BoomerGirl Diary

If you’re looking for delicious chocolate to give to your loved ones (or yourself) on Valentine’s Day, “green” options abound.

Chocolate is made from cocoa grown in the tropical rainforests of Africa and South America. Sierra magazine reported that cocoa growing is responsible for 14 percent of the deforestation that’s destroyed the rainforests of West Africa and a large percentage of the rainforests in South America.

The best eco-friendly chocolate comes from small organic farms that grow their cocoa trees in the shade so they don’t have to clearcut the forests or douse the plants in pesticides to repel bugs that thrive when the plants are grown on sun-loving plantations.

Even better, most organic, shade grown cocoa is also produced using “fair trade” practices.

Many cocoa farmers who work on large plantations live in horrible poverty, earning as little as $30 - $100 a year. Children labor on these plantations as well, applying pesticides and using machetes to clear forests. “Fair trade” cocoa coops pay farmers a decent wage, prohibit child labor, and provide better working and living conditions for workers and their families.

You can be a real sweetheart this Valentine’s Day by buying chocolate that’s organic, shade grown, and “fair trade.”

If you’re shopping online, at a natural foods store or food coop, try

• Dagoba

• Endangered Species Organic Chocolate

• Divine Milk Chocolate

If you’re at the mall, Sam’s Club or CVS, look for

• Russell Stover Assorted Organic Chocolates, Organic Pecan Delights, Organic Coconut Covered Chocolates

• Dove Organic Chocolates: Dark Chocolate, Citrus Spice, Milk Chocolate

The downside? Neither of these two companies appears to use suppliers whose ingredients come from fair trade sources.

Encourage them by calling their numbers, available on our Web site at Use Your Purse, along with more green chocolate options, more info about fair trade practices, and links to sites that help protect kids from slave labor on chocolate plantations.