Child-friendly Easter

[cgull]

I've finally decided to make my stand against child trafficking in the cocoa/chocolate industry. If you're not aware, the majority of cocoa comes from plantations using trafficked child labour - another word for it is slavery:cry. The chocolate companies have agreed to fix this but done nothing:rolleyes.

See http://www.donttradelives.com.au/dtl/default.aspx.

So I've decided to buy no more non-fair-trade chocolate. I've also started a 'Useful Gifts' virtual store selling 'Easter Chooks' - chickens given to families in poor countries who use them for food and profit:eager.

www.usefulgifts.org/ugshop/id/1973


I'm going to be buying everyone chooks for Easter, and asking them to do the same. Please consider buying Easter chooks from my store, I'm hoping to sell a million! And pass on the above websites to friends and family. Don't forget to sign the 'Don't Trade Lives' petition so Big Chocolate know what you're thinking. I'm also going to write them a personal letter about my Easter plans:D.

[Ceres]

I'm bailing on easter and will do something else instead. What pagan festival coincides with the timing of easter?

[cgull]

Easter is/was a pagan festival that the Christians appropriated. European Spring/fertility thing. That's why bunnies get involved...

Is there an Aboriginal festival appropriate to the time of year in Australia?

[Janet]

I do Easter coz it's pagan. :)

[~*heket*~]

We're making our own eggs this year :eager I'm gonna get egg shape moulds and slave free choc and see how I go!

[Ceres]

But as a seasonal celebration isn't there something different we should be doing here? It's not the start of our spring, it's our autumn.

[Janet]

On JB I have the inverted pagan calendar on the events calendar so you can have a look there and see which festival lines up. We're not really into the choc thing, more just the holiday thing. :lol

[Sarasvati]

Aye... I think it's Mabon, Autumn Equinox, but this year it is not close to Easter at all.

[Asrathiel]

I do Easter coz it's pagan. :)


But it's the wrong season...! Bloody northern hemisphere holidays. Last year Mabon lined up with Easter- it was on good friday but I was busy giving birth that day! :D
I like the chicken idea, I'll have a look at it :)

[cgull]

We're making our own eggs this year :eager I'm gonna get egg shape moulds and slave free choc and see how I go!

We did that a few years when I was a kid... And I have vague memories before that of decorating boiled chicken eggs with textas - hmm, maybe we could do some of those to give with our chickens...

[~*heket*~]

That's a nice idea :)

[Sarasvati]

I'm thinking I can make some things like choc balls (roll them in egg shapes) and choc truffles, made out of fair trade AND sugar free choc/cocoa etc. Last year we did fairtrade bunnies, but with the no refined sugar thing this year I've been a bit stumped... but now I'm not yay :lol. I also have some choc moulds that I could probably melt some raw choc (yeah ironic) into.

[~*heket*~]

I haven't been able to find any fair trade eggs, only organic ones. Where do you think we can get them?

We do plan on making our own as it stands atm but I thought it worth asking.

[cgull]

OXFAM shop had them last year

[Aurora]

Good on you for taking a stand! It's an important issue. Every year I try to avoid commerical and Xtian holidays and every year I get sucked in... people want to catch up, they give chocolate, etc. *sigh* Wonder if I can be assertive enough this year....

[GreenGully]

Mammadyl on JB posted once that she does a bulb hunt in her garden and then plants them. That is pretty seasonal.

[Sarasvati]

Ooh what a lovely idea!

[~*heket*~]

EASTER IS BACK ON!!! oxfam has them this year too :eager

[cgull]

Good to hear that, Heket.

We hatched some chicks a couple of weeks ago (in an electric skillet!), and I've finally put a photo up as the image on my virtual store. Go and take a peep (pardon the pun).

http://www.usefulgifts.org/ugshop/id/1973

Yes, pushing the store, that's the point of the thread. :lol

I want to be able to write to the chocolate makers and say, 'look how many people I know who chose to avoid your chocolate this year'. It's only $5 per pair of chickens and they go to freeing people from poverty. Very appropriate to the season, whatever your religious views (IMHO).

PS Probably getting too late to expect to get cards before Easter, but what I do is email the e-card to myself and print it out to give to people. That way you don't need to go through the rigmarole of buying separate chooks for each person you want them for, either. The website's not well-made in that regard. Last year, we folded origami chicks and then folded the e-card (it's A4) into an egg and placed the chicks inside.:cool
http://www.tammyyee.com/origamichick.html
http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-easter-chick.html

PS2 I love the bulb idea. As a Christian, I don't have a problem with celebrating the story-we-now-associate-with-Easter, but I prefer the idea of it being a seasonally appropriate celebration, and the bulbs fit in well. 'Unless a seed fall into the ground and die...' and all that.

[Ceres]

Sounds interesting Cgull. The chicks are cute!

[bella]

Does anyone know if choc that is certified organic by an Australian certifying body then it is also fairtrade? Isn't it one of the criteria?

We have some couverture (sp?) choc. Last year I made stuff with that - choc balls and the like. I also have a few other choc goodies. Oxfam has some lovely items but I didn't order this time. I've ordered a chicken book and a felt chicken kit from Indigo Inspirations, but I don't know they'll make it in time in the mail. Last year I bought some egg cups on ebay, nice pottery ones - one each. :) I also got some Easter Bilby books from Environment Australia for free! We like to mix it up. The bulb hunt sounds way cool, but might have to do that next year when I can have bulbs and a planting space ready.

Every year is different here - different stories, crafts, gifts, foods - can't choose a tradition I love so we mix it up. :)

[Sarasvati]

Organic covers labour conditions but isn't really *about* that... I don't know if it covers fair price either, just minimum labour conditions.

[cgull]

Perhaps you could email the couverture company and ask?

On the other hand, if it's already on your shelf, you might as well use it, you've already paid for it iykwim? And as a small choc producer it probably doesn't matter anyway.

The point is to avoid paying for any slave choc this easter, and write letters or buy chickens to make a point to the big choc manufacturers, who have the clout/money to actually make a difference at the cocoa plantations for the children experiencing child labour there. Once the planations have been modified ALL chocolate will be child-labour free:D. But obviously, if your favourite smalltime choc maunfacturer knows it's an issue to their customers, they can make the effort to find fair trade cocoa too, so emailing them will help.

[cgull]

Sounds interesting Cgull. The chicks are cute!

Aren't they? Their names are Peepo, Peekaboo and Random. The one with the black spots on its back is Random, and the darker/yellower one is Peepo. We suspect that Peepo's a rooster and the other two we hope will be hens.

[cgull]

Fair trade chocolate and easter eggs available at some shops:

http://www.fairtrade.com.au/node/2350/view

http://www.fairtrade.com.au/locator (http://www.fairtrade.com.au/locator?PHPSESSID=d7056ba677aeba5b3270237c91dedaae )

[cgull]

Guess what? The MD of Cadbury can pronounce a trade mark symbol!:D


“Cadbury is incredibly proud to bring Fairtrade Certified™ Cadbury Dairy Milk, our signature block, to Australian consumers by purchasing Fairtrade Certified™ cocoa” Mr Callaghan said.

Read more here:

http://www.cadbury.com.au/About-Cadbury/News.aspx?sssdmh=dm16.391918&newsID=45

Still a long way to go, of course, but a giant leap forward...

[Ceres]

Bump for this easter coming up :)

[zenifa]

This Easter is going to be different, I'm part way through a 12 week challenge so I'm trying to go chocolate/ hot X bun free this time,( especially when I learnt how much exercise would be needed to get rid of those calories), and we are also wanting to limit the girls' consumption of chocolate, even if it is organic or free trade, so it will be interesting with the extended family, as they were the culprits last year.

Can an 'easter hunt' that only involves hard boiled decorated eggs and little yellow chicks be as much fun with no chocolate involved?
We will do easter craft, but I'm just wondering how that will go. Maybe a few chocs from www.justiceproducts.org.au might be in order for the kids.

[irishwillow]

For a couple of years we bought cool molds like crocodiles,and little quirky ones and made carob thingies with dried fruits in the centre, coconut etc..kids loved it...thought their stuff was much cooler than shop stuff. ;-)
Now they're older, we sometimes just buy a Bilby...one that donates to the save the bilby foundation.
Might make our own again this year...been a while.
Susan

[Kris]

We've made some hollow felted eggs. We've done a LOT of talking about how Easter/Eostre is spring and this is autumn. Two years ago we had a gorgeous autumn festival which DID include chocolate eggs - with the idea that we were harvesting and storing the bounty of the earth.

After much negotiations that is what we will be doing again on Sunday - the felted eggs are going to be left on the table in the hopes that there will be treats in them and clues for a hunt for plums and pears, walnuts in the shell, chocolate eggs and hopefully some nugget pumpkins that we can make soup with later. I'll do a baked custard or rice pudding for breakfast with cinnamon and nutmeg.

[cgull]

mmm yum I'm coming to your house for breakfast on Sunday!

[Ceres]

A bump for this easter season :)

[JKay]

I saw Cadbury has a fair-trade egg this year, but i can't feckin' find it anywhere they say it should be! I just made chocolate avocado mousse for a Sunday treat for all of us - fair-trade cocoa, avo's and agave....and maybe a banana or some vanilla essense if you like...K's giving it two thumbs up - and he is usually VERY anti-avocado! It's incredibly rich, you only need a bit!

[earthy]

Mmmmm yum,I found HEAPS of the cadbury fairtrade eggs at my local big w, so thats what I bought as I wasnt sure If I got to oxfam they would have any left today, didnt want to risk it. Have been making TOO MUCH raw choc goodies all week, So Im coming close to being all chocolated out, wouldnt of thunk it possible :)

[Sherriann]

Does anyone know of any Autumn traditions that would go with easter? I dont really like the spring side of it. I hope that makes sence. Here is a link about fair trade chocolate and child labour http://www.ethical.org.au/guide/browse/guide/?type=126

[JKay]

Sherriann - i have been trying to link easter to the season this year - i don't want K to miss out on easter as all other kids get to have easter eggs and stuff (and the rellies buy him eggs anyhoo!), but i've been looking up autumn traditions for the indigenous people of the region and we got an easter bilby story book from the library (which we LOVE! The Bilby and the Bunyip) - just trying to make easter traditions of our own really!