It’s Fairtrade Fortnight in Australia, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to demystify some of the confusion around product certification. My awareness of the issue probably dates back to 2006-07, when there was a push to end child slavery in chocolate. Cadbury committed to making its Dairy Milk bars Fairtrade, first in the UK and then also in Australia. Fairtrade coffee started to pop … Continue reading Why I’m a Fairtrade fan
Question: What does a $14 million state-of-the-art glasshouse and a $15 entry ticket to the new Sweet Addiction chocolate exhibition get you? Answer: Three cacao pods and two complimentary Lindt balls. Look, I know we’re latitudes away from chocolate’s South American origins, but when three pieces of cacao fruit are all you see in an exhibition pitched at chocolate lovers, you wonder if you’re getting your money’s worth. Unless … Continue reading No chocolate fix at Sweet Addiction
After a short history of (almost) three Easters, I’m done with Lent. I observed Lent for the first time in 2012, giving up chocolate and alcohol. Last year I went one step further by staying clear of chocolate and coffee. It really was only one step further – though for many friends of mine, no coffee for a day or a week (let alone the 40 days … Continue reading Why Lent and I are through
Today is domingo de resurrección (Resurrection Sunday). I assumed that’s when the cuaresma (Lent) ends, but apparently the Second Vatican Council changed dates so that Good Friday and the Saturday form part of an Easter triplet, so Lent actually ends on the Friday when we eat fanesca (a thick soup of mixed grains, with fish – a whole lot better than any description can ever … Continue reading Lent
⎯suansita⎯ 