The kids will hate you. I can only imagine the disappointment in my 5yo's face if someone handed her goldfish crackers.
And my 6 yo would ask if she could go back to that house again. She'd trade me pretty much any candy she had for a bag of goldfish, other than maybe a peanut butter cup or a kit kat.
I don't let stuff like this influence my candy buying. First, it's about the kids so I don't politicize it. Second, I won't be hypocritical...I'm sure I buy so many products that have similar issues, some I'm aware of some I'm not, so I'm not going to make a stand on chocolate while I'm buying bad bananas or something.
I went to Whole Foods for lunch and they had an end cap of halloween candy.
Yummy Earth lollipops (40+ count) and Gummi Bears (24 count) for $5.99. They also had Snyder's pretzel snack packs (24 count) for $2.99.
ETA: From the Yummy Earth Website - They address their labor practices: Our facility in Mexico (my dear friend and the other co-founder, Sergio, grew up in Mexico City) is free of the major allergens and are inspected frequently by US inspectors and enjoy exemplary quality and safety records. (a very important side note regarding US and non-US jobs - we proudly pay fair wages to our valued team members in Mexico and have created about the same number of jobs there as we have in the US). We have found that implementing excellent safety and ingredient control standards can yield extraordinarily safe and high quality products in our facilities. Further, we send finished product to be tested at the University of Nebraska for nutrients and contaminants, because, as dads, that's what we wish all food manufacturers would do. We believe the secret to quality is caring enough to do the right thing; as we all know the country of origin means nothing when you don't care about your customers, even if you are making peanut butter, chicken, toothpaste, or meat in the US. Sergio and I care about quality first and take production of YummyEarth products very seriously.
I always hand out fair trade chocolates. I don't really buy much chocolate period (dislike it), but I'm not going to knowingly support child slavery and trafficking because I don't feel like paying for chocolate grown under moderately acceptable conditions. If I couldn't afford to, I'd shut off the light and hand out nothing. The happiness of some over-sugared neighborhood kid doesn't trump the right to childhood of a kid somewhere else. Flame away.
Post by puppydoggie on Oct 16, 2012 12:58:10 GMT -5
Not only are children involved, but animals are also tested on by many of these companies. So what is fair trade and where does one buy it? How expensive are we talking?
Last year I gave out oranges with jack-o-lantern faces I drew on them with a sharpie.
But this was at work and we basically just leave out a bowl of treats and the kids come along and take one or not. I always leave early on Halloween because all the kids running around drives me batty, but I'm told they were a big hit with parents and kids with allergies.
I just buy a bunch of chocolate candy. It is usually name brand stuff like Mars, Nestle, Hershey, etc. I buy that because that is the stuff that is most wanted by kids, and IMO Halloween is all about kids getting the candy they want. It's not what I want; otherwise I wouldn't be buying ANY candy... I don't eat it. It's one day a year so I don't make it a political decision.
I just can't with the "it's about kids so I don't politicize it." I think it's gross that we live in a world where children being trafficked and forced to work on plantations under abysmal conditions is apparently a controversial political issue too "political" for our delicate children. Of course it's not about the five your old who made your cheap-as-hell chocolate because she just doesn't count. So when you say "it's about kids" what you mean is "it's about my kids and I won't allow any "supposed political" issue to impact them in any way no matter how egregious and no matter how much my cbild's happiness impinges on the basic human rights of another."
Just because you aren't aware of every problem wih every product you use doesn't let you off the hook for doing something about those you are aware of--especially a freaking luxury product like chocolate that no one actually needs and has oodles of suitable, fairly produced equivalents.
Honest question, do you buy american made for everything? I agree with you that some kids happiness here shouldn't trump the human rights of a kid in another country. I just feel like this is an endless battle expecially when it comes to clothing.
I do understand where mx is coming from, to a point, but I don't think anyone really has any business chastising someone for their choice in chocolate unless they take action to avoid controversial products in all facets of their own life...cell phone batteries, diamonds, chocolate, bananas, many textiles, etc......they all have major welfare issues for those in other countries. It's endless, really.
Listen, I want a Reeses peanut butter cup now more than ever. But now that I know that child slave labor is used to cultivate the chocolate used to make it, I won't buy that product anymore.
Ignorance is bliss. However, once I can no longer hide behind the shroud of ignorance, I'm going to make the humane choice with my purchase.
I was really bummed I wasn't going to make it home from work in time to pass out candy to trick or treaters. Now I guess I'm relieved. Though you guys gave some great ideas for alternate treats!
Post by suburbanzookeeper on Oct 16, 2012 16:28:02 GMT -5
We went through almost 400 pieces of candy last year, so we give out the "normal" stuff. It's already been purchased when it was with a gift card/coupon at Target a few weeks ago. In addition I bought 200 glowsticks for $4 on clearance at Michaels at the end of summer, so I think we're set.
Also, this just made me double-check the chocolate reserve I have in the kitchen cabinet. It's all made in Switzerland or Belgium and certified organic by the European Union. I am going to assume that means no one was exploited in its production.
The chocolate bars may have been made there, but cocao isn't grown in Europe. Organic =/= fair trade.