Roll back to the point where you, who are paid, are borrowing money from the unpaid intern.

Has this post made raku's ears burn? (Or is the internet equivalent "make her fingers tingle"?) We shall see.

Anyway, one must not be concerned with ideological purity. It's a fool's game, and one you'll always lose for the reasons you cite. We live in this world and cannot just jet off to the perfect one where everyone and everything live in harmony. What you want to do is decide what are your priorities. Theo employees, for example, aren't slaves with no recourse but to produce yuppie chocolate for their objectivist overlords, so I don't see it as reason enough to avoid purchasing their chocolate. (OTOH, the fact that Moonstruck chocolate is superior and ofter sold in the same places - at least here in Denver - is a good reason to bypass Theo.)

If you like chocolate, why settle for Theos?

Oh good lord. Just do your best, it doesn't have to be perfect—we'd all starve.

Unfortunately, the words "organic" or "fair trade" on chocolate bars almost always means "shitty".

@4 exactly, you can't let the best be enemy of the good. "Analysis paralysis." If LBJ had thought like this black people might have had to wait decades longer to get the right to vote (and all the rights that followed). But luckily when he finally decided it was time for a real civil rights bill, he just fucking did it and didn't let anything get in his way. The left needs more LBJs and fewer people agonizing over free-trade chocolate.

You do your best, you try to be conscientious, you try not to be a prick about it, and that's how you lead a reasonably good life. Oh, and keep your priorities straight. Elections matter far more than small consumer choices.

Considering that non-fair trade cacao laborers are essentially slaves, Goldy can get bent.

@6,

Theo is an outlier.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley, An lea'e us nought but grief an' pain for promis'd joy.

@6 Guittard is pretty good.

@9: the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.

I try my best to make thoughtful choices about the who/what/where/when/why I spend my money and energy, and am with @2, 4 and 7 -- don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I have to explain this logic pretty much every time I see my family because they find it very threatening that I make choices other than the ones they would make (even though I never, ever give unsolicited commentary or attempt to "educate" them about my reasoning for why I do or don't do what I do, or about how they live their life) and are constantly trying to catch me out as a hypocrite. It's a drag.

PS -- I love most everything about Theo and will continue to buy and enjoy their products.

@11 - O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

I think the situation is not about what is morally right & wrong to put in your body, but about the individual's responsibility in communicating their stance. For Americans (and I include myself, as I'm currently demonstrating), it's not enough to just have an opinion/moral stance on something. You must also communicate them at all times. So instead of a "No, thank you," Goldy, like a good American, had to make it known very specifically why he wasn't eating the chocolate. In spite of what the conservatives say, we're very patriotic here on Slog.

I know, buy some chocolate from Whole Foods and help destroy America that way!

Seriously, it's good to be concerned over sourcing, but as with clothes made in Pakistan, or vegan plastic shoes made from the slaughtered and decomposed bodies of meat-eating dinosaurs (plastic), at some point you just need to get a grip.

You can be a vegan and drive 200 miles each day to work using coal-fired electricity in your all-electric car, and you'll still be worse than a meat eating cigar smoking dweller in a city who drives his Esplanade two blocks to work each day.

A little black thing among the snow
crying "weep weep!" in notes of woe,
Where are thy father and mother? say?
They have both gone up to the church to pray.

Because I laughed upon the heath
and smiled in the winter snow,
they clothed me in the clothes of death,
and taught me to sing the notes of woe

Because I am happy, and dance, and sing,
they think they have done me no injury.
And are gone to praise God, and his Priest, and King,
who make a heaven of our misery.

i'll make this easy for you...goldy is an idiot.

But @14 is right, SLOG is very patriotic.

just make sure absolutely everything you buy is advertised with as many of those golden key words as possible and you'll be so distracted by your perfect display of ethics that you won't notice you're broke and hungry.

Theo's does not taste good.

I am a fiend for chocolate, from highbrow to lowbrow, from factory-poured milk chocolate to cacao-kapow dark chocolates hand-mixed by mountain indigenes.

Theo's does not taste good.

Goldy is a bitter old dick and you should pretty much never listen to him.

He complains about fair pay for workers, meanwhile you are an unpaid intern.

He certainly was not there for you when you needed $10.

@6, illustrating my point: Guittard doesn't say "organic" or "fair trade" on their label, at least not the ones I've seen. They may well be both, and that would be nice, but they don't have to spread it across their label in order to sell it. If chocolate says those things in big letters, or "rainforest" or whatever, it's always in my experience crap.

High-end chocolate is pretty likely to be fairly and sustainably sourced, anyways, because small farmers using sustainable techniques are where the good stuff comes from.

@20, I like some Theo's bars OK, in violation of my rule above. "Bread and Chocolate" is nice. Not great, but OK. It's no B. T. McElrath, though, that's for sure. I'm no expert -- Mrs. Fnarf is the resident in that category -- but "Salty Dog" makes me purr and roll my eyes back in my head. If we ever make it to Brussels, I expect I'm going to need the handcuffs and taser to get her back to the hotel, though.

Funny story: I recently opened a box of miscellaneous crap from our trip to the UK seven years ago, and among the railway timetables and tourist brochures were a couple of bars of fancy dark chocolate from Betty's Cafe Tea Room in York. They were horrible-looking, white and powdery. I ate them. Pretty good still, but they'd gone all dry and granular and crumbly, but once they warmed up in my mouth they were fine. Mrs. Fnarf was aghast, which was also fine, because it's very unusual for me to get more than a few nibbles before she snatches it from me, scurries away, and sits in the corner making Gollum noises over it.

You must be one of those people who sucks at rock-paper-scissors.

Goldy has really nothing to do with this, he was merely the catalyst, MS. Klein is simply writing about the difficulties of being fair and just in a world that is fundamentally unfair and unjust.

Some people respond to this by giving up, claiming that the world simply can’t be fair, or even claiming that people deserve what they get, thereby freeing themselves from any moral consideration.

Others focus very narrowly on just a few subjects, frequently following the right wing’s lead in demonizing those who disagree, consider that, just a few weeks ago Ansel, nice guy that he is, decried the fact that congress hadn’t ended thousands of jobs for American workers, most well-paying union jobs, given a huge victory to the far right of the Republican Party, and in all probability put guns in the hands of some very nasty people.

As for myself, I just try, fail often but not always, I buy Carhartts and Ben Davis work clothes, and Red-wing (no jokes please) steel toed boots, try and shop at farmers markets, but yes, I have cards at QFC, Safeway and Albertson’s.

This page can help a bit: http://americanrightsatwork.org/blog/uni…

Oh and Jim Beam is Union made, just sayin’

@24: "Ansel decried the fact that congress hadn’t ended thousands of jobs for American workers"

Holy shit, what a dick!

(I did nothing of the sort, if you bother to read.)

The whole project of "sustainable, ethical" eating always truck me as Talmudic in its neuroticism. It's not the job of Joe on the street to enforce labor laws, make sure the right to organize is secure, guarantee health care, etc. That's the government's job! The notion that it's up to individuals to save the world is not a progressive one, *it's a libertarian one*. If you feel guilty about using what little money you have to buy something with ethical taint (read: just about everything), spend a day canvassing for progressive candidates. And eat the damn chocolate.

This post reminds me of the late David Rakoff's book "Don't Get Too Comfortable." A very memorable passage said something to the effect that being wealthy itself isn't bad, it's when you think being wealthy is a virtue...and, well, buying certain "virtuous" things does not make us good, it just shows we are privileged. However, as others have said, we should always try to make the least harmful choices.

Wow Goldy, way to lecture your unpaid intern about fair labour practices. What a hypothetical dick.

@26 - However, as a "Joanne on the street", I feel I have not just the right but the duty to keep MY hard-earned dollars out of the hands of companies that bust unions (Coors), won't allow unions at all (Home Depot, WalMart), are owned by churches who funnel money into anti-gay politics (Albertson's), or whose owner sells a beloved sports team out from under a devoted fan base (Starbuck's).

Do I think my small withholdings will make one whit of actual difference? Probably not, but I sure have had a lot of interesting conversations over the years about why I won't do business with one outfit or another. And maybe in that way, I am actually helping to spread the light a little bit.

At least I can sleep better at night knowing that NONE of my meager finances are going to businesses whose practices I abhor.

@25:
I did bother to read, and you did just as I described, you may not have been aware of the fact that this would have been the end result, but the facts are there.

Granted it was, and is, a tough issue with good arguments on both sides, I understand your point, I disagree with your conclusions, but I respect the place you’re coming from, but seriously, I’m not sure you understand the whole picture here.

Anytime you wish to sit down for a drink and disscuss this or any other issue with me your more than welcome.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;

Great. So now I have to figure out whether chocolate is created through slave labor or not before I bite another cupcake. And chocolate was the only candy/dessert taste I like.

@33 Aw, come on. I don't think I like that one. So we have to be broken to become newer and better? The total defeat is obligatory in order to learn some sort of life lesson?

Boy, the poetry on this thread is really depressing.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can
And don't have any kids yourself.

I'd like to think the convo went like this:

Unpaid Intern: Hey Goldy do you want some chocolate.
Goldy: Where's it from?
Unpaid Intern: Theo's.
Goldy: Hell no!!! Don't you know they are bad to their labour. They don't let them unionize and won't pay them a living wage.
Unpaid Intern: So you're saying people should get paid a living wage.
Goldy: Hell yes.
Unpaid Intern: And you don't support companies that don't pay living wages.
Goldy: Hell yes. They're worse than a Seattle Times Editorial writer!
Unpaid Intern: So people should get paid fairly for their work, and companies that don't shouldn't be supported...That basically sums up your position?
Goldy: Anyone that doesn't pay a fair wage is a horses ass and is complete scum who is ruining America and should be boycotted by all us real thinking Americans.
Unpaid Intern:Gotcha....So I can haz paycheck now?
Goldy: Sorry, got to run, the Seattle Times just wrote another article about taxes I need to rant about...What a bunch of hypocrites...GOD I HATE HYPOCRITES. FAIR WAGES FOR ALL!!!!!
Unpaid Intern:Well I guess I'm not eating for another week....

End scene.

Bah, it ate some of my comment because I put it in a less/greater bracket. the last line was suppose to be:

Goldy: Sorry, got to run, the Seattle Times just wrote another article about taxes I need to rant about...What a bunch of hypocrites...GOD I HATE HYPOCRITES.(Grabs chocolate bar and smashes it to the groud, using his foot to smash it into the floor more) FAIR WAGES FOR ALL!!!!!

The best chocolate I get is the stuff that Purple Mark makes.

i love you emily nokes

the cocoa industry is astoundingly evil and corrupt and violent. always buy fair trade/organic whenever possible. the organic label virtually guarantees that it did not come from the ivory coast - the worst offender by far.

i know it's just one of many evils in the world, and trying to shop ethically can often feel like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. but i agree it's important to try and do right by what we become aware of, wherever possible, to the extent that we aren't just shifting the harm somewhere else (driving an extra distance to buy eco-friendly soap).

guittard is not organic/fair trade to my knowledge. i agree it's good, but not ethically produced.

i agree for the most part about theo's being garbage (ugghhhh have you ever had the misfortune of trying their dark mint?!) but fnarf, have you ever tried green and black's? i love everything i've tried from them. it's not too pricey, and it goes on sale a lot, and it blows theo's away.

Yes, Emily, it is true - a lot of your cohorts at the Stranger are total wankers... Goldy, Dominic, and Charles come to mind as folks who are so wedded to the personal ideological hobby-horses (be it labor, density, or Marxism) that they can't see the forest for the trees and expect everyone to comply with their particular "purity" tests even when they don't live up to them themselves.

@42, about Guittard, is this from their website a bit comforting?

We feel strongly about global efforts toward sustainability of the environment of the cocoa growing regions and the well being of cocoa workers. We are members of The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), a public-private member group of stakeholders in cocoa. The members represent many world governments, world banks, private foundations, researchers, and producers. Through WCF we are funding partners along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others, of the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) that delivers essential support to ensure quality of life for the farmers through sustainable cocoa growing. And we are funding partners along with USAID and others, in Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions, the ECHOES program. To learn more, see http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org.
We are licensed by Fair Trade USA® - for greater profit for the farmer. We source cocoa beans that are Rainforest Alliance Certified - for greater sustainability. I am a volunteer member of the Fairtrade Labelling Organization's Cocoa Products Advising Council - a diverse group of cocoa community experts providing strategic advice on Fair Trade Certification of cocoa.

http://www.guittard.com/guittard_ethical…

Also Theo had already been paid for their chocolate bar. Goldy isn't keeping money out of their pockets by refusing to eat a piece, just being a dick.

I'm amazed by the enmity Theo has received in this thread on the basis of their taste profile alone, especially from people calling themselves chocolate connoisseurs.

Theo definitely leans on the fruity side, especially in their single origins, with deep flavors that release slowly on your tongue. If your tastes lean differently, Theo is probably not for you, and that's fine.

But some of the examples cited as preferred in these comments are objectively lesser products. Moonstruck, like so many "artisanal" chocolate brands, is just repackaged from a mass-produced couverture. It's designed for the broadest appeal, so it just tastes like "inoffensively sweet". Even the dark chocolates taste like "sweet". The undeserved attention Moonstruck gets is criminal, when elsewhere in Portland are chocolatiers doing amazing and superlatively special things (see: Woodblock).

Green & Black's, though not as insipid as Moonstruck, is still predictable by necessity, as parent company Kraft Foods -- yes, Kraft Foods -- needs to procure large quantities of beans that can be processed at high volumes into a roughly consistent product. Buying Green & Black's is like going to "Roy Street Coffee & Tea"; it's not objectively bad, but don't delude yourself that you aren't simply receiving the upmarket permutation of the same corporate product.

@ 38, 39 - I'm sorry you don't understand the concept of internship. Hint: it's a learning experience, and is invaluable on the résumé when job-seeking later on. That's why people do it willingly, happily, for a few months at a time.

You're about as likely to get men to give up porn on moral grounds as you are to get women to give up chocolate on a similar basis.

@47 google unpaid internships and you'll find a bunch of articles about how they promote class privileged. Turns out people with little money can't afford to work for free for months at a time. It also turns out companies that have paid interns are much more likely to hire their interns full time whereas companies that use unpaid interns are much more likely to use them as a revolving door of free labour.

And I do know what an internship is, I did many of them in school. But I was lucky enough that they paid a living wage so I could take advantage of them. I would not be where I am today without internships and I wouldn't have been able to afford doing the internships if it didn't pay. That's way I rant so much about the stranger using unpaid internships. They need to walk the walk if they're going to talk the talk.

Theo's is the Thomas Kincaide of chocolate.

@50: That doesn't even make sense.

Hershey's would be the Thomas Kincaide of chocolate. Or at best something that feigned lushness and subtlety but was really just cloyingly sweet and mass-produced, like Lindt.

@ 49: We are paid now.