'Sweet Justice' was a sweet success

After four months of planning, Oxfam’s Columbus Action Corps hosted “Sweet Justice: Choosing Chocolates” Thursday evening in the Larry D. Black Auditorium of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.

The cold early spring weather failed to deter the 30 guests, community partners and volunteers from attending the informative and interactive free program. The event drew a mixed group of audience was a combination of college students, academics, AmeriCorps members, United Nations Association board members and curious onlookers.

Oxfam volunteers [left to right] Ritsu Kondu and Nancy Prindle  share new  Oxfam's new fact  sheet about "Women and the Big Business of Cocoa" with an attendee Thursday at "Sweet Justice: Choosing Chocolates." Credit: Jessica Burchard.

“Sweet Justice” began with a brief presentation by Columbus Action Corps Co-Leader Jessica Burchard about Oxfam and its mission to right the wrongs of poverty and injustice globally as well as details about the organization’s newest worldwide initiative, Behind the Brands.

The homepage of Oxfam's global initiative, Behind the Brands, that  launched on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The website  explains the Big 10 food companies Oxfam ranked and the criteria used as well as background on research and action you can take.

Behind the Brands launched on Tuesday, Feb. 26 and focuses on encouraging the world’s 10 largest food and beverage companies to be more open and responsible about what happens in their supply chains. It rates the companies on seven environmental, human rights and transparency issues and cites ways the companies can do their part to fix the world’s broken food system by making their supply chains fairer for everyone.

Three of the 10 companies—Mars, Mondelez International and Nestle—produce popular chocolates that are made from crops grown and harvested by small-scale cocoa farmers. Oxfam researchers traveled to several countries, including Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria to conduct interviews with farmers and found that women cocoa farmers were facing severe wage and land ownership discrimination. Oxfam chose to make this a priority with Behind the Brands and asks consumers to sign a petition urging the companies to “look, listen and act” to end discrimination against women cocoa farmers.

“Sweet Justice” attendees showed their full support for the Behind the Brands petition with 24 people signing it. Guests also took a copy of the Behind the Brands Scorecard.

The Behind the Brands Scorecard shows that out of a possible 70 points, the highest ranked company, Nestle,  earned only 54. Obviously, there's ample room for improvement for all Big 10 companies. 

After the introduction of Oxfam and its program, Jen Miller, board president of Global Gallery, spoke about opportunities to purchase fair trade and ethically made items in Columbus. She encouraged the audience to see paying more for high quality chocolates like Divine as an investment in small businesses across the globe that treat their workers with respect.

Jen Miller, board president of Global Gallery, discusses the importance of  fair trade and understanding where your cocoa products come from at Thursday evening's "Sweet Justice: Choosing Chocolates" program in the Larry D. Black Auditorium of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 S. Grant Ave. Credit: H. Louise Davis.

The program’s second speaker was Adeline Lambert, cocoa researcher with the International Labor Relations Forum. She discussed the overall cocoa supply chain and the many inequities in it that prevent farmers from securing a fair price for their products. Some of the impediments are the lack of true representation of farmers’ interests on the committees that set the prices and the dearth of educational opportunities that enable farmers to understand math and cost analysis.

Adeline Lambert, cocoa researcher with the International Labor Relations Forum,  joined "Sweet Justice" via Skype Thursday evening. She discussed the many inequities in the current cocoa supply chain.

Lambert said that governments are supportive of cooperatives and other ways of working toward giving small-scale cocoa farmers more say in determining the sale price of their crops. She added that the large companies are slowly changing policy, but thousands of families struggle with paying to grow cocoa and sending their children to school.

To move the program toward its interactive chocolate taste test conclusion, nationally acclaimed chocolate expert Clay Gordon  talked about the different types of chocolates—milk, dark, dark milk, different percentages of cocoa and various brands—and how to truly taste each. He advised that people make an effort to slow down and really examine the chocolate with all their senses—smell, sight, touch and taste as the confection melts in their mouths and they note all the layers of flavors.

Clay Gordon, a nationally respected chocolate expert, often travels to Peru and other countries to see first-hand how cocoa is grown and harvested. He made his presentation during "Sweet Justice"  using Skype from his home in New York. 

Gordon said there’s no shame in enjoying commercial chocolates like the ones produced by Mars, Mondelez and Nestle. He simply suggested people keep an open mind and build flavor memories of different types of chocolates. The process of tasting and evaluating chocolates requires nothing more than some patience, impulse control and a sense of humor, the author of “Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting and Enjoying Fine Chocolate.”

An informal display of books about chocolate, including Clay Gordon's "Discover Chocolate" placed next to festive Easter baskets with messages encouraging Mars, Nestle and Mondelez to change their policies to be fairer to women cocoa farmers. Credit: Jessica Burchard. 

For the “Sweet Justice” chocolate taste test, attendees sampled five types of chocolates: milk and dark chocolate Equal Exchange, dark Divine chocolate, Cadbury Crème Egg and dark Dove chocolate. They used Divine’s chocolate Tasting Notes that with boxes for impressions of aroma, appearance, snap, texture, melt, flavor and finish. 

AmeriCorps members conduct an in-depth chocolate taste test and share findings among  one another  Thursday at  Oxfam's "Sweet Justice: Choosing Chocolates." Credit: Jessica Burchard.

The panel of expert speakers and taste test combined to prove a powerful point about the way chocolate is produced and how we think about consuming it. As more information comes out about Behind the Brands, Oxfam will continue to have community events like “Sweet Justice: Choosing Chocolates” as a means of educating everyone about injustices within cocoa supply chain and making suggestions on what we can do as concerned consumers to improve lives for small-scale cocoa farmers.

Jessica J. Burchard, Oxfam Columbus Action Corps Co-Leader 2012-13.