Ethical Easter

"Hundreds of thousands of children labour in the West Coast of Africa to produce cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate. Specifically, over 40% of the global supply originates in the Ivory Coast, where the US Department of State reports that over 109,000 children work under the worst forms of child labour. Of these 10,000 are victims of human trafficking or enslavement. Children working in cocoa production labour long hours and are often required to use dangerous tools. They are frequently exposed to toxic pesticides in the fields that create health issues and are forced to walk long distances in extreme heat. Furthermore, because these children work long hours they are denied access to an education." -- From Free2Work.org 

It may have been a few years since working with Not For Sale in the seemingly always foggy and slightly chilly Half Moon Bay, but the knowledge I learned while memorizing statistics and information from presentations for the Not For Sale Tour will pop up in my head from time to time. These fleeting moments of information overload present themselves at the most inconvenient of times…often when I don’t have the power to change anything, even when I wish I could.

These moments occur most often at work.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with where I work, I work at an adorable boutique bakery whose delicious treats are absolutely incredible, and whose instagram feed, social media marketing, and overall aesthetic is unparalleled by any other bakery. Sticking to brand name products ensures we provide the best of the best to our customers, who come in knowing an Oreo does actually taste different from ‘cookies and cream’ knock-off cookies.

It’s actually very interesting when you think about it—an entire culture where we’ve been sold the ideal that brand names mean better quality and a better product. Where even the name of a product alluring to a brand more commonly known is what customers will buy. They don’t want something that’s just chocolate peanut butter—they want something chocolate peanut butter cup (which is a whole blog post all on it’s own!).

This brings me to where my heart aches at a busy time such as Easter.

As someone who is continually striving in my personal and outside-of-my-day-job-professional life to not give in to the societal claims of excellence from brand names and their façade of high end living, but am trying to live in an authentic way which showcases an alternative life of ethical purchasing and living, it can be hard to work where Mini Egg everything is a necessity.

So where does that leave me?

First off, it leaves me to admit that I do enjoy sneaking a mini egg (or five) when they are sitting in the kitchen. They are so darn delicious!

But more importantly, it leaves me exactly where it leaves you—looking for other ethical options for my upcoming Easter celebrations because there will always be situations in life we can’t control—which means we need to appreciate the extreme value in situations we can control, and not squander them when they reveal themselves.

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an Ethical Easter!

This Easter I want to encourage you to make a stand for the rights of human beings around the globe in going above the cute packaging, clever marketing, and adorable egg and bunny shapes that overtake your senses in stores. I want you to commit to purchasing ethically made chocolate and candy.

While a task like this does get easier every year, it is still a leap away from being as easy as it is to head into your local super retailer, and buy some cheap priced chocolate from the shelves while also purchasing your vegetables and cat food. As you swim through an ocean of rich, milky, indulgences in Superstore, Walmart, Shoppers Drugmart, etc. do you see a Fair Trade option? And I mean a real fair trade option—none  of this Cadbury-providing-Dairy Milk-as-their-ONLY-Fair-trade option? Do you see chocolate eggs in festive packaging made by a company that is dedicated to caring about those that work to get the cocoa from the field to the production line? Chances are, in your average retail store in Canada, these particular items are not lining the shelves in mass quantities.

It's going to take time, effort, and research to find chocolate and candy options that care about those individuals making the treat first, and profits second. You'll have to venture into stores you might not normally take a look in (Ten Thousand Villages, or even some health food stores), and you may even have to order goodies online. My hope is you will realize how often we contribute to the continuation and expansion of slavery around the world. One place I’ve found recently is Bulk Barn. Surprisingly enough, they provide a decent selection of fairtrade products. Another great option are the ‘healthy/organic’ aisles of Superstore. While you might not find fairtrade adorable eggs stocked in bulk like mini eggs, an ethical chocolate bar wrapped in DIY Easter packaging can be festive enough to have someone forget they aren’t getting chocolate in an egg shape.

While the general idea behind this post is to have an Ethical Easter, I think the real challenge is accepting, acknowledging and allowing this challenge to resonate in your day-to-day life. Our day-to-day lives are tainted with slavery. Valuable and worthy human lives are often exploited in making our worthless products.  The people making the items we treat as so disposable are being disposed of themselves by our blatant disregard for their existence. Documentaries like The Dark Side of Chocolate, and The True Cost, are showcasing the direct impact our consumerism has on the lives of those creating the products we purchase often without much thought (except to our bank accounts).

The window of knowledge has been slowly opening to shine bright light into the dark room of slavery, and those who peer through the window are actively trying to do something.

People are starting to notice.

People are starting to care.

A movement is happening.

Be someone who makes decisions to pursue ideals that would make your grandma proud—choose to be a smart consumer, choose to acknowledge the lives of people making your chocolate as valuable and worthy of the same basic rights as you are, be someone who doesn’t give into the craze of mini eggs and fight back with your purchasing power. And, most importantly, allow this mentality to radiate into your everyday life.

Will you have an Ethical Easter?

FAQ's:
Will Fair Trade or Ethical chocolate be more expensive?
Yes, it will be. With good reason-- caring about everyone in the supply chain! From those farming to those working in the factories, the people in the supply chain are treated fairly. It's worth it to spend a little more to know that people are being treated right!

So the chocolate is more expensive, which means I can't buy as much. What about the traditions of my friends/family/children/co-workers/neighbours/general human beings I am in contact with have? 
I understand that your family tradition is to hid a bazillion chocolate eggs all around the house and do a massive hunt on Easter Sunday. Traditions can be adjusted! Instead of hiding a bazillion eggs, hide clues that lead to a basket of treats! It's still a hunt and still awesome! Maybe you could splurge and hide a bazillion fair trade eggs!

How can I explain to my youth group/family/co-workers why they aren't receiving the generic chocolate they expect and love, without making it seem like I am being a jerk?
No one wants to make someone feel bad. Explain to them that you have been learning about what happens with the production of chocolate, and that you are using your purchasing power to make a difference. We've all been the person who had no idea this was happening. Take this opportunity to share with them the excitement you have about being a conscious consumer! Maybe you'll get them in on the movement! Even kids can find a connection. Does your kid love to go to school? Does your kid love to play sports, or dance, etc. Connecting the dots of "You get to do this, but not all kids get to. Some kids have to work all day long." can make a huge impact!

RESOURCES:

Here is some information I have found to be helpful in both learning about the topic and having information to share!

World Vision Ethical Chocolate Infographic 

Good Chocolate Guide

10 Fairtrade, Organic, and Vegan Sources for Ethical Chocolate 

My Favourite Easter Candy Doesn't Exist (one of my favourites since they broke down the only ethical alternatives to the delicious mini egg!)

Also, feel free to google "Ethical Easter Chocolate" and see what comes up! Countless articles of people expressing information on how slavery goes into our festivities is available for your viewing. 

Inventive Hopsitality

I think most people have a favourite version of the Bible. When you’re doing your devotions, reading through scripture in church, or just browsing through the Bible in your down time, there’s probably a preferred version you keep handy for these moments. For myself, I’m a big fan of the New Living Translation. I find it easy to read, understand, and more verses ‘stick out’ to me when I’m browsing.

Lately, however, I’ve been intrigued by ‘The Message’ version of the Bible. It’s simplicity, while still getting across the point of what scripture is saying, makes it easy to read and relate to. It almost feels like I am reading a novel—easily captivating while leaving me eager to read more.

The most recent devotion I'm working through is by She Reads Truth and the topic is Prayer. Each day you are provided with scripture to discover, supplemented with a few paragraphs to read to really drive home the significance of the passages. The day laid out before me a few days ago had a simple verse with the following information to supplement; memorize the verse you’re about to read. 

The verses picked were Romans 12:11-13:

I’m sure we’ve all had those moments; you’re reading through a section of the Bible (or really any book in general) and BAM! Out of seemingly nowhere a phrase, sentence or passage just stands out to you. You can’t help yourself, you just need to read it again and again, then think about it, and then read it in another version for added impact and education.

“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. 

Always be eager to practice hospitality” 

Romans 12:13 NLT

I found both versions of Romans 12:13 to be educational, impactful and inspiring. I couldn’t stop thinking about the concept of inventive hospitality. Something about recreating our original conceptions of hospitality to have a greater impact on those around us is striking and consuming—it’s like the high-hope anticipation of a pretty new diamond, hiding in the box before being presented-- excitedly waiting to be brought to life by someone willing to wear it and showcase the love that gave the ring purpose. The diamond had a purpose, it's destiny awaits it, but the love behind it makes it all the more amazing and captivating. 

I wanted to examine my ideas of hospitality and how we can reinvent our actions when trying to live out such a word full of meaning.

When I think of hospitality I generally think of my time waitressing—a brief 6-month transitional period where I learned a lot about what I didn’t like doing, and I learned to rely on God to get through a day. Waitressing was all about serving the customer to the absolute best of your ability. No matter what you had to be attentive, friendly, considerate, do everything right, apologize profusely if anything did go wrong (even if it wasn’t your fault, and even if it was something as simple as it being a busy time and the food taking longer than what the customer deemed acceptable for their meal), and be all this and more that to every single person you are interacting with for your entire shift. Insert exhausted emoji here.

With this slightly skewed perspective on hospitality from a job I didn’t love, I felt the need to look up an actual definition of hospitality:

The quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.

There are generic ways we live out the definition of hospitality with those around us. Generally speaking, we will be polite with those around us, smile, ask pleasant questions and listen to a response to make 'small talk'. Maybe you take your kindness one step further and let someone else go ahead of you in line at a coffee shop. Maybe you buy a round of drinks when meeting new friends. You’re being warm and friendly, being generous and kind.  

You’re doing all the right things. 

You are the walking definition of hospitality.

But we don't want to just act out the description in a dictionary, we are called to redesign the definition. The Bible instructs us to envision new and inventive ways to showcase this hospitality above the social norms of society. As Christians, we should be living out hospitality so over-the-top that when people find out we are interacting with strangers, they are completely blown away!

How do you normally treat strangers warmly? If it is normally with a smile why not say ‘hello’? It’s small and it’s simple, but more importantly, it’s unexpected. That’s what being inventive is all about! How are you friendly to strangers? Opening a door for someone, letting someone go before you in line, the same 'warm' smile on the street as you pass by? Step it up just one notch—hold the door open and say something like ‘hope you have a wonderful day!’

Generosity is probably the ideal I am most excited about. Being generous isn’t just about money, although that is often the most common representation. A friend recently asked me to create a cake for her very last minute. Normally I say no to last-minute inquiries, but this time, after thinking about what I had been learning, I said yes! I was generous with my time and resources and she was so thankful! Generosity comes in many forms. Time is something we will never get back so, realistically, this is probably our most precious resource. Giving our time to someone is probably the most inventive way to exhibit this God-breathed perspective of hospitality!

I'd like to challenge you to go above and beyond in your interactions with those around you this week-- take a few moments to asses your approach to hospitality and come up with new and unexpected ways to show your warmth, friendliness and generosity. It will be life changing for you and those you are interacting with. I'd say trust me, but really, trust the Bible-- God knows best and he's going to guide you!

When The Homeless Refuse Your Apple Pie

I want to start an open, honest, respectful conversation on a topic I feel doesn’t get much attention—especially in the way I seek to bring it to light.

The homeless are everywhere we go—from the streets of the cities we live in, to the inner workings of systems and places we don’t even know exist.

When I was in school in Toronto I would walk from Union Station to school. The evenings are when I would see the most individuals homeless or begging on the street for change. As a student, the chance of having cash on me was very, very rare. On the other hand, the chance of having a freshly baked good to offer was basically 110%.

This is commonly how a situation would play out:

I would walk down the street and an individual would ask for some change.My response would be ‘no, sorry, but I have some bread/cookies/buns/pie if you want!”

Fill in the blank time! I want you to fill in the individual’s response to my offer of baked goodies. What do you think they would say?

I think, as a very generalized answer in hopes of finding a common response of what most would expect, we would assume the individual we are offering our goods to would gladly accept. I mean, freshly baked anything is delicious, right? Most of my friends feel that way. When I bring goodies to my husbands coffee shop, and offer his staff and friends I see some form of deliciousness, the usual response is how excited they are to have something sweet and freshly baked to enjoy. When I go to a friends place for any sort of gathering with handcrafted and freshly baked treats in hand, people are generally excited and eat at least one of whatever I showed up with.

Now let’s go back to the original scenario— 50% of the time someone accepts my offer, and the other 50% is all rejects.

I’ll be honest, at first it would shock me people would say no.

In my head I’m thinking ‘aren’t you hungry? I’m offering you delicious, freshly baked food that you can eat. I wouldn’t say no and I have a fridge full at home.’

How ridiculous of me to think that—how inconsiderate, how dehumanizing.

There are a few specific times where I offered food to people and their no response has stuck with me…

- I offered a man an apple on my walk home from work one day since it was all I had. He said no because he was allergic to apples.

- At 2:30 in the morning while biking to work a lady yelled at me, asking if I had food for her. I offered the woman a couple slices of bread (which I was going to toast at work) and a banana. She took the bread but not the banana because it was cold and she doesn’t like cold bananas.

- I was walking home from the bus stop after school and had some fougasse (think baguette-type bread but shaped like a ladder or a leaf and filled with rosemary, thyme and olives). I offered it to a gentleman. After describing what it was, he tore off a piece to taste it. He said it was too dry and went on his way without the fougasse.

The one response that stuck with me the most was on my last day of the semester…

-I was walking to Union Station in blizzard conditions and a lady was asking for change. I offered her all I had—a box of various choux paste products; cream puffs, paris-brest and eclairs. She said no but explained it was because she would rather eat a nutritious meal then eat the sweets I was offering.

I can easily remember the moment I realized that, by assuming a homeless individual should be grateful and accept what I have to offer, I was completely dehumanizing them and turning them into these hollow vessels capable of nothing more than to say ‘please’, ‘yes’, and ‘thank-you’. I removed from them the very things that make them who they are—their choices, their preferences, and their taste buds.

None of these individuals were disrespectful to me. Yet, in my wandering thoughts I was being disrespectful to them. An act, which started as a way to help someone, turned into a selfish thought process of ungratefulness and a definite lack of viewing someone as God sees them—an absolutely amazing person, whose passions and interests were given to them to make a difference in the world. Each person is someone who is created to do amazing things, and as someone whose palette preference attribute to the awesome person they are. The same way I don’t like green peppers (they taint everything they end up on!), the gentleman didn’t like the bread. How I could live without eating rice and beans, the lady could certainly live without eating cold bananas. It’s all the same, yet, as soon as someone is asking for food, we typically expect them to take whatever we have available.

I can’t say I know what I would do if I was on the opposite end of the situation. If I was the one asking for change and instead, an individual offers me a slice of pizza covered in green peppers and olives. I dislike olives and green peppers more than any other foods. Would I accept it and power through because I’m hungry? Would I gratefully say ‘no thanks’ in hopes of gathering enough change to buy something I actually want to eat, or hope someone else offers me something more appetizing?

I don’t know what I would do. But one thing I do know is removing an individual’s personal preference makes someone feel worthless, meaningless and unimportant. No one wants to feel that way—not you- the individual reading this, not me- the person writing this, and not the individual asking for change or food on the street you pass as you are going about your day.

Next time someone refuses what you have to offer, I challenge you to ask them what they would prefer—maybe you can get it for them, or maybe you can make a note of it for next time you see them (especially if it is someone you see often enough on your daily commute). One gentleman sitting at Union Station prefers black tea to coffee. It’s a small fact, but imagine handing him a hot coffee on a cold winter night… now imagine handing him a hot black tea instead. While the thought of handing him the cup of tea brings a smile to my face, imagine what it can do for him—not only will the beverage warm him up, he will feel like a real person whose likes and dislikes were thought of—He has value. He is important. He is human.

Challenge: Ethical Valentine's Day

The mystery surrounding who Saint Valentine really was is quite fitting to the often-mysterious image surrounding the idea of love. Most stories peg Saint Valentine as a man who either secretly married Christian couples at a time when Christians were being persecuted and were unable to do so, or, he secretly married couples so the husband wouldn’t have to go off to war. Most of these stories of individuals secretly pledging their undying love end with Saint Valentine landing himself in jail. The only bit of information that seems known is Saint Valentine died on the date we know as Valentine's Day, February 14^th.

The mystery surrounding Saint Valentine and the way we celebrate a holiday with little knowledge of it, bear shocking similarities to how we celebrate the holiday with chocolate, sweets, flowers and cheaply made themed goods. The mystery of how chocolate is harvested and made is a mystery to most of us; how flowers can be fresh and alive year round and available especially at grocery stores at such low prices is a riddle we often cannot answer; and that generic gold heart necklace is made by who? is quite the conundrum. Instead of finding out the truth we often just buy the items in the prettiest package to give to the person we deem valuable enough to bestow the over-the-top love themed goodies to on Valentines Day.

The tricky part about Valentines day is it’s not a holiday you find really necessary to celebrate (like preceding Christmas and approaching Easter), yet so many people are caught up in the adorableness of red and pink hearts, sparkles, and mini-everything including animals with cute sayings on cards that make you just want to go “awweeeheeee!”. People indulge in special menus at restaurants priced higher than normal, establishments who normally don’t cater specifically to couples are suddenly hosting events and every store is encouraging you to spoil that ‘special someone’ with whatever items they happen to be in the market to sell.

We can get caught in the middle of this awkward area not really knowing what to do and often end up grabbing something last minute because we suddenly feel the need to participate. When that happens we are ill prepared to make ethical choices and end up feeling bad for two reasons:

Reason #1:  Did we really just walk into our local grocery store or super centre and pick up a miniature stuffed bear/kitten/puppy/gorilla/sloth/fish that sings “My Heart Will Go On” with a heart shaped box of chocolates strapped to its chest with the sentiment ‘Be My Valentine’ on it?

Reason #2: We have no idea where anything actually came from—is that chocolate good to be eating, both for the waistline and the ethics of the person I bought it for? I just found out a few paragraphs ago that I can’t even trust flowers! Gold and diamonds are that expensive and there is still slavery?

We know the facts...

• There are between 27 and 30 million people in slavery today.
• 78% of victims involved in slavery are in Labor Slavery.*
• One in six children 5 to 14 years old — about 16 percent of all children in this age group — is involved in child labor in developing countries.*
• In the least developed countries, 30 percent of all children are engaged in child labor.*
• Worldwide, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, often enduring beatings, humiliation and sexual violence by their employers.*
• An estimated 1.2 million children — both boys and girls — are trafficked each year into exploitative work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.*
• The highest proportion of child laborers is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 26 percent of children (49 million) are involved in work.
• A million diamond diggers in Africa earn less than a dollar a day.**
• 60% of all flowers sold in the U.S. come from Colombia, the second largest flower exporter in the world. The majority of Colombian flower workers receive around $8 a day, which is not enough to cover the cost of a family's most basic requirements.***
• 66% of these workers experience health problems associated with the chemicals involved in their work.***
• An ILO Survey conducted in 2000 estimates that 20% of Ecuador’s 60,000 flower workers are children. Many of those between the ages of 14 and 18 work in the industry instead of attending school.***

...And we also know that being prepared is the key to success!

And yes, even though Valentines Day is right around the corner *cough-afewdaysaway-cough* you can still take a smidge of time right now to be prepared!

Tip #1: Research.

When researching for these Ethical Challenge posts I find I often come across the same information. However, this year a new website popped up and I couldn’t help but be pleased to see it! World Vision’s No Child For Sale campaign has a site called GoodChocolateGuide.ca. On this site they list brands of chocolate that are fair trade or have other certifications that make it ethical. Finding this website is like striking gold. So often people have no idea what to buy or where to buy it. This website does both! Upon investigating the chocolate options they present, I’ve found a few that I am 100% sold on and am looking forward to tasting (or tasting again… like Giddy Yo-Yo).

I also found an awesome article titled 'Valentine's Day Gifts That Aren't Evil'. This short and sweet piece provides background information on the forms of slavery found in Diamonds, Flowers and Chocolate, and provides ethical alternatives! 

Tip #2: Wait… do you really want to buy your significant other chocolate?
Take a brief moment and decide if you want your significant other to receive chocolate from you as a gift? Chocolate may be the generic ‘go-to’ gift but if your lady or man of choice is say, trying to stay off sugar after the holiday season or is trying to get in shape before your upcoming getaway in the sunshine, perhaps sugar isn’t the best option…. Just sayin'...

Tip #3: Love Local
After you complete your research on companies you want to support, and have an idea of what your love may want, find a local place to get it. Also take a moment to research if any local companies are featuring enchanting options for your sweetheart! Shoot out some emails to Bakeries or Chocolatiers in your area—what kind of cocoa do they use and are they offering anything special? I work at a bakery that provides chocolate goodies that are hand-crafted with organic, fair-trade ingredients! To top off their awesomeness, they even partnered with two other local businesses to offer Valentines packages!

Tip #4: Send with Love!
You have an ethically sourced gift of perhaps chocolate and flowers and kisses and teddy bears and generic all-out, full-fledged love! Now be a dear and send it with love! Add a cute card, draw a heart on a piece of paper and write I love you, or add a bow you found in a non-frequented corner of your current place of residence left-over from Christmas.

As the debate to celebrate or not celebrate Valentine's day continues, remember, you shouldn't wait for an occasion to tell that special someone how much they mean to you. The kind words you share only during special moments should be spoken often. Love that has sparked in you a fire of passion, commitment, and daily gratitude of being with an individual who always attempts to understand you, continually enjoys spending time with you, and is blessed enough to share with you the joy of life's adventures deserves to be celebrated every day.

Image found on Pinterest.

* Information from Compassion 

** Information from Brilliant Earth

*** Information from Free2Work