On the letter s, chocolate, and fair trade
This week is the letter S at school. Super, stupendous, satisfying, savvy S. This meant my week would be filled with kids shouting, "Robots!!!!" or dancing to our Have Fun Teaching Letter S Song or pulling objects that start with the letter S out of a sock or smelling things like coffee or herbs or soap. Friday would be filled with Salt art and snowman art and s'mores. That's really the best part of the week- cooking on Fridays! We all love it. Friday is a no data taking, relaxing for a little bit, and hugging the kids a little harder day.
But in the back of my mind this week has been: chocolate.
You can't have a s'more without chocolate. That's like having ice cream without the cream or spaghetti without sauce or steak without potatoes.
The other thing about teaching is... it's way to easy to spend lots of money on these cute little kiddos who want to do all these fun things and learn in all these multi-sensory ways. I mean forget the fact that I love s'more- they would LOVE s'mores.
But not so unfortunately, and yet unfortunately for my wallet, I read a little article on a blog I love about chocolate and how most of the cocoa is harvested in foreign countries by little kids, many who have been taken from their families and sold as slaves, and who are working long, hard days in less than acceptable conditions for very little wages. The majority of chocolate you can purchase in the store is NOT fair trade. To read more, click here.
Fair trade has also just been on my heart and in the forefront of my mind lately. How in the world can I live in America and consume things and buy things that are all 100% ethical? Most clothes and especially shoes are made in foreign countries in unfair conditions. Much of our food is harvested, even right here in America, by immigrants for less than minimum wage. How do I even make a list of these things? Where will I find the time to research these things? How do you live in a little town in the some-what country and buy things when Wal-mart is the only and nearest store in our town- in fact it's actually in the town over from us. Is Wal-mart even that bad? And the questions go on.
And so while I am wrestling with all this, I am specifically thinking of- chocolate.
I can't put it off any longer. Thursday afternoon, tired and weary, I have to go to Ingles. I am hoping they have some organic/ fair trade chocolate for my kids.
How can I buy chocolate for my kids at the expense of other kids just because I don't see their faces?
I walk up and down the isles finding everything I need. Graham crackers. check. Jumbo Marshmellows. Check. I make my way to the candy isle. I am searching the rows and finding mostly Hershey's. Man, those are so perfect for s'mores. Maybe it's ok.
I see it. Up there. On the top shelf. Organic, fair trade chocolate. Only two kinds hidden up there-not much in demand. I read the back label. It is in compliance with Fair Trade. Wow, that's a little candy bar with a large price.
It's only really dark chocolate. I'm not even sure my kids will like it- they'd be happier with milk chocolate. I place it back on the shelf and read the back of other labels. No more fair trade chocolate here.
I pick up the hershey's bar- and place it in my basket. As I am turning away I ask myself again:
How can I buy chocolate for my kids at the expense of other kids?
Is this really about chocolate? I mean let's be honest, my kids would be happy with just a marshmallow, let alone s'mores. So what if they don't like the dark chocolate? They can totally eat a marshmallow melted on a graham cracker. They will not die. They will not even remember it when they get home. They will still learn about the letter S.
This is about children's lives. Not my children's supposed happiness, but the soul's of children I may never meet across oceans I may never travel over.
I put back the hershey's chocolate and reach up for the fair trade chocolate. Dang, that conscience.
This is my journey into fair trade. This is my journey into what-do-I-need? This is my journey into justice. This is my journey into money and budgets. This is my journey into going without for others. This is the journey of Jesus.
But in the back of my mind this week has been: chocolate.
You can't have a s'more without chocolate. That's like having ice cream without the cream or spaghetti without sauce or steak without potatoes.
The other thing about teaching is... it's way to easy to spend lots of money on these cute little kiddos who want to do all these fun things and learn in all these multi-sensory ways. I mean forget the fact that I love s'more- they would LOVE s'mores.
But not so unfortunately, and yet unfortunately for my wallet, I read a little article on a blog I love about chocolate and how most of the cocoa is harvested in foreign countries by little kids, many who have been taken from their families and sold as slaves, and who are working long, hard days in less than acceptable conditions for very little wages. The majority of chocolate you can purchase in the store is NOT fair trade. To read more, click here.
Fair trade has also just been on my heart and in the forefront of my mind lately. How in the world can I live in America and consume things and buy things that are all 100% ethical? Most clothes and especially shoes are made in foreign countries in unfair conditions. Much of our food is harvested, even right here in America, by immigrants for less than minimum wage. How do I even make a list of these things? Where will I find the time to research these things? How do you live in a little town in the some-what country and buy things when Wal-mart is the only and nearest store in our town- in fact it's actually in the town over from us. Is Wal-mart even that bad? And the questions go on.
And so while I am wrestling with all this, I am specifically thinking of- chocolate.
- - - - -
I can't put it off any longer. Thursday afternoon, tired and weary, I have to go to Ingles. I am hoping they have some organic/ fair trade chocolate for my kids.
How can I buy chocolate for my kids at the expense of other kids just because I don't see their faces?
I walk up and down the isles finding everything I need. Graham crackers. check. Jumbo Marshmellows. Check. I make my way to the candy isle. I am searching the rows and finding mostly Hershey's. Man, those are so perfect for s'mores. Maybe it's ok.
I see it. Up there. On the top shelf. Organic, fair trade chocolate. Only two kinds hidden up there-not much in demand. I read the back label. It is in compliance with Fair Trade. Wow, that's a little candy bar with a large price.
It's only really dark chocolate. I'm not even sure my kids will like it- they'd be happier with milk chocolate. I place it back on the shelf and read the back of other labels. No more fair trade chocolate here.
I pick up the hershey's bar- and place it in my basket. As I am turning away I ask myself again:
How can I buy chocolate for my kids at the expense of other kids?
Is this really about chocolate? I mean let's be honest, my kids would be happy with just a marshmallow, let alone s'mores. So what if they don't like the dark chocolate? They can totally eat a marshmallow melted on a graham cracker. They will not die. They will not even remember it when they get home. They will still learn about the letter S.
This is about children's lives. Not my children's supposed happiness, but the soul's of children I may never meet across oceans I may never travel over.
I put back the hershey's chocolate and reach up for the fair trade chocolate. Dang, that conscience.
- - - - -
This is my journey into fair trade. This is my journey into what-do-I-need? This is my journey into justice. This is my journey into money and budgets. This is my journey into going without for others. This is the journey of Jesus.
I love it! and am so glad you got the fair trade. Our kids will love it! Thanks for telling me about fair trade!
ReplyDeleteI love fair trade and organic also! There is an ingredient that has been widely used that not many people know about that you should . . . it is called fake vanilla. It's called vanillin and is used by Hershey . . . once I ate about 10 Hershey kisses and got a tremendous headache. Then one of my sorority sisters who has migraines told me about this fake vanilla that is made out of wood chips. So now I look for organic, fair trade and NO vanillin.
ReplyDelete