Sweet Earth farmer with ripe cacao pods

Sweet Earth Organic believes that capitalism comes in different flavors--not just the survival-of-the-fittest sort, but a softer, kinder, and more sustainable way of doing business that considers the needs of our planet and its people.

Consuming chocolate made from organically grown cocoa is one giant step toward reducing our dependence on petroleum-based agricultural inputs while supporting small growers who intercrop, growing as many six crops on one small plot. This is a stark contrast with plantation-style growing, where the rainforest is cut down to permit mono-cropping and petroleum-based agricultural chemicals are commonly used. We believe that the environment has been damaged enough by these POPs (persistant organic pollutants) that kill our lakes and streams.

Sweet Earth farmers drying
cacao pods

Fair Trade certification is a guarantee to processors, handlers, retailers and consumers, that the cocoa beans used in this chocolate were produced in a way that does no social harm. The U.S. State Department estimates that over 15,000 child-slaves work on plantations in the Ivory Coast. They have been kidnapped or sold by their parents to work from age 8 on cutting cocoa pods from trees and processing them, sometimes at the end of a whip.

Fair Trade certification guarantees that you are not an unwitting participant in this very inhumane situation. Fair Trade-certified cocoa only comes from certified farmers' cooperatives, organized to strengthen their farmer-members economically so they can provide for their families and educate their children.

Read more about Sweet Earth Organic Chocolate at sweetearthchocolates.blogspot.com/.