Fairly traded chocolate is sweet treat for Halloween
By United Methodist News Service*
Fair Trade Certified mini chocolate bars can be ordered for Halloween through the Equal Exchange Interfaith Store. UMNS photos courtesy of Equal Exchange. Fairly traded chocolate is all treat and no trick for United Methodists wanting to put their faith into action this Halloween.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society are partnering with Equal Exchange, a Massachusetts-based cooperative based on fair trade practices, to raise awareness about the topic this Oct. 31.
Fairly traded products provide small-scale farmers a fair living wage and an opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty.
The three organizations have created a Halloween resource to increase awareness about the Equal Exchange Interfaith Program, UMCOR Coffee Project and the need to advocate with "wallets and voices" for better working conditions and prices for cocoa farmers throughout the world.
This Halloween, with orders of fairly traded mini chocolates and trick-or-treat bags from the Equal Exchange Interfaith Store, customers receive 300 postcards with educational information about cocoa and ways to make an impact on the chocolate industry. Orders should be placed by Oct. 17 to guarantee delivery by Halloween.
"Chocolate should be a source of joy for all children, including those where chocolate's main ingredient, cocoa, is grown," the postcard reads. "Yet, it isn't."
Calling chocolate "a tricky treat," the cards note that the United States imports 50 percent of its cocoa from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where thousands of children as young as age 5 have been trafficked into slavery to work on cocoa farms.
Reuseable trick-or-treat bags with a message are available for $3 each.
"Most children of the world's 2 million cocoa farmers are trapped in poverty. Regrettably, the corporations who control the chocolate market are doing little about this," the card says.
The resource outlines easy steps to encourage change, including buying chocolate or cocoa with the Fair Trade Certified seal, asking stores to carry Fair Trade Certified products, encouraging churches to join the Equal Exchange Interfaith Program and introducing fairly traded chocolate to local schools.
Susan Burton, director of the United Methodist seminar program at the Board of Church and Society, became interested in the alternatives while trick-or-treating last year with her 3-year-old. While sorting through her daughter's candy, Burton found a postcard encouraging the purchase of Fair Trade Certified chocolate.
“I realized that was another way that I could put my faith into action, and I wanted to make this opportunity available to United Methodists," she said.
Fair Trade Certified cocoa is monitored—from the farmers to the store shelf—by independent nonprofit certifying organizations. FLO International and TransFair USA guarantee that no child labor or forced labor was used in the production of cocoa. They also make sure the cocoa was bought directly from a democratically controlled cooperative of small-scale farmers and that the farmers are paid enough money to support their families with food, education and other essentials.
Organizers say the partnership offers United Methodists an opportunity to address systems that contribute to global poverty. Ministry with the poor has been identified as one of the denomination's four areas of ministry focus.
People can support cocoa farmers, their families and children by purchasing fairly traded chocolate through UMCOR’s 100-Ton Challenge. The 12-month campaign began in May and encourages United Methodists to support purchase of fairly traded products from Equal Exchange through the UMCOR Coffee Project.
Michelle Brooks, director of digital communications for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, provided information for this report.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society are partnering with Equal Exchange, a Massachusetts-based cooperative based on fair trade practices, to raise awareness about the topic this Oct. 31.
Fairly traded products provide small-scale farmers a fair living wage and an opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty.
The three organizations have created a Halloween resource to increase awareness about the Equal Exchange Interfaith Program, UMCOR Coffee Project and the need to advocate with "wallets and voices" for better working conditions and prices for cocoa farmers throughout the world.
This Halloween, with orders of fairly traded mini chocolates and trick-or-treat bags from the Equal Exchange Interfaith Store, customers receive 300 postcards with educational information about cocoa and ways to make an impact on the chocolate industry. Orders should be placed by Oct. 17 to guarantee delivery by Halloween.
"Chocolate should be a source of joy for all children, including those where chocolate's main ingredient, cocoa, is grown," the postcard reads. "Yet, it isn't."
Calling chocolate "a tricky treat," the cards note that the United States imports 50 percent of its cocoa from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where thousands of children as young as age 5 have been trafficked into slavery to work on cocoa farms.
Reuseable trick-or-treat bags with a message are available for $3 each."Most children of the world's 2 million cocoa farmers are trapped in poverty. Regrettably, the corporations who control the chocolate market are doing little about this," the card says.
The resource outlines easy steps to encourage change, including buying chocolate or cocoa with the Fair Trade Certified seal, asking stores to carry Fair Trade Certified products, encouraging churches to join the Equal Exchange Interfaith Program and introducing fairly traded chocolate to local schools.
Susan Burton, director of the United Methodist seminar program at the Board of Church and Society, became interested in the alternatives while trick-or-treating last year with her 3-year-old. While sorting through her daughter's candy, Burton found a postcard encouraging the purchase of Fair Trade Certified chocolate.
“I realized that was another way that I could put my faith into action, and I wanted to make this opportunity available to United Methodists," she said.
Fair Trade Certified cocoa is monitored—from the farmers to the store shelf—by independent nonprofit certifying organizations. FLO International and TransFair USA guarantee that no child labor or forced labor was used in the production of cocoa. They also make sure the cocoa was bought directly from a democratically controlled cooperative of small-scale farmers and that the farmers are paid enough money to support their families with food, education and other essentials.
Organizers say the partnership offers United Methodists an opportunity to address systems that contribute to global poverty. Ministry with the poor has been identified as one of the denomination's four areas of ministry focus.
People can support cocoa farmers, their families and children by purchasing fairly traded chocolate through UMCOR’s 100-Ton Challenge. The 12-month campaign began in May and encourages United Methodists to support purchase of fairly traded products from Equal Exchange through the UMCOR Coffee Project.
Michelle Brooks, director of digital communications for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, provided information for this report.
posted by TN Conference UMC at 1:17 PM
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