Wertaeryaerte

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3/26/2012

Helen Starkey

The Chocolate Museum

2541 Jardine Street

Boston, MA 02115

Mr. Arthur Renfrew

98 Elm Street

Brookline, MA 02116

Dear Mr. Renfrew:

Thank you for your recent contribution to the museum of $500 and your ongoing support of our mission. Your contribution will help us to continue programs that educate, entertain, and help the chocolate industry to improve its products and practices.

For example, did you know that growers of cacao beans who subscribe to fair trade practices guarantee not only the quality of their products, but also that they do not support child labor or slavery in their businesses? Also, many chocolate manufacturers use additives such as wax in making their chocolate, reducing the amount of valuable anti-oxidants that their products provide. Educating the public about issues such as these helps to make the chocolate industry a thriving and responsible part of our world.

According to “A Taste of Slavery,” by Sudarsan Raghavan and Sumana Chatterjee, Knight Ridder Newspapers, June 24, 2001:

There may be a hidden ingredient in the chocolate cake you baked, the candy bars your children sold for their school fundraiser, or that fudge ripple ice cream cone you enjoyed on Saturday afternoon.

Forty-three percent of the world’s cocoa beans, the raw material in chocolate, come from small, scattered farms in this poor West African country. And on some of the farms, the hot, hard work of clearing the fields and harvesting the fruit is done by boys who were sold or tricked into slavery. Most of them are between the ages of 12 and 16. Some are as young as 9.

In addition to helping us educate the public and support a responsible industry, you are helping to support some fun and entertaining exhibits. This year we are introducing three new exhibits to our museum: Chocolate and the Aztec Culture; Chocolate in Art, Movies, and Music; and Chocolate Tasting Parties: Hosting Your Own Chocolate Fest!...