In December, Sarah Gross attended a workshop called "Bringing a Great Idea to Scale" at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn. When prompted to write down a few things she cared about most, Gross wrote "chocolate" and "helping animals." She recalls, "The next morning as I walked my own rescued pitbull, Mocha, after a breakfast of chocolate (of course), my inspiration hit. 'Rescue Chocolate,' I muttered to myself over and over; the ideas were flying in and my fingers began to freeze as I wrote away on my iPhone. Mocha wondered why I wasn't throwing the ball so well this morning. Anyway, the company took off from there!"
Rescue Chocolate donates 100 percent of its net profits to animal rescue groups, and all its packaging educates chocolate lovers about various issues related to the companion animal overpopulation crisis. All of its products are vegan and kosher/pareve. The company sells (or will sell) chocolate under such catchy names as Bow Wow Bon Bons, Peanut Butter Pit Bull, Pick Me! Pepper, The Fix, Foster-riffic Peppermint, Forever Mocha, and even "Don't Passover Me" Bark.
"Don't Passover Me" Bark, Rescue Chocolate's only kosher-for-Passover product, is made to look like matzoh. Since it was added to the company's Web site, it has been requested in every online order but one. Gross explained, "I want to have something that members of the Jewish community can really enjoy on this otherwise bland-food holiday."
The company's Web site adds, "This Passover, Rescue Chocolate reminds you not to 'pass over' the homeless pets that need you most! Go to your local animal shelter, seek out the animals that are not as likely to get homes: older pets, pets with medical conditions, and pets who have been waiting the longest! You will be getting a wonderful companion, and will absolutely save a life!"
Gross says that while "silly" brands like Hershey's, Dove, and Godiva might put milk in their dark-chocolate products, most dark chocolates are vegan:
When I started my chocolate "journey," OK, addiction, I wanted to try every vegan (as far as dairy-free, not beet sugar only) chocolate bar I could find. I didn't suppose it would be many more than 10 or 20. A few years later and I've tried close to 400 different vegan chocolates! So, I feel like they're not hard to find. Even in the last few years, the dark/gourmet chocolate scene has exploded nicely. Now you can always find a dairy-free chocolate whether at the corner bodega, the pharmacy or the grocery store!Pareve and vegan dark chocolate might be easy to find, but if you want to help animals at the same time, Rescue Chocolate is probably your best bet.
I've had numerous bars of Rescue Chocolate, and have told all my friends about it! It's a totally great cause.
ReplyDeleteBut is it fair trade? I'm all for humane treatment of humans AND animals, but I haven't found anything on the site that tells me that the chocolate is produced by free people being paid reasonable wages.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, here was Sarah's response: "The chocolate we use, Callebaut, is not certified Fair Trade. However, Callebaut supports the fairtrade initiative and our chocolate will hopefully be more officially fair trade in the near future."
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