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FM 88.5 Edmonton cjsr.com 6 pm Mountain Time In the Global North, chocolate is a major part of our lives. We give it as the generic token of affection at Christmas. On Valentine’s Day we send it as a sign of romantic love. When we need a mood booster or something to staunch our hunger, we grab a chocolate bar. In recent years, it’s become a staple of corporate journalism to report on the supposed health benefits of consuming chocolate, or on the alleged debate over chocolate’s power as an aphrodisiac, or how the effects of chocolate on brain chemistry mimic those of post-orgasmic flush. But what almost no one in the Global North realises is that chocolate is not simply big flavour or even big business, but a big, gaping wound in the body of human rights. The world’s number one supplier of cocoa beans, the central ingredient in chocolate, is Ivory Coast, a country whose cocoa farmers routinely employ child labourers who aren’t paid. That means they’re enslaved . These same children are...

This weekend in Edmonton is the 25th annual Just Christmas fair trade market place . J ust Christmas is a global marketplace for quality arts, handmade crafts and other goods. You don’t need to shop at corporate sweatshops , when you can go to a fair trade giftshop whose products come from fair trade workshops. Clothing, jewelry, art, food and more from around the world await you at this holiday season multicultural shopping and dining experience . Shop in confidence knowing that your money is supporting the building of he althy communities around the world. This year, look forward to hearing world music and stories told in different languages, as well as enjoying food from the international kitchen. As usual, I’ll be working at the kiosk for Humanserve International which provides relief for Palestinians and Palestinian refugees, and for t he first time ever, we’ll be selling graphic novels. That’s right—copies of Joe Sacco’s funny, tragic, enraging and inspiring acclaimed journ...