#FairTradeFriday

Let's talk chocolate today! Chocolate is a popular sweet in the world. Americans consume approximately 11 pounds per person each year of it. And that's nothing compared to what Europeans consume. The average Brit, Swiss or German will each eat around 24 pounds of chocolate a year! So needless to say chocolate is in demand.

But that high demand comes at a price we either are unaware of or refuse to think about. The majority of chocolate products found on shelves around the world are because of forced child labor.

Well. Now that chocolate tastes pretty bitter right now, doesn't it? (By the way, I hope it does taste bitter and you have to spit it out.)

Listen, I'm not here to be a killjoy but I am here to ask you to think outside of the little world you have created for yourself (which we all do) and help aid others in getting the benefits you enjoy - like good health, education, fair wages, etc.

It's easy to shrug, throw our hands up in the air and exclaim, "But I'm just one person, me buying fair trade isn't going to make a difference." Uh. Wrong. How does a lake fill? One drop of water at a time (even though our eyes don't see it that way). How does a domino train get started? One domino is tipped over to touch the next. You make a difference when you combine your actions - or lack of actions - with others. Here's a great and easy to read article by a favorite blogger of mine about the chocolate conundrum and how we can still get our chocolate fixes.

So what to do?

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” (unknown)

Your Guide To Fair Trade Chocolate

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April 5, 2015

The Feast of Firstfruits & Easter Go for Broke Day If it scares you this is the day to go for it no matter what. One Day Without Shoes Day Today is to raise global awareness for children’s health and education. Why shoes? Because shoes help protect from bacteria in the dirt, rusty nails, dirty needles and shoes enable feet to withstand the long distances most children in developing countries need to walk to get to school. Join TOMS One for One There is plenty of criticism out there for TOMS and its short term solutions. Critics don't even buy the "at least they are doing something" statement. However, you have to start somewhere. And every bit of awareness helps something go from short term to long term. We all have a part to play. Read a Road Map Day One of the many reasons I would stink at The Amazing Race is because I never did learn how to read a road map well. I remember doing worksheets and class lessons on maps and I was able to skate by ...

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.

A dime a dozen

"It's said that in the year 1796, the first U.S. dimes were produced for circulation. Hence, it would make sense for this phrase to originate sometime after." Read more here . Today the phrase carries the meaning that something is cheap or without value if it can be lumped in with other similar or exactly-like things. It's more of an insult than anything.

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