Chocolate That's Healthy For Everyone!

A friend just sent me this excerpt from an article about chocolate:

” organic chocolate bars. Also, please be aware that many popular and seemingly artisan-quality chocolate companies are now owned by multinational corporations who use GMO ingredients, disregard fair trade standards, and otherwise are not interested in supporting organic and sustainable production methods.

As examples, Cadbury Schweppes bought Green & Black in 2005, who in turn was bought by Kraft Foods in 2010. Dagoba was bought by Hershey’s in 2006. You will find this pattern recur quite often if you peek beneath the “wrapper” of the chocolate industry. So, please remember to choose carefully, and consider whether the companies you support are supporting you back.

Bummer! Can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner.” (https://healthimpactnews.com/2013/the-rich-benefits-of-eating-chocolate/)

My response: Yes, I know, really sad. Any health benefits that exist in cacao are neutralized by GMO stresses, and I believe that living with integrity, which includes fair trade practices, is imperative for health.Theo Chocolate is still independent, and I believe is the only certified fair-trade bean to bar producer in North America; I know they were the first. (They also have the most amazing chocolate mint bar!) Alter Eco is another safe bet, and is committed to redeveloping biodiversity in areas stripped for cacao production, which (no surprise!!) also enhances life and livelihoods of farmers in the regions. I have read in several sources that cacao farming and processing is the world's largest user of slave labor, especially as forests have been taken over by those same corporations swallowing up brands. Hershey is the largest GMO producer in the world; last list I saw placed Starbucks second. A similar situation exists in the yogurt world: Dannon owns Brown Cow, Oikos, and Stonyfield, General Mills owns Yoplait….. Pass it on!