With the massive volumes of chocolate and flowers going through registers all over the place today, it’s important to be mindful of the places your purchases originate.
Did you know that over FORTY percent of the world’s conventional (non-organic and non-fair trade) chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast, where the International Labor Organizations has reported rampant child slavery? According to the Organic Consumer’s Association, exploiting cacao farmers is the global norm, not the exception. As for flowers, the Pesticide Action Network reports that flowers grown in countries such as Columbia are the most heavily sprayed and toxic agricultural crops ON EARTH. Columbia, however, has changed some of its practices and now half of its flower acreage is Florverde Certified, meaning that the flowers produced there involve more sustainable farming practices and better treatment of workers.
Many retailers are now offering organic flowers, including California Organic Flowers, Diamond Organic Flowers, and Florverde Certified Flowers.
Fortunately , some EXCELLENT chocolate is also available both Fair Trade certified and organic; these include Equal Exchange, Green and Black’s and Sweet Earth Chocolates. At Boo’s Bat Mitzvah, we’ll have as many of these as options for people to try. Go get some – you won’t be sorry.
This is a beautiful video put together by the folks at Postsecret, using real sentiments from real people with varying degrees of responses to this holiday and all it represents.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
