Editor's note: We at SASS Magazine are not in the product or service endorsement business; as such, our ideas are meant only to give some helpful hints and ideas, and help you make your own future-friendly Valentines' decisions. SASS strongly encourages you to regularly and repeatedly reduce your environmental footprint, and please, buy and consume in moderation.

by Collin Dunn

Chocolate

The only thing better than chocolate is...Fair Trade Chocolate.
Much of the world's chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast region of West Africa, where cocoa production is an enormous part of the economy. In Ghana, for example, 40 percent of the country’s export revenues come from the sale of cocoa. Sadly, a very small percentage of the profit goes to the farmers who grow the beans; cocoa farmers only receive about a penny for a candy bar that sells for 60 cents.

In fact, the difficulty in making a living at cocoa farming has spawned an increase in child and even slave labor, drawn from poor neighboring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. Children and other workers are forced to work long days picking and processing cocoa beans; it takes 400 of these pods to make just one pound of chocolate. Very few of the children have the opportunity to attend school.

Fair Trade cocoa offers farmers an opportunity to make a real living. The Fair Trade Certified production criteria guarantee a minimum price and insure that no child or forced labor is used.

Fair Trade Certified chocolate can be found at health food stores and specialty markets across the country. To find a fair trade retailer near you, visit the TransfairUSA website. If you can't find the brand you want locally, an excellent one-stop online source is the Global Exchange Store.
Some of our favorite fair trade and organic chocolate products:

  • Dagoba Organic Chocolate - chocolate bars, baking chips, chocolate syrup, hot chocolate, and baking cocoa (non-alkali).
  • Dean's Beans - Organic hot cocoa and baking cocoa, also kosher.
  • Equal Exchange - Organic hot cocoa and baking cocoa (with alkali).
  • Ithaca Fine Chocolates - Organic chocolate "Art Bars."
  • Yachana Gourmet - Chocolate, tropical fruit spreads and other food products made from organically grown raw materials from the Amazon rainforest region in Ecuador.

Flowers

You feel and smell better when you aren't hosed down with pesticides, right? Flowers do, too.
There is no better addition to a gift of chocolate than a bouquet of flowers -- they smell better and aren't as hard on your teeth -- but the source of the flowers is something to be very wary of. The majority of cut flowers are grown near the equator, in Latin America and Africa, in an industry that employs mostly women working without benefits. When the holidays roll around and flowers are in great demand, they can expect a little forced overtime to boot. The flowers themselves are grown in greenhouses or under broad tents -- not to keep weather or insects out, but to keep pesticides in. Growers in other countries douse the flowers with chemicals and bathe them in pesticides banned in the U.S. -- in fact, up to 20 percent of the pesticides used are banned stateside.

Understandably, heavy application of pesticides in confined areas has significant, detrimental impacts on both the environment and workers. The chemicals get on worker’s clothes, in their skin and lungs, and are carried out of the greenhouses to their homes. Pesticides also contaminate the soil and seep into water supplies. Studies in Costa Rica have indicated that 50 percent of floriculture workers show symptoms of pesticide poisoning, and rates of miscarriage and birth defects are higher in areas surrounding flower farms.

Certified organic flowers are grown without the use of dangerous pesticides – making a safer environment for floriculture workers, their families, and their homes. Urge your local florists to carry certified flowers, and look for organic flowers online or at your local farmer’s market. For a great selection of organic flowers, check out organicbouquet.com, the first online organic florist. They offer a beautiful assortment of eco-friendly flowers that will satisy any and all Valentine floral needs. Their flowers are shipped fresh direct from the farm and available for nationwide delivery. Based in Novato, Calif., they really believe that supporting organic agriculture optimizes the health and productivity of the interdependent communities of soil life, ground water, plants, animals and people -- especially the farm workers themselves. Visit their website at www.organicbouquet.com and feel good when you buy flowers there.

Wine

Organic nectar of the gods: sweeeeet.
So, the chocolate is unwrapped and half-eaten, the flowers are bathing in their vase; the evening is growing long and it's time for a nightcap. A nice glass of wine (or perhaps a little bit of the bubbly) will do the trick, but not just any glass. To be sure that you aren't drinking anything but the sweet, grape-y, fermented nectar of the gods, better reach for some organic wine. Why? Organic wine is made from grapes grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals, all of which can do some nasty damage to soil and water, not to mention your tummy, if it ends up in the wine as residue. Organic wine can also encompass the production process and whether or not sulfites and other preservatives have been added to the wine.

Here are our favorite places to get organic wines and champagnes:

  • http://hallcrestvineyards.com/
  • Serge Faust Champagne -- The Champagne district of France has ideal soil and climate conditions for the production of this famous sparkling wine. Serge Faust grows grapes for this wine according to organic methods of the National Union of Independent Agrobiologists, a French organic certifier.
  • Blanquette de Limoux Brut -- A dry, creamy, full-bodied sparkling wine with a fine yeasty character in the aroma and toasty green apple and lemon flavors.
  • Vinotopia Dessert Wine -- A sweet dessert wine made with the Black Corinth grape in the style of an icewine, without the addition of sulfites.
More beverage suppliers can be found by clicking here, and for more info on organic wines, click on over to organicwineworks.com.

Jewelry & Lingerie

So, you made it through chocolates, flowers and drinks; what other possibilities could be obscured by night's expansive shroud? Ooh-la-la! Slip your spirit into something more comfortable with the sexy jewelry from Spiritual Lingerie. Created from precious and semi-precious gemstones on 14K gold, Spiritual Lingerie has caught the eye of Naomi Campbell, Josie Maran and Neve Campbell, and is intended to be worn under clothing, and then left on during your most intimate moments. To maximize the spiritual benefits of Spiritual Lingerie, designer and founder Maria Cina will even custom-design a piece to your specs. If you decide to get some, feel good about that, too. The Spiritual Lingerie Foundation selects a few different charities each year and donates a portion of their proceeds to each of the worthy causes, insuring that their work continues to change the world for the better. As Maria reminds each visitor of her website, "Do whatever you can. Everyday." Indeed.



Collin Dunn is Editor-in-Chief of SASS Magazine.

Sources: The Center for a New American Dream Conscious Consumer, Organic Wine Works, Diamond Organics, and localharvest.org.