What's Wrong with Chocolate?

Who doesn’t love a delicious bite of chocolate? Recent studies may even show that eating dark chocolate can make us happy by encouraging the production of serotonin in our brains. However, mainstream chocolate production has a darker side that’s nothing to smile about. 

Here are a few frightening things you should know about mainstream, global chocolate production:

• Since 1960, Côte d'Ivoire, who provides ⅓ of the world’s cocoa, has seen a staggering rate of 90% deforestation for cocoa production 
• Cargill and Nestle, two of the world’s largest cocoa and chocolate producers, are defendants in a case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging the companies knowingly purchase beans from farms involved in human trafficking and child labor
• 2 million children are said to be held in slavery on west coast African cocoa farms
• Cocoa farmers make less than $1 per day (3-6 cents for every dollar we spend on chocolate)

Raw chocolate pod

What’s the solution?

One way you can help change the system is to buy fair trade chocolate! Companies who work directly with farmers on a fair trade basis pay them a living wage and help put power back where it belongs-in the hands of producers. 

Here’s what you can buy at Creative Women of the World:

Equal Exchange Chocolate

Fair trade food royalty, Equal Exchange is a democratic, worker-owned cooperative who helped introduce fair trade coffee to the United States in the 1980s. They were the first company to use Fair Trade Certified sugar as an ingredient in their products in the United States

Knowing that farmers are paid a fair price isn’t the only reason to feel good about buying fair trade chocolate from Equal Exchange-the company also makes sustainable investments with profits:

• 10% of net profit is donated to non-profit organizations and small farmer cooperatives
• At least 60% of net profit is reinvested in the Equal Exchange cooperative
• Remaining net profit is distributed among worker-owners

Antidote Chocolate

Antidote is a woman-owned, US-based chocolate company that sources cacao directly from farmers or farm cooperatives in Ecuador. Chocolate bars are manufactured in Ecuador, as well, allowing Antidote to source other ingredients (ginger, coffee, mango, etc.) directly from farmers. 

Antidote dark chocolate bars are vegan, gluten free, paleo and ketogenic friendly!

Click here to buy fair trade chocolate from Creative Women of the World.

Learn more by listening to:

A Better World Podcast, Chocolate: A Crisis of Capitalism