Halloween is coming - time to pick out costumes, pumpkins, and candy. Buying Halloween candy should be a fun and easy task, but some chocolates and other candies come with a side of environmental or social sustainability problems. How can you treat your neighborhood kids, and also treat the Earth right? See below for tips and recommended favorite candies that are gentle on the planet and people.
What are the concerns? Tropical rainforests have been clear cut to make way for cocoa plantations, making cocoa farming the leading cause of deforestation in West Africa, where most cocoa is grown. Cutting down trees to grow cocoa gives chocolate bars a hefty carbon footprint and threatens tropical wildlife. In addition to the environmental concerns, cocoa farming is often plagued with labor rights violations, especially child labor.
Even if you steer clear of chocolate, your candy may still be linked to deforestation. Many processed foods are made using palm oil. Like cocoa, oil palms are often farmed on clear-cut former rainforest land. Most palm oil is farmed in Indonesia and Malaysia, which are home to the world’s last remaining orangutan populations. The biggest threat to endangered orangutans in Indonesia and Malaysia is deforestation, largely for oil palm farming.
What can you do? The good news is consumers can make a difference. Already, major corporations are listening to consumer concerns. Many companies that buy palm oil have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a non-profit organization that has set voluntary standards for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil, with the goal of transforming markets to make sustainable palm oil the norm. For chocolate lovers, there are more brands than ever before that address both labor and environmental concerns
TIPS FOR FINDING ETHICAL HALLOWEEN CANDY
1. Follow the frog. The Rainforest Alliance has a certification program for products that meet environmental and social sustainability standards. Rainforest Alliance Certified products are farmed in a way that preserves standing forests and prevents deforestation. The Rainforest Alliance seal, a green image of a tropical tree frog, marks all the packages of certified products. If you see the frog, you know the candy is forest-friendly.
2. Look for the FairTrade label. A certification label that focuses on social sustainability, the FairTrade label is your best bet for ensuring a product was made under healthy, safe, and legal working conditions. Because the cocoa farming industry is rife with child labor, FairTrade certified chocolate is especially important.
3. Seek these sustainable brands. If looking at labels seems overwhelming, another option is to choose one of the brands highlighted below.
Chocolate: Each of these chocolate brands have strong environmental and social sustainability policies, so you can know your choice helps protect both forests and farmers: Alter Eco, Beyond Good, Divine, Endangered Species, Equal Exchange, Lily’s, Theo, Tony’s Chocolonely and Unreal. Many of these brands are easily found at any well-stocked grocery store, and all are available at Whole Foods Market. Equal Exchange, Tony’s, and Divine all sell cases of mini bars perfect for trick-or-treaters. Unreal and Alter Eco also have fun candy options such as peanut butter or almond butter cups and chocolate truffles.
Other candy: Not a chocolate fan? There are several candy brands that use only RSPO certified palm oil, or no palm oil at all. Some popular orangutan-friendly candies include Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Starburst, and Twizzlers.
4. Start small. If your favorite candy isn’t on the list, you’re already stocked up for Halloween, or you couldn’t find enough sustainable options at the store, don’t worry: it’s ok to start small. Every purchase from a brand that has gone the extra mile to ensure environmental and social sustainability standards sends a positive message to these companies. Over time, it is getting much easier to find sustainable candy, as more companies sign up for initiatives like the RSPO or seek eco-certification. If you aren’t ready to commit fully to only eco-certified candy this Halloween, maybe buy a few options and make at least one of them a Rainforest Alliance product. Then make a plan to choose more sustainable treats next year – hopefully, by then there will be even more to choose from.
Robin Pelc is a Lecturer at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), coordinator for CSUMB’s science service learning and Americorps VIP programs, and the founder of SeaChange Scientific Consulting. Robin has a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.S. and B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Currently, she keeps busy outside of work taking care of her 7-year-old and 10-year-old kids, her tuxedo cat, and her chickens.