Chocolate and Halloween

I'm going to mess with you. Well, not actually me but Kristin from Rage Against the Minivan.
It's about those bite-sized brown candies you might be passing out at the end of the month. (I know, your mouth just watered a little bit.)

Interestingly, after watching a commercial for Wal-Mart showing aisle after aisle brimming with candies, I wondered about different treat options. Then I popped over to Kristin's blog during my lunch and read her article.

I think you ought to read it too.

"The inconvenient truth about your Halloween candy and forced child labor"

There are a lot of links to follow if you want (go ahead, be an informed consumer) but here are two that I found helpful right away.

The first is the answer to the question "Alright, I'm not buying any of the mainstream candy to pass out. What should I give instead?" This link should help you plenty.

"Ideas for an ethical Halloween"
psst...the Divine chocolate is sooooo good

The second is for when the treat bucket is empty and you've snatched all the dark chocolates from the kids' secret stash.

Stop Chocolate Slavery

One note on that link. The website does seem to be a little outdated; 2009 is the latest date I can find. But the chart for cocoa products is still a great place to start. Also, don't follow the Facebook group. It isn't moderated at all. :(

Here is my favorite quote of Kristin's article

The bottom line is this: profit margins are likely going to take a dip if these companies really step it up, and it’s likely that chocolate prices will go up, too. But I think that we, as a society, need to be willing to see this through, even if it costs us something. Because no bar of chocolate is worth robbing a child of their education and childhood.