Boycott of chocolate

I came across this interesting article today. The bitter life of chocolate slaves. In it, the spokesperson for the Confectionary Manufacturers' Association says that they can't guarantee their chocolate has not touched the hands of slaves. Granted, not an easy thing to do until you decide it's important, and even then, not necessarily transparent. What actually made me laugh - and despair - was his suggestion that "Boycotts will not help anybody. Hand-outs to people without change will achieve nothing." Excuse me? Of course Boycotts will help! How else can consumers make a real difference to large corporations except by voting with their dollar, or pound, or whatever currency?

You might be wondering why I appear to be suggesting we boycott chocolate. I'm not suggesting we stop eating all chocolate, just that we pay more attention to where our chocolate is coming from. Sadly, a Fair Trade seal neither 100% guarantees the farmer's are getting a fair price (corruption has been found within the channel of money passing to the farmers) and some chocolates have no Fair Trade sticker but are absolutely committed to the livelihood of the people who produce their cacao, otherwise they couldn't get the quality they need to make their fabulous chocolate. Amedei, Malagasy and El Rey are brands like this that come to mind.

I've been reading Ethics of Eating by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. The tag line is "What we eat and why it matters." It's actually all about industrialisation of farming and primarily the horrendousness that goes on behind closed doors to the animals, but it is certainly making me think a lot more about everything to do with what we eat. It's a great book if you want to know about why we should care, along as you can handle some gruesomeness.

Whole Foods Chocolate Department

Valrhona, Pralus, Dagoba, Michel Cluizel, El Rey and more. Heaven. Whole Foods is my new favourite place.



I actually took these pictures the Friday after it opened, nearly two weeks ago now. But it's been an interesting ten days so this is the first opportunity I've made to post them. I spent over an hour (and a lot of money) in there Friday and again on Saturday.

They also have a big range of raw chocolate bars, which I have now tried three of. I went back on Friday last week because I just had to have more of the ciabatta which is the best version of the bread I have ever tried. When I went to the super food aisle to buy more of my preferred bar they were all out - I guess the raw food chocolate bar (Valfonte?) is everybody's favourite.

It'll be great when everything is priced properly (!). Other must-buys are cheese (some of my market favourites are available here, the 5 year old gouda is treacly and an addictve chocolate alternative); fig balsamic vinegar; the four cheese bread; and any of the bulk buy foods - they all work out cheaper than buying them pre-packaged (even cheaper than Tesco and others). All the pastry products (brownies etc) are made with either Valrhona or Callebaut. Hooray, another place to buy quality treats and one that's open 8am to 10pm Mon-Sat and less than that on Sunday.

The chocolate counter:







This is the best value chocolate you will find in a store for large quantities, a little awkward for eating but perfectly tasty for doing so!