Love For Sale
I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day. I think that schmaltzy little fantasy about St. Valentine marrying lovers in secret is one huge fallacy propagated by a dark cabal of media and business moguls who worship some winged, arrow-stringing demon-child. Call me a party pooper, but I’m loathe to further grease the wheels of the consumer-capitalism machine in the name of TWOO WUV. In fact, if Cupid ever came a-calling with a lavish bouquet so bold and beautiful that its unspeakable splendor caused all floral arrangements within a 10-mile radius to shrivel back into their roots in shame, I’d probably rip it from his stubby, wormy fingers and bash him over the head with the decaying foliage.
(My scorn for this blessed event is in no way related to the fact that David Owyong didn’t ask me to be his valentine in 11th grade. Or 12th grade. Or to the PROM. WHY, DAVID, WHY?)
Prejudices aside: If you insist on throwing yourself at the well-manicured feet of Aphrodite, Venus, Hathor, Ishtar, or whoever-have-you, there are better offerings you can make at the altar of love than the purveyors of candy hearts would have you believe. Let’s tackle the two heavy hitters of the Valentine’s Day industry: chocolates and flowers.
Almost half of the chocolate consumed in this country, including those by Nestlé, Hershey’s, and M&M/Mars, is made from cocoa beans imported from Africa’s Ivory Coast, and largely harvested by child slaves as young as 9. Yup, that includes those cute little silver Hershey’s kisses that so perfectly and lovingly encapsulate your amore. Chocolate manufacturers have known about the proverbial mad wife in the attic for years, and they’ve admitted as much. The choices we make as consumers can change these heinous labor practices.
A better option would be to trade in those bonbons for some fair trade, organic sweets for your sweet. This witch particularly loves Green & Black’s Maya Gold dark chocolate with orange and spices, incidentally the first product to be awarded the UK fair-trade certification in 1994. (Green & Black’s has since been acquired by Cadbury Schweppes, but Maya Gold will continue to adhere to fair-trade standards.)
How do you tell if something is fair trade? Look for this label of certification on the packaging, which means that the product complies with the economic, social, and environmental criteria as laid out by Transfair USA.
As Green LA Girl points out, however, the certification covers only the product itself, not the entire company. For example, is Starbucks’ Cafe Estima blend fair trade? Yes, it is, indeedy. Is the rest of Starbucks’ coffee fair trade, as well? Not on your life.
Seventy percent of flowers sold in the US are imported, according to the US Dept. of Agriculture. Commercial flowers produced in countries such as Colombia and Ecuador are sprayed with highly toxic pesticides, fungicides, and fumigants—20 percent of which are banned in the US and Canada for being extremely carcinogenic—in order to maintain their fresh, unblemished appearances. Two-thirds of Columbian and Ecuadorian workers suffer from problems associated with pesticide exposure, including nausea, conjunctivitis, neurologic disease, reproductive problems, and birth defects. Let’s also not forget the environmental toll of producing those seemingly innocuous-looking posies, including the energy requirements of flying or trucking them across distances.
Say it, then, with organic and pesticide-free flowers. Support your local farms by locating an organic-flower grower near you.
If you still need to wax lyrical about the zinging of your heartstrings, consider buying an eco-friendly valentine that biodegrades back into the soil and sprouts seedlings. I personally think that’s a far sweeter sentiment than a bunch of dead plants, but your mileage may vary. Romance, shmomance, why not make buy some green tags and make your love 100 percent climate-neutral? Now that’s true devotion.
green LA girl said,
February 4, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Well, my mixed feelings about this day stem from the fact that in 6th grade, Andrew asked me to “go out” with him via a Valentine :) Sadly, all Valentines Days since then have been bitter disappointments compared to that one –
Except this V-day — I’ll be having a fair trade choco party! Yey! You’d be totally invited if you weren’t thousands of miles away –
Adelin said,
February 5, 2006 at 2:39 am
I’m in the middle (still, I know) of making A. his Valentine’s Day package because I’ve been meaning to send him one all year but haven’t done it yet. I walked into the supermarket and just couldn’t bring myself to buy the special Valentine’s Day packaged chocolates, or candy — Not even the Sweethearts which were the least offensive. So… I don’t know really what to do about this. No Green and Black’s, or non-heterosexist, non-bourgeois candy in the store! I am at a loss. I briefly considered making my own candy to send. No kidding.
Will probably blog about this dilemma soon, as it is consuming my waking hours with the distress that comes along with it.
The Worsted Witch » Can’t Buy Me Love said,
February 9, 2006 at 6:25 pm
[...] So I hear you say, “Hey Witchiquita, where are you getting all these facts and figures from, yo?” If my master’s in bio-journalism isn’t enough to convince you of my research-fu, i.e., I know, at the very least, to get independent verification from myriad credible sources and I’m not just downing the Kool-Aid, would that fine publication known as Time and their legion of fact-checkers hold enough sway? [...]
The Worsted Witch » said,
February 14, 2006 at 6:26 pm
[...] Happy Tuesday! [...]
The Worsted Witch » NYC Fair Trade Coalition said,
March 1, 2006 at 12:56 pm
[...] And in case you missed it the first time: How do you tell if something is fair trade? Look for this label of certification on the packaging, which means that the product complies with the economic, social, and environmental criteria as laid out by Transfair USA, which is the certifying body in the US. (The UK has its own label.) [...]
The Worsted Witch » Fair Trade is Boo-Tiful! said,
October 4, 2006 at 2:09 pm
[...] As I mentioned in my Valentine’s Day post, almost half of the chocolate consumed in this country, including those by Nestlé, Hershey’s, and M&M/Mars, is made from cocoa beans imported from Africa’s Ivory Coast, and largely harvested by child slaves as young as 9. [...]