Confections Shop Turns Youth with Criminal Records into Chocolate Makers

Dale Anderson created his livelihood around employing the hard to employee. When he conceived the idea of Confections With Convictions, his Kalamazoo, Mich., chocolate shop, he was not only highlighting his use of premium sustainable ingredients. The name also refers to his commitment to hiring youth who may not be able to find work elsewhere due to their criminal records. Today, his four employees all have felony records.

Anderson was a licensed professional counselor and a mediator in the court system since 1996, but he wanted to do more. A taste of artisan chocolate and a few classes later and an idea was born. "Many of the juveniles I counsel are kinetic learners. They sit there taking apart the stapler on my desk while we are in a counseling session. They need to be moving, doing things while learning," says Anderson, who maintains that court-ordered counseling ends up deeling like more punishment. "No matter how well-meaning, it's a system that is deficit-based, not strength-based."

Anderson's convictions extend globally as well and are engrained in his business practices. He sources chocolate from Ecuador and Peru rather than other countries where child labor is used. "We use organic and fair trade chocolate because if we are trying to help youth here, we don't want to abuse youth elsewhere," Anderson says.

Worthwhile Things I Do That Sometimes Mentally Exhaust Me, But That I'll Continue to Do Anyway

1. Remember to carry a reuseable bag.
2. When I forget, drop off plastic bags I do collect in recycling boxes.
3. Support charities I like that send me seemingly endless packages of personalized address labels even though I hardly mail things anymore.
4. Cut the images off all those address labels and give them to my niece and nephew as stickers.
5. Store tote bags I collect from trade shows until I have enough to send a box to a foster kids' charity in New England.
6. Haul bags of my discarded clothes or household goods to Housing Works. Repeat if I forget to check that they are actually open when I arrive.
7. Compost my teabags to support my office's green initiative. (Even when the regular trash is right next to me at my desk. And I'm busy. And tired.)
8. Buy the Secret Santa gift the child wants even if it's obscure and expensive.

Tween-age Chef Committed to Getting Kids Cooking

I am in awe of a 12 year old. Last week Haile Thomas appeared on Today to share her commitment to helping kids make better food choices. In her segment with Al Roker, Haile, who has been cooking since age five in her mother's kitchen, prepared a black bean and corn quinoa salad with garlic shrimp and avocado, the same recipe she recently prepared for First Lady Michelle Obama as part of the first Kids’ State Dinner.

Intrigued by watching food documentaries, Haile "started asking questions about where my food comes from and what I was eating," she told Today. She signed up for the youth advisory board of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization that tries to combat childhood obesity, and soon started working with local chefs doing cooking demonstrations. Haile now hosts her own online show, “Kids Can Cook,” where she offers online kids cooking classes on how to prepare nourishing meals from with simple ingredients.

In addition she's partnering with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts to help the chain come up with healthier kid-friendly menu items. The Tucson native is the founder and director of the Tucson-based HAPPY Organization, Inc., which serves to improve the health and wellness of Arizona youth and families.

Amid alarming statistics about rampant childhood obesity and lack of cooking skills among young people, Haile is setting an inspiring example by showing peers that preparing good food does not have to be complicated. It all comes down to healthful ingredients, simply prepared. “I hope to make a difference by inspiring other kids to embrace a healthy lifestyle, and become educated about how good and bad food affects their bodies, overall health and quality of life,” Haile said.

Whole Foods and Safeway Named to World's Most Ethical Companies List

Food supermarkets Whole Foods Market and Safeway are leading proponents of corporate social responsibility. Individually, they've instituted philanthropic programs such as Whole Planet Foundation, which creates economic opportunity for food producers in developing countries, and the Safeway Foundation, which supports charitable efforts toward hunger relief, education and assistance for people with disabilities. Now, they've officially been named among 2013's World's Most Ethical Companies.

The designation is courtesy of Ethisphere Institute, a think tank dedicated to advancing best practices in business ethics, anti-corruption and sustainability. For the past seven years, it annually selects companies in a variety of industries for its official list. Company executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers nominate businesses, which are then evaluated by Ethisphere for investment in sustainable practices, codes of ethics and corporate citizenship activities. This year 145 companies were named from three dozen industries including retail, insurance, aerospace and alternate energy.

Other food companies named to Ethisphere's 2013 list include Starbucks, UK's Marks and Spencer and New Zealand's All Good Organics. The list is published in the current issue of the quarterly magazine Ethisphere and is available here.

Chukar Cherries Donates to Rural Northwest Communities

When Pam Montgomery, founder and CEO of Chukar Cherries, a producer of farm-based foods, took a personal interest in a nonprofit in Enterprise, Oregon, it was the impetus for starting Chukar's Social Responsibility Program. Today, the two-year-old program commits 100 percent of proceeds from a selection of the cherry company's products (dried cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, fruit and nut snack mixes and cherry sauces)  to provide a revenue stream to Wallowa Resources.

Wallowa Resources began more than 16 years ago when a large portion of the community was put out of work due to three sawmills closing. Amid the economic downturn, a few key players began to meet in a local bakery to try to mend the rift between landowners, the environmental community and government agencies. By 1997 they had created a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the working and recreational lands of Wallowa County. The organization provides business assistance, forestry management, environmental education and development of alternative fuel sources to help create new industries in the rural community.

Montgomery describes Chukar's philanthropic program as a partnership. "We give, our customers give, and the community benefits.”

Whole Foods Sets Deadline for GMO Labeling

Whole Foods Market has taken an unprecedented step in mandating food labeling. On March 8, the natural foods supermarket giant announced that by 2018, all products in its stores in the U.S. and Canada must be labeled if they contain genetically modified organisms, which have been manipulated through genetic engineering by introducing changes into DNA structure. This makes Whole Foods the first national grocery store to set a GMO labeling deadline.

The move comes at a time when interest is building in non-GMO products. According to a recent poll by The Huffington Post in partnership with YouGov, nearly 82 percent of Americans want labels for GMO food. During last November's elections, a mandatory labeling initiative known as Prop 37 was defeated in California, a move largely attributed to millions of dollars being spent against the measure by big corporations like Monsanto. Nearly 60 countries around the world have already banned or restricted GMOs.

The issue isn't without controversy. GMOs have proliferated the food supply across the world over the past 15+ years, with most corn and soybean crops using these organisms. Many in the food industry debate if there is adequate proof that GMOs pose any health or food safety concerns; the Food and Drug Administration says evidence is inconclusive. Proponents of GMOs argue that they are engineered to thrive in extreme weather and can help prevent crop shortages and global malnutrition.

In making the announcement, co-CEO Walter Robb said Whole Foods views the move as "putting a stake in the ground to support a consumer's right to know." The bottom line is really about giving shoppers the information they need to make informed choices. Clear and mandatory labeling on products is the most straightforward way to do this. Without it, consumers are in the dark as to the details of how the food they are purchasing is made.

Hugh Can Help: Coffee That Supports Education

Actor Hugh Jackman has added chocolates to his philanthropic-driven line Laughing Man Coffee & Tea. Inspired by companies like Newman’s Own, Jackman donates profits from the beverages and chocolates to benefit educational initiatives. The food company has partnered with Harlem Village Academies, a charter schools in New York, and WorldVision, an organization that works with children and families worldwide facing poverty or social injustice.