It was last week that I undertook my first investigative visit to a local supermarket here in Belgrade. Investigative in that I actually bothered to read the labels carefully before I bought anything, which is something I rarely did in the past. It was both fun and enlightening. So last week I focused on chocolate, having read a wonderful feature article on cocoa in Jan/Feb 2006 issue of Utne Reader.
It didn't take me long to realize that only two out of dozen brands of chocolate advertised as "dark" (my favourite) have over 70% of cocoa, with all the others hovering about 30-40%. Blatant cheating, if you ask me. I won't name the top 2, as I don't want to advertise anyone here, but suffice it to say that neither is fair trade, organic, nor locally/regionally produced. Additional web search showed that both manufacturers don't exactly have a spotless record on environmental protection and workers' rights, but generally rank much higher on such issues than other mainstream, corporate producers.
I suppose the least we could do is to simply stop buying chocolate produced by unethical manufacturers, i.e. those exploiting forced and child labour on cocoa farms in Africa (some major manufacturers continue to do it), those still using banned pesticides, bringing the workers' health in jeopardy, or those who failed to follow a decent code of conduct. Luckily, there are numerous resources available on the internet which can help us make informed decisions. Check out the information on this website to find out why Nestle continues to be the single most popular boycott among ethical consumers in the UK. Also, make sure to read their illuminating buyers' guide on chocolate, found here.
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