Last Monday, after the Superbowl, Bill in Portland Maine reminded me about the Mars candy bar family with his diary.
I'd already been avoiding Mars, Inc for a number of reasons mostly for being one of the 18 families behind the Estate Tax Repeal who are conning us with astro-turf groups, lobbying and campaign donations among other things.
Then, a diary on Saturday heavily featured Godiva chocolates owned by Campbell's, another of the 18 behind the push to repeal of the estate tax.
There's this big holiday coming up. If you haven't figured it out yet I'd like to introduce some products with ideals we share to break the chains of Republican companies that don't need our gold to finance politics against us.
Slip into something more comfy then follow me into my boudoir for some ideas that may help you hold onto your values while expressing the value you hold for the special people in your life.
I can't fault anyone for not knowing any better because a bit over a year ago, I was without much of a clue either. In fact, some of these I didn't know anything about until just yesterday.
Valentine's is a good time to indulge and get something for those deserving they wouldn't get themselves. One of the great things about consumables is there's not a lot of worries about fit nor does a place need to found to put them.
For my neighbors who have been so generously helping me when I have computer problems I am putting together a basket of organic pears, apples and oranges with a container of organic hot chocolate and a couple bars of fairly traded and organic chocolates. This is the same sort of package I gave to the mechanics who stayed late to work on my car at the last moment only then it was summer and strawberries were in season so that's what they received. People like fruit and yet don't splurge on it for themselves. Also consider that there is likely a lot of other treats out there tempting all of us and for some people it's just not a good idea due to health issues.
BOUQUETS & More
First I'll talk about flowers. While I was looking up chocolate just out of my own self-interest not realizing I'd be posting a diary on it, I discovered that the flowers used by florists are among the heaviest users of synthetic and petro-based fertilizers and pesticides. As detailed by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) on their Unchain Your Heart page:
[O]rganizations such as the Pesticide Action Network point out that commercial flowers, produced in countries such as Colombia, are the most toxic and heavily sprayed agricultural crops on Earth, The high profits of the transnational flower exporters are derived from poisoning the land and farmers, while forcing workers in the flower industry, often young women, to work 18 hour days for poverty wages during peak flower buying times such as Valentine’s Day.
OCA gives two possible alternatives
Organic Bouquet
877-899-2468
Organic Bouquet is donating 12% from every sale that comes from this site to the Organic Consumers Association.
Mountain Rose Herbs
-(consider giving organic essential flower oils as an alternative to conventional flowers)
Meanwhile this is what The Green Guide has to say about flowers:
In 2003, Americans spent an estimated $50 per capita on flowers, garden plants and nursery crops, and "green industry" floricultural grower receipts were predicted to reach $14.4 billion. But some industry costs remained hidden. The floral industry uses the highest level of pesticides of all agricultural sectors. And since the majority of flowers we buy originate abroad, this can include U.S.-banned pesticides such as DDT, Harper's Magazine reported in 2001. These chemicals may even remain on bouquets long enough to rub off on skin or be inhaled by your beloved: When the Environmental Working Group tested a small sample of roses in 1997, they found residues of several pesticides at up to 50 times the amounts allowed in food.
At the growing source, pesticide runoff from flower farms pollutes waterways, and for the most part workers still earn poverty wages. The Pesticide Action Network, E. Magazine reports, found in 1999 that nearly two thirds of Colombia's flower workers reported maladies such as headaches, nausea, impaired vision, rashes and asthma associated with pesticide exposure.
Try buying organic cut flowers instead of conventionally grown varieties. If you can’t find organic flowers locally, or don’t want to have them shipped, try growing your own. Organic bulbs are increasingly available from garden retailers. Although flowers growing wildly along the road may look pretty, it's best not to pick them as this may put in danger the survival of some species.
The Green Guide also gives these possible options for blooms, some of which are probably too late for this year:
Organic Options:
• Buy fresh, dried blooms at your local farmer's market or www.driedflowersdirect.com (starting at $4.00).
• Organic Tropical Bouquets are available in 8-stem, 16-stem and 24-stem varieties from Diamond Organics ($49 and up; www.diamondorganics.com/ShowView/prod_detail_list/48).
• Looking for a little variety? Manic Organics has a wide selection of organic bouquets. From sunflowers to pale pink roses, there is something for any taste. (Starting at $60; www.manicorganicsflowers.com).
• Grow your own, or force bulbs if not in season (see www.bulb.com). Organic tulip bulbs are available from Johnny's Selected Seeds ($6.25/10 bulbs; www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=567&subcategory=588). Or try organic Eco tulip bulbs from Tulip World ($15.95/20 Garden Party Variety bulbs; www.tulipworld.com/tulip.asp?contentloc=/info/items/ECObulbs.shtml).
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CHOCOLATE Mmmm...
Flavanoids in dark chocolate serve as a beneficial antioxidant. High in iron, calcium, potassium and vitamins A, B1, D and E, chocolate is almost a multivitamin. Dark chocolate has even been considered a Superfood.
From the Green Guide comes this expanation of what it is:
Chocolate is made from the fruit of the cacao tree. Native to the tropical regions of South and Central America, cacao was cultivated as early as 1000 BC in Mexico, where the Aztecs called it "the food of the gods." Now a booming global market worth more than $60 billion annually, cacao is grown primarily in the African nations of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon; in Indonesia, and in Brazil. Traditionally planted in the shade of the rainforest canopy, the short, shrubby trees produce colorful pods. The cocoa beans extracted from these pods are fermented, dried, then sold to wealthier nations in Europe and North America. There they are roasted and ground into a liquid called cocoa liquor - liquid due to the fatty cocoa butter in each bean. Solidified cocoa liquor is sold in supermarkets as unsweetened chocolate, and the dried cocoa powder sold to consumers is what remains when cocoa butter has been extracted from the liquor.
Below are some chocolate alternatives to the Mars, Dove, and Godiva mass market that I have actually tried. There are more on the pages I've already provided from the OCA's Unchain Your Heart page and The Green Guide's Smart Shopper Card:
Green & Black's from the U.K. are wow, incredible with the espresso in particular being especially intense. One square a day is usually quite sufficient and they are Organic & Free-Trade (at least one of their products is) but they are part of Cadbury & Schweppes now which I haven't done much homework on myself.
Same with Dagoba which was another independent with incredible organic product which is still operating independently but is part of the Hershey's empire now. Absolutely LOVE their Xocolatl Hot Chocolate with hot chiles. Yum! Really good oddly for a sore throat and/or stuffy nose.
Chocolove xoxox was the first premium chocolate bar I ever tried and it was amazing. They are based out of Colorado and still owned and operated by the founder.
Then there is Endangered Species Chocolate which has "ethically traded" or organic and ethically traded bars in a number of flavors (the Bat Bar is my favorite).
Theo Chocolates from Seattle is one I just discovered yesterday. Different flavors I've never seen before include Coconut Curry, Chai Tea, and Bread & Chocolate (which is actual buttered crisp bread crumbs in the bar -- very different). According to their website they are the first and only organic, Fair Trade Certified roaster of cacao in the United States:
... sourcing cacao from small farmers in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Ghana, Madagascar, Venezuela, and the Ivory Coast. Theo's small team is guided by a passion for chocolate, care for the environment, and dedication to enriching the lives of everyone involved, including cacao farmers and chocolate lovers.
Equal Exchange based in Massachusetts is a Fair Trade chocolate that helps establish co-ops for a variety of products. The espresso bean bar I have is Fair Trade, Organic and Kosher certified. Strong stuff. I tried breaking off a piece so I could give you my honest opinion and bent my fingernail back so far it drew blood and has slowed my typing speed to a snail's pace; I used to work on cars and never had this kind of injury. Wow. The chocolate is almost worth the injury though being very creamy with yummy bits of coffee bean.
. . . .
There are many others which I don't know much or anything about but... I'm working on it. Some of the others you can find at the OCA page with links include Divine Chocolate, Rapunzel, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Sojourn, La Siembra/ Cocoa Camino, Omanhene, Sweet Earth Chocolates, Shaman Chocolates.
Here's an article on the importance of Fair Trade, organic and shade grown chocolate and coffee:
Until the 1970s, both coffee and cacao, the chocolate seed, were grown under the protective shade of the rain-forest canopy. Today, almost half of all coffee and an increasing share of cacao from Latin America are "full-sun" grown by clearing rain forests and using large doses of chemicals and fertilizers to force higher yields. But full-sun coffee plantations have 94 to 97 percent fewer bird species than shade plantations, and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) has found as much insect diversity in shaded cacao plantations as in lowland rain forest.
A 2000 survey by the Guatemalan Commission for the Verification of Codes of Conduct estimated that nearly half of workers on Guatemalan coffee plantations, 8.6 percent of whom are 18 years old or younger, were paid less than that country's minimum wage. Many live in unsanitary conditions without access to health care. And, according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, nearly 300,000 children endure dangerous working conditions on West African cacao farms.
CHOCOLATE RECIPE just in time for the holiday (gluten free as well):
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
4 oz high-quality bittersweet chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
(plus additional for sprinkling)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined (sifting the cocoa powder will prevent cocoa lumps in your mousse). Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven for 25 minutes or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate. Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with ice cream, whip cream, or whatever your heart desires!
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V-DAY
V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.
Find an event in your area including presentations of the Vagina Monologues play (the proceeds usually benefit women's concerns)
You can also send an Valentine e-card from the main page.
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MISCELLANEOUS
Organic Consumers Association's Unchain Your Heart has ideas or actual products on chocolate, organic wine, cards, soaps, clothing and more.
The Green Guide has a "Smart Shopper's Card" Better Blooms, Bon-Bons, Fine Wines and Java from last year with a bunch of ideas from chocolate, organic wines to coffees.
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BOOKS
Booksense can point you to a local independent bookstore near you
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YEARLY KOS
Course there is always one of the best and most beneficial gifts to be had which would be one or more of the items from the Yearly Kos auction that starts today on eBay and includes this round such great items as:
- Fifteen Minutes of Fame with items like a One-Minute On-Air Rant on "The Sam Seder Show"
- Items Uniquely for Kossacks such as Daily Kos User ID# 100,000: "100K" and 100,001: "100K + 1" and a Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Goodie Box
- Vacation and Travel: One Week Vacation in St. Croix, Private Beach, a Looney Cabin Vacation, Camp, VA, and a Kissing Rock Camp Vacation, Sugar Grove, VA
- Political Memorabilia: featuring items such as a 1980 Jim Beam Commemorative Democratic Convention Decanter, and 2006 YearlyKos Convention Banner, Autographed by the convention organizers and some guy named Markos Moulitsas, and much more!
- Jewelry: featuring items such as Orange Chrysanthemum Pendant Necklace, Orange Cat Beads w/Free Jewlery Mounting, and much more!
- Food and Drink: featuring Cookies of Mass Destruction by OrangeClouds115
- Home and Office: featuring items such as Four 15 oz Drinking Liberally Beer Steins, 2007 Bush Administration Countdown Calendar , and much more!
- Professional Services: Champion Pedigree Horse Studding-Hickorys Hell Cat
- Books: featuring items such as Autographed "FUBAR" Book & CD by Sam Seder, Autographed "Frontier Diplomats" by Lesley Wischmann, and much more!
- Clothing: featuring items such as an Art Insurgency T-Shirt, and a Handknit Alpaca/Silk Illusion Scarf
FOOTNOTES
Where can you get these wonderful treats? Well, ::sigh:: Whole Foods is likely to have several of them. Yes, they are a corporation and they are expensive. They are also among the better retail establishments to work for but are only local in the Austin area. You could try the co-ops in your area, or go to the web pages of the various items presented to see if they have a "Where to Buy" locator page.
Here are some great pages to find co-ops, locally grown and/or organic produce and meats, CSAs, farmers markets, restaurants and more in your area:
PickYourOwn.org
Food Routes
Sustainable Table
Local Harvest
Eat Wild
. . . .
Here are the 18 families behind the repeal of the Estate Tax along with the companies they are associated with and for both Mars and Campbell's a listing of their product lines:
The dirty dozen and a half:
- Allyn-Soderberg Family (Welch Allyn Inc.)
- Blethen Family (Seattle Times Co)
- Cox Family (Cox Enterprises, Inc. Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- DeVos and Van Andel Families (Alticor/Amway)
- Dorrance Family (Campbell Soup Company)
- Gallo (E&J Gallo Winery)
- Harbert Family
- Johnson Family (BET, RLJ Development Co.)
- Koch Family (Koch Industries)
- Mars Family (Mars Inc.)
- Mayer Family (Captiva Resources)
- Nordstrom Family (Nordstrom Inc.)
- Sobrato Family (Sobrato Development)
- Stephens Family (Stephens Inc)
- Timken Family (The Timken Company)
- Walton Family (Wal-Mart -- you knew there was a reason I knew)
- Wegman Family (Wegmans Food Markets, Inc)
Mars, inc. products include M&M'S, Snickers, Skittles, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Kudos, Combos, Starburst, Twix and M-azing. Uncle Ben's rice products, which include Country Inn, Suzi Wan, and Kan Tong labels as well as the organic product line Seeds of Change foods and also seeds. There is also the pet food lines of Pedigree and Whiskas.
Mars is owner of Dove "premium" candies and ice creams as well.
Campbell's encompasses their condensed and Chunky soup lines as well as Franco-American, Pepperidge Farm, Swanson, Prego, and the premium chocolate line of Godiva.
. . . .
Thank you jillian for posting your great diaries where I was able to find some of these links already handy for me. Thanks also to righteousbabe for the V-Day ideas from Elise's action diary yesterday.
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Please share with us any other good ideas you have and if you can without giving it away what you've already planned or what has happened in the past.
(I'll be around too though my computer has its normal case of diaryitis -- part of why this is so stilted -- and is being very slow so be patient)