Fair Trade Trick or Treat; a Sweet Satisfaction

Trick or treat, Smell my feet Give me something good to eat !!!

When the ghosts, ghouls, and goblins come ringing your doorbell this year, send the trick-or-treaters off with more than just a confection in their jack-o-lanterns. By giving out a Fair Trade sweet you can help take a stand for integrity across the globe. This Halloween can also provide a perfect chance to cultivate awareness about Fair trade and the efforts to end child slavery world-wide.

Americans alone consume roughly 13 pounds of chocolate per person each year. Headlines of chocolate's health benefits has no doubt eased the minds of many a discerning consumer but now there's an even better reason to feel good about a daily (or hourly, mood permitting) chocolate break.

Most chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast region of West Africa, where cocoa production is an enormous part of the economy. In Ghana, second largest exporter of cocoa in the world, 40 percent of the country’s export revenues come from the sale of cocoa. Most is grown by small-scale family farmers on 4-5 acres of land. Unfortunately, very little of the profit goes to the farmers who grow the cacao beans. Cocoa farmers receive about a .01 for a candy bar selling for .60 cents leaving earnings as low as $300 a year.


In fact, the adversity in making a living cocoa farming has spawned an increase in child and slave labor drawn from impoverished neighboring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. Children, many under 14 years old, and other workers are forced to work long days picking and processing cocoa beans leaving very little opportunity for the children to attend school.


Fair Trade cocoa offers farmers an opportunity to make a real living. The certification criteria guarantee a minimum price and insures that no child or forced labor is used. Through these practices, the chocolates sold benefit cooperatives and small family farms, allowing for a assurance of social ethics while giving a direct a helping hand to the livelihood of the farmers and workers alike. Choose only Fair Trade Certified chocolate and look for TransFair USA's Fair Trade logo on the package.

Check out some of these Chocolates with a conscience:

Global Exchange

Chocolate.com - Global chocolate marketplace offering unique fair trade products - perfect for a gift or your own enjoyment.

Cocoa Zen - Deliciously decadent chocolate truffles handmade from only organic and Fair Trade certified chocolate.

Dagoba Organic Chocolate - Chocolate bars, baking chips, chocolate syrup, hot chocolate, and baking cocoa (non-alkali)

Dean's Beans - Organic hot cocoa and baking cocoa, also kosher

Divine Chocolate - Chocolate bars, cocoa

Earth's Sweet Pleasures - Luscious, creamy and rich dark chocolate fudge, certified organic and fair-trade. Your purchase helps support cacao farmers in Central and South America."equal exchange

Equal Exchange - Organic hot cocoa, baking cocoa (with alkali) and fair trade, gourmet chocolate bars

Ithaca Fine Chocolates - Organic chocolate "Art Bars."

Kate's Caring Gifts - Earth Friendly Gift Sets featuring Organic and Fair Trade

Chocolate La Siembra - Worker owned Co-operative, was the first to import Fair Trade certified cocoa into North America. Their Cocoa Camino products are sold only in Canada.

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates - Chips, bars and baking supplies all Fair Trade and organicsjaak's organic chocolates

Sjaak's Organic Chocolates - All organic and fair trade chocolate bars, gift boxes, holiday items, vegan selections

Theo Chocolate - Organic, fair trade premium chocolate

Yachana Gourmet - Chocolate, tropical fruit spreads and other food products made from organically grown raw materials from the Amazon rainforest region in Ecuador

Ten Thousand Villages - Visit a store and smell the aroma of fairly traded gourmet coffee and taste the luxuriously rich chocolate made from fairly traded cocoa beans.

Playing fair is its own reward~