Trick or Treat!?
Does Halloween bring out the kid in you? It does for so many of us. Costumes galore, scary movies, chocolate of course, and don’t even get me started on witches! (Check out our workshops on the Magic of Chocolate: The History of Chocolate of Witchcraft.)
Ghosts too – at a Trunk or Treat event with Action for Education Equity late last week, kids came to our table not just for candy. Many of the kids crafted a ghost (thanks to AEE’s super creative and crafty leader, Laura); some were even dressed up as ghosts. These crafted and costumed ghosts, of course, were not transparent.
Transparent Chocolate for Halloween
Of course, transparency is different when we talk about chocolate. We’d argue it’s a lot more critical. Why? Well, not only is chocolate the most complex food that we know of (cool, right!? To learn more, sign up for one of our upcoming classes or schedule a private workshop with friends or family) – chocolate’s food chain is also complicated, and what happens within it has ripple effects. To start with, the way that chocolate is grown matters. Did you know that a lot of commercial chocolate in the U.S. comes from cacao trees grown on deforested land? One estimate is that 70% of the illegal yet common deforestation in the Ivory Coast is a result of cacao. Similar deforestation and monocropping is happening all over the world.
Transparent & Sustainable Chocolate
Boo!
Just kidding – no ghosts here. But there is plenty of transparency. It’s one of the many things that makes us unique and makes our chocolate special. We focus on the source of our ingredients. Sustainability, labor practices, treatment of every hand and person on the farm, and environmental practices. All of that matters when we make our chocolate.
In 2019, it was estimated that 160 million Americans bought candy for Halloween, spending about $2.6 billion, including 90 million pounds of chocolate. That’s a lot of chocolate, and when we vote and make change with our dollars, that makes a statement.
Trick or Treat
I don’t know about anyone else, but my kids have been looking forward to Halloween for months. They’ve been excited about getting dressed up in costume, walking around the neighborhood and collecting candy with friends. And as adults, we get to relive our childhood with them.
Just as fun, this Halloween, we will be handing out chocolate treats that we feel good about and that we know taste delicious! This year, Laughing Gull Chocolates wanted our community to be able to share transparently sourced, and yummy chocolate with their neighbors, friends and family. We have simple, smooth milk and dark chocolate molded into the word “Boo,” and wrapped in festive orange foil, two placed in a bag. We can’t get over how cute they are!
Looking for more Halloween chocolate? Join us for an in-person workshop – The Magic of Chocolate: A History of Chocolate and Witchcraft on October 28, 2023 at 4pm to learn all about how chocolate and witchcraft are connected.
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