DAY 2 - Less than $2

Today I called two grocery stores.  One that I was certain carries slave free chocolate.  That is, none of the cocoa was picked by enslaved children, forced to work long hours and sometimes beaten.  The other store carries Hershey's chocolate bars, which are NOT slave free.  I was curious to know how much I would save if I bought a Hershey bar rather a fair trade chocolate bar such as Divine.

Here is the breakdown:

The typical 1.55 ounce Hershey bar at Pick & Save = $0.99. 
The 3.5 ounce Divine chocolate bar at Outpost = $3.99.

If I buy 2 Hershey's bars, it will cost me $1.98.  I will be getting 3.1 ounces of chocolate. 
To make this easier to compare, I have figured that 3.5 ounces of Hershey's chocolate costs $2.28.

So I can save $1.71 by purchasing Hershey's chocolate bars BUT is the money I am saving worth supporting forced labor and beatings? 

By spending $1.71 more, less than $2, I can buy a Divine chocolate bar, and KNOW that I am NOT supporting childhood slavery.

It's an easy answer for me.



For more information about The Dark Side of Chocolate, check out this link.

For the past 2 1/2 years I have nannyed for two little girls that mean the world to me.  To imagine these sweet, innocent little girls having their freedom taken from them is too great to even consider.  What about the children who live in West Africa who have been trafficked to cocoa plantations?  What about the children whose freedom has been stolen and now they are forced to endure long hours of grueling work and physical beatings?  Can you support this?  I cannot.

Jenny has been buying fair trade chocolate longer than me.  I am thankful for her and my friends, Tory and Tim, because they are the ones who enlightened me about the dark side of chocolate.

Click to follow Jenny's blog.