Katie Halper
February 13, 2008 |
11:28 pm EST
Public Alpha: have suggestions or feedback?

Last week I promised it was possible to buy your valentine a great gift without selling your soul and Monday I put up a list of 10 great guilt-free jewelry gifts, so you Valentine’s Day shoppers should be all set. But, for those of you who still haven’t bought the special gift for that special someone, it’s not too late. If your valentine has a sweet tooth, and prefers chocolate to jewels, what could be sweeter than chocolate that tastes great and isn’t the product the exploitation and slavery of children. The reality of most chocolate production is sad and scary: According to the State Department, more than 109,000 children in the Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” 10,000 of whom are victims of human trafficking or enslavement. And with the U.S. consuming 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate annually, nearly half of the world’s supply, we can help end child labor chocolate production. So this Valentines Day, even if you’re last minute and don’t have time to order online, say “I love you” with slavery-free chocolates!
By searching Fair Trade Federation’s Website, I found 65 stores carrying fair trade chocolates and other fair trade guilt-free Valentine’s Day gifts. Here are some of my faves
1. If you live in the Bay Area (of course) or Portland, you can go to Global Exchange Stores and buy a chocolate assortment box to exchange with your valentine.
2. A Greater Gift, has stores in Maryland and Wisconsin , and is sold in several other locations, so it won’t be hard to find a Divine Chocolate Gift Set and support a farmers’ cooperative in Ghana.
3. Delaware residents with heart can check out Village Imports , which also sells Divine chocolates.
4. If you’re in Massachusetts, go to Equal Exchange and ask them for their Valentine’s Chocolate minis.
5. If your love is adventurous you may want to buy some chocolate with pineapple from World Goods in Wisconsin.
Have a tooth ache yet? Here are some non-chocolate fair trade gifts.
6. If you take action and live in Durham, you probably already know about the city’s only non-profit store One World Market. Choose between Nepalese pressed flowers, Peruvian crafts, or Indian bags.
7. If you live in Chapel Hill, Fredericksburg, Highland Park, Oak Park, Exton, Cambridge MA, Bethesda, Glendale, Little Rock, Atlanta or any of the ten thousand cities where Ten Thousand Villages has stores, you may fall in love with their Dancing Couple Statue, made from recycled metal by Chile’s COMPARTE artisans… or …
8. You may fall in love with the unity candleholder made out of soapstone by the Undugo Society of Kenya. But then again…
9. You may heart the Heart-shaped Frame made of dried flowers and natural fibers, by Saffy Hand Crafts in the Philippines. Of course…
10. You could embrace the Embracing Couple Statue hand-carved by the Committee of Artisans in Haiti.
Inspired to
yet? Supporting Ten Thousand Villages and the fair trade coops they work with will make your Valentine’s Day extra lovely. Volunteer with Ten Thousand Villages, support their campaigns, and, if your heart is big enough, take the One Month Challenge and take the pledge to go fair trade for 30 days! To learn more about why fair trade chocolate is so important, read about the alternative in Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off.
Join TakePart's community today!
Filed under:
Environment • Human Rights • Peace
Related Links:
Show Ur Valentine U Have Heart: 5 Gifts With A Conscience
Happy Easter Chocolates: Top 10 Last Minute Guilt Free Easter Gifts
Top 10 Valentine’s Day Guilt-Free Jewelry Gifts: Show Ur Valentine U Have Heart
Top 10 Mothers Day Gifts: Guilt Free Gifts Let U Be Good To Your Mother And Mother Earth
Chocolate Monopoly!
Tagged as: • A Greater Gift • Bitter Chocolate • Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the Wo • child labor • Committee of Artisans in Haiti • COMPARTE • Divine Chocolate • Equal Exchange • Fair Trade Federation's Website • farmers' cooperative in Ghana • Ghana • Global Exchange Stores • guilt-free • guilt-free Valentine's Day gifts • haiti • Ivory Coast • Kenya • One Month Challenge • One World Market • Philippines • Saffy Hand Crafts • Ten Thousand Villages • Undugo Society of Kenya • valentine's day • valentine's day gifts • Village Imports • World Goods
Add your comment • Trackback from your site • Follow comments via
RSS
15 posts in the last 24 hours
Chocolate is an excellent idea for a gift!
!
Jean MontareI prefer the most the chocolat that Bouchard makes, http://www.bouchard.be/en/pralines , it’s really nice and tasteful