A Case Against Chocolate

Okay, bear with me. I promise this post has something to do with fitness but it may take me a little while to get there. Just humor me, please.

I am by no means an activist. I don't eat organic or make sure the food I consume is local to my area. I honestly haven't ever really thought about it. I buy what's least expensive for the quality that I expect. HOWEVER, one Sunday my pastor delivered a message that really resonated with me: children are sold into slavery so that we can buy cheap chocolate.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But it's not just chocolate. It's coffee and other things that are harvested in Africa, South America, and third-world countries all over the globe.

We all know that lots of sweet, sugary chocolate is bad for us (except for the occasional bit of dark chocolate), but have you ever thought that your Reese's cups (and I love my Reese's) could be responsible for a child's death? Harvesters of the ingredients in chocolate buy children from desperate and destitute families or kidnap them and force them into slave labor so that we can have our chocolate fix for cheap. Pretty disgusting, huh? This is what is being talked about when you hear the term "human trafficking."

Is all chocolate derived in this manner? No, but unfortunately, unless the chocolate that you purchase has the "Fair Trade" logo on it's packaging, there is no guarantee. Luckily, Ben and Jerry's ice cream has several items that contain Fair Trade chocolate and vanilla in their ingredients. You can buy Fair Trade chocolate from Whole Foods or other health food stores. There's even a store here in Arkansas called Drug Imporium that sells a lot of socially-conscience items including Fair Trade chocolate.

Does this mean that I've given up chocolate? Absolutely not, but it sure does make me think about where my food comes from. I went a good week eating on Fair Trade chocolate, but it's very difficult with Valentine's Day and Easter and Girl Scout cookies. I'm trying to do better; my body could use the break from all the sugar anyway. So, even if you CAN'T give up your beloved chocolate, maybe you can cut down a bit or make a mental commitment to just buying Fair Trade products. It's definitely not an easy thing to commit to and Fair Trade is more expensive than what you can purchase at Wal-mart, but every little thing that we can do will help. Are we going to stop human trafficking completely by not buying chocolate? Doubt it. But maybe we can make a dent. And maybe you can lose a few pounds in the meantime. It's worth a shot.

For more information on human rights and human trafficking, go to Global Exchange.
For places where you can buy Fair Trade products, go to the Fair Trade Online Store.