LaFreniere says that the majority of the world's chocolate supply is produced on Africa's Ivory Coast, where it is largely harvested by child slaves, some even as young as six.

Also devastating are the environmental effects of cocoa bean farming. The majority of the world's cocoa farms use large amounts of pesticides to ensure a better yield. These pesticides can cause great environmental damage from soil erosion to local ground water contamination.

This Valentine's Day, send a message by opting for organic and/or fair trade certified chocolates. Organic chocolate products typically come from environmentally conscious companies that harvest in a sustainable manner. While fair trade certification ensures your chocolate is made under environmental and humanitarian standards. According to the Fair Trade Organization (FTO), the 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) crops and good soil management practices.

Organic and Fair Trade chocolates are available at most major drug stores and supermarkets. My favorites include:

Organic:

- Larabar Jocolat

Available at 7-Eleven (believe it or not) as well as high-end natural grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats.

- Dagoba Chocolates

Available at most major natural stores such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Co-op Grocery Stores, as well as major regional retailers Giant Eagle, Stop n' Shop and Fred Meyer.

Fair Trade:

- Green & Black's

Available at Target, major drug stores Duane Reade and CVS as well all natural food stores including Whole Foods and Wild Oats. For a store near you visit the website's zip code store locator. (Note: Green & Black's is owned by Cadbury Schweppes, but adheres to fair-trade standards.)

- sweetriot

Available at Whole Foods, Wild Oats and other high end natural grocery stores. All-natural, antioxidant-rich, dairy-free, kosher, gluten-free cacao and coated in chocolate.

- Divine Chocolate

Find a divine chocolate retailer near you on Divine Chocolate's website map.

Click here for more Huffington Post Valentine's Day coverage.

Comments

[peonyharp]

Green living hones the old saw, "it really is the thought that counts" when giving. Thanks, Olivia, as always.

How's this for a proactive gift, especially for chocolate lovers: adopt a chocolate tree in the Ecuadorian Rainforest -- http://www.yachanagourmet.com/adopt_tree.htm

I've no stake in this, only a love of chocolate and for planet Earth.

[enilorac]

Wow! I had no idea that Cupid gets cute and chubby on chocolates made by child slave labor and with methods that are deleterious to Mother Earth. Yet, so great this blogger doesn't take all the fun away and that she gives us real and affordable choices for buying chocolates in our favorite stores. She always give us solutions, so we can go on having some fun, while being sensible and considerate, so we can conserve our environment and good values. I am grateful Olivia to be reading your well researched posts. In regard to what we eat, it's all about avoiding the Evil Doing Industrial Food complex and making the right choices within the Good Doing Food complex. By the way, if you look at Hilary Clinton's plan for the environment, it offers sustainability as a spur to economic development,here at home and abroad and with excellent economic analysis as part of her plan. Her grasp of the policy issues and incentives for Big and Small Business to go green are by far the most intelligent and well thought out of any of the candidates!!! She has outlined how going Green will be good for the economy. And isn't it all about the economy, stupid. Great that this latest blog from Olivia suggests Valentine gift givers go to standard shopping venues, which cater to people of moderate means.

[lamarguerite]

Olivia, thanks for this sweet reminder. I now dread all the so called Holidays. Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day are manifestations of unbridled consumerism to the nth power. As a born again greenie, it hurts to see such waste, knowing that CO2 gets spewed out in the air with each one of these meaningless presents.

We need to relearn different, more meaningful and personal ways to express our love. For Valentine's Day, I advocate giving loved ones the gift of shared experiences. A weekend getaway, a massage, a nice home cooked meal, a framed picture . . .

Happy to be 'progressive' :)
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com
'It's All About Green Psychology'

[curiousasheck]

A Valentine for my Honey

My love, each summer, a little less fun, a little less Nascar, a little less profit all over “playground America.” Each winter, the thermostats are reading a degree or two lower. Each Christmas, the presents are smaller and less plentiful. Each Valentines day, the box of chocolates and sweets will get smaller and smaller and cheaper. Till just a thought will do?

I LoVe YoU HoNeY

[enilorac]

Wow! I had no idea cupid was fattened up with child labor made chocolates and from un-eco friendly processing. Great that in this post, Olivia actually says where the right kind of chocolate can be bought.
Love her articles, as she is never a complete spoiler, bruiser of all we are used to and might hold dear and are used to. It's all about making ethical choices and sometimes going back to the old ways of doing things ie. forget about those nasty plastic bags, bottled water and lights on when we don't need them sort of approaches. There are always solutions and ways around being part of the Evil to Earth Doers Empire, in Olivia's blog.

[tnewman]

Don't forget that organic certification doesn't have labor standards, so buying organic means nothing in terms of stopping child labor and forced labor. I recommend that people buy fair trade certified chocolate as it is the best certification program currently in place that supports farmers.

Also, I recommend checking out Equal Exchange, Theo Chocolate and Ithaca Fine Chocolates.

[Atticus]

You're the type of bleeding heart liberal who gives a bad name to progressives.

[jvarga]

You're totally right atticus. Nothing represents progressives like slash-n-burn farming of rain forests utilizing child labor and destroying the earth with pesticides. Seriously, what part of her message is offensive to a true progressive? Are you in favor of destroying rain forests, heavy pesticide use or child labor?

Nice post as always Olivia.

[OliviaZ]

Atticus,
can you be more specific as to why you think this?

Olivia

[Usedtobequiet]

Thanks for the reminder. My personal favorite is:
Endangered Species Chocolate...100% ethically traded, 10% of net profits donated to help support species, habitat and humanity, plus it is really rich and tasty.

Cheers!

[tnewman]

FYI: Endangered Species is not fair trade certified, so like many products, consumers are expected to trust them when they say they are "ethical." By pulling out of fair trade certification, Endangered Species is no longer subject to a third party verification system, so it is no longer clear and verifiable that they have strong standards protecting workers.

I recommend checking out this chocolate company scorecard from the International Labor Rights Forum: http://www.laborrights.org/files/COCOAVDayList.pdf