Ethical Buying this Easter

Has anyone else faced the challenge of buying ethical chocolate this Easter? 

It is a challenging task as Easter Eggs do not necessarily always carry the particular symbols that we identify as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ etc.  

To make it even more challenging, it appears that some of the larger companies are now doing this in-house. This makes it difficult for the discerning buyer wanting to source ethical chocolate.

For example, Cadbury (Mondelez) has now established its own, "Cocoa Life" which assists farmers, but it is not quite the same as Fairtrade. While the language of Fairtrade is promoting human dignity and human rights, the language of Cocoa Life is more about productivity and economical advantages; "Cocoa Life works to help farmers improve productivity."

The attached website works through a lot of the issues that have been present in the chocolate industry providing a scorecard of the best to worst ethical chocolate companies.

https://assetcampaign.org/tisc-tank/chocolate-scorecard/

The short of all this is, that the following brands are at the forefront of ethical sourcing & creating when purchasing Easter Eggs from the major supermarkets: 

• Darrel Lea
• Ferrero Rocher
• Nestle
• Kinder Surprise

Cadbury is everywhere (and the most prominent around Easter time) and the short of it is, they are still attempting to assist farmers. The good news is that due to awareness they are forced to continue to take action making their chocolate more ethical. 

In light of all this talk about chocolate, our Senior House Leaders Hugh Byrne and Zayah James are asking our community to donate Easter Eggs to the school in conjunction with Echuca Neighbourhood House. They identified that our community and surrounds have had a fairly tough three years with Covid and floods and that there are people in our community that would appreciate this small gesture. One of the central messages of Easter is marked by the cross. Identifying the heavy burdens people carry in our community helps us to appreciate and understand the suffering in others. Sharing our material goods to those with a heavy cross to bear is the hallmark of Christian giving. 

Who could you reach out to over this Lenten period that is carrying a heavy cross?

Brooke O'Brien

Living Justice Living Peace Leader and Co Student Agency and Voice Leader