October is Fair Trade month

But actually every month is Fair Trade month. New products: Natural Nectar's biscuits, slathered with Fair Trade chocolate. They did not stint with the chocolate, and this classic French "biscuit" is very good, indeed.

We sell lots of Fair Trade chocolate.

Equal Exchange chocolate comes in lots of flavors--the Panama dark is the Coop's favorite. But don't hesitate to try the new chocolate caramel crunch. Of course, we sell hundreds of pounds of Equal Exchange coffee purchased from farmer-owned cooperatives around the world. Soon they will be introducing a new line of teas.



Madecasse chocolate was developed by a former Peace Corps volunteer who worked in Madagascar. The chocolate beans are grown and made into chocolate in Madagascar. Almost all other chocolate is made from beans shipped to Europe. This provides jobs in the country of origin and allows them to reap the added value. Raw cocoa beans are relatively cheap--the finished chocolate is not. Madecasse has a salt and chocolate nibs bar.





Divine chocolate is very popular at the Coop. And now that we are approaching the holidays, their boxed mints, gelt coins and their Advent calendar with some bits of chocolate behind the windows are all available. They have some new holiday bars in sparkling packaging: dark chocolate with orange and ginger and milk chocolate with spiced cookies. Divine products are very tasty as well, and the chocolate is from a farmer-owned cooperative in Ghana.






We sell lots of Wholesome Foods Fair Trade sweeteners: light and dark brown sugar, raw sugar, agave, and honey. Please consider using these sugars for all of your holiday baking.

Taza stone ground organic chocolate

It's not smooth or milky. But no, it's not like eating cocoa-dusted ground glass either. Taza chocolate is grainy, crunchy, chocolatey, not too sugary, with a hint of vanilla. And that's all that goes into it, all organic and minimally processed. It's produced by a small, environmentally- and socially-responsible company based in Massachusetts. Find it on the display endcap across from the Coop Tees.

Also look for Taza discs—for hot chocolate, cooking or eating out of hand. They come in flavors like yerba maté, guajillo chili and salted almond. Don't bother looking for instructions on how to turn those discs into hot chocolate anywhere on the packaging. It's not there. But it's here, from Taza's website. You won't see it below, but Taza's detailed recipe mention something about adding rum, bourbon, tequila, vanilla...

In the News.....

Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on fortified foods--also known as "functional" food. Manufacturers are increasingly pushing this concept. Classic example of overkill: Tropicana orange juice "fortified" with Omega oils. Do you really need fish oil in your O.J? While the taste is being processed out of that fish oil, what is happening to the Omega 3's? Bottom line seems to be: eat whole foods, take a multivitamin if you must. You'll save a lot of money.

And speaking of fish, last Wednesday, the NY Times hosted a discussion on the choices (or lack thereof) facing fish eaters who want to be environmentally correct.

On a happier note, last week Martha Rose Shulman presented a series of recipes focusing on one of my favorite foods: polenta. Interestingly, she led off the series by recommending cooking polenta in the oven. I like to make polenta using DeLaEstancia polenta, sold in Aisle 2A. This polenta only needs to cook for about a minute on the stove and is delicious. Bob's Red Mill polenta needs to cook longer. The corn meal sold in the bulk bins also works and is the cheapest. Sixty of our members opted for the super fast method--buy the cooked polenta in the plastic tube sold in Aisle 6A. We were sold out on Monday. If you are a tube purchaser, make the leap and try the DeLaEstancia. Just bring it to boil and let it cook one minute. You'll never look back.

Christian Science Monitor profiled the CONACADO cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Equal Exchange purchases cocoa from this cooperative. The Fair Trade premium helps pay for basic needs in their community, including schools and plumbing. We sell lots of Equal Exchange Fair Trade organic chocolate bars in Aisle 7A.

Life by Chocolate

We've added some new chocolates from Life by Chocolate in Greenville, New York in time for Easter. The bunnies are hopping out of here very fast. (More are coming Thursday afternoon.) We've also added bars with unusual flavors (choc covered smoked peanut butter, anyone?) Some of the chocolate is fair trade and some of the bars are vegan. One of their best selling bars is Bee's Knees, made with honey.

Easter bunny coming?

Divine Chocolate's mini-eggs arrived today. We expect to get larger chocolate eggs next week, in both milk and dark chocolate. Divine is a great company, all their chocolate is Fair Trade. They work with a chocolate growing cooperative in Ghana. The packaging is very attractive, while avoiding plastic wrap.

The name of the cooperative in Ghana is

"Kuapa Kokoo" which in the local language, Twi, means "Good Cocoa Farmers Company". Their motto is "Pa Pa Paa" which means "the best of the best of the best". For more info:
www.divinechocolateusa.com

Chocolate for Chimps!

Theo Jane Goodall chocolate
We've added two new high quality, Fair Trade chocolate bars from Theo--these bars have Jane Goodall's seal of approval, and the profits support all sorts of good things, including keeping chimps in the wild and not in Connecticut. Aisle 7A, top right shelf.
www.theochocolate.com/products/jane-goodall.php

Holiday Items just in . . .

Available now in the butter case for all your holiday and baking needs: Buerremont 83% pastry butter at the low, low price of $2.94/LB. Made in the cultured French style in New England. Get it while we have it. The sample table in the membership office thought it was great.

Cacao Noel Chocolate Semi-Sweet Bar A rich 52% cocoa liquor chocolate bar for baking, confections and eating! – 7oz for $1.46

Cacao Noel Chocolate Noelettes Delicately rolled dark and white chocolate batons. Great for decorating desserts, ice cream and beverages. 2oz packs for $1.74

Valrhona Chocolates – A wide assortment of bars, cocoa and gift boxes for the holidays. Priced to move!

Yuri