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A Prayer to the Land

~ Nicholas Tippins ~ 4 Comments

Photo by Pablo Garcia Saldana

Our car comes to a halt before a log in an inlet beside a back road. The log is used to stop off-roaders from tearing up the earth, but this is not our intention, so we gather our things and step into the bristling scrubland. We look to the shelter of a large mound of earth, and clear a space beneath it. Just earlier, I had been listening to a story of a reporter who was stranded in Afghanistan, hunted by the Taliban. There are no bullets flying at us now, yet I do not feel entirely alone, or entirely safe. Continue reading →

Food Nannying For the Poor? Restrictions on Organic and Healthy Food in Food Assistance

~ Nicholas Tippins ~ 2 Comments
wisconsin organic food choices restricted for WIC and food assistance.
Food assistance program. Photo by USDA.

Wisconsin’s Women, Infants and Children’s Program “Approved Foods” brochure is cheerfully decorated with stock photos of vegetables and smiling children. Inside is a well-intentioned (or well lobbied) and utterly misguided attempt to… what? Help people? Make sure those in food assistance programs eat healthy food? Or cheaper food? Continue reading →

Sweet Freedom: How to Find Slavery-Free Chocolate

~ Nicholas Tippins
Sweet Freedom: How to Find Slavery-Free Chocolate
Sweet Freedom: How to Find Slavery-Free Chocolate

No, we’re not talking about chocolate that’s free because slaves made it. We’re here to say “no” to exploitation in the name of tasty treats.

Over 40% of the world’s chocolate is produced by child slaves. There are now an estimated 1.1 million child slaves working in the chocolate industry. “These children typically come from countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Destitute parents in these poverty-stricken lands sell their children to traffickers believing that they will find honest work once they arrive in Ivory Coast and then send some of their earnings home. But that’s not what happens. These children, usually 11-to-16-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week. They are paid nothing, receive no education, are barely fed, are beaten regularly, and are often viciously beaten if they try to escape. Most will never see their families again.” Continue reading →

Documentary: The Dark Side of Chocolate (Video)

~ Nicholas Tippins ~ 1 Comment

The Dark Side of Chocolate investigates child slavery in the Ivory Coast and other countries that produce cacao, the main ingredient of chocolate. Journalists go undercover with hidden cameras and assumed identities to get the inside story, including interviews with child traffickers and on-the-job footage of those who work to rescue these children.

Note: Email subscribers may have to visit the website to watch the video.

6 Reasons To Avoid Cheap Chocolate

~ Nicholas Tippins

I recently visited a chocolate plantation in Costa Rica. Cacao pods lounged in the trees, and workers tended to the plants. I learned a lot by talking with the local expert who showed me around. I learned about the process of making chocolate and about the socioeconomic effects of chocolate consumption worldwide. And I came away with one resolve planted firmly in my heart: don’t buy cheap chocolate. Here’s why.

Stop Buying Cheap Chocolate
6 Reasons to Stop Buying Cheap Chocolate

Continue reading →

February Is… Chocolate Month!

~ Nicholas Tippins

Chocolate Month on Wild Heart Food

Announcing… Chocolate Month! That’s right, this February we will be devoting an entire moon cycle to chocolate and cacao. We’ve created a lot of exciting content that we hope you’ll enjoy. We’ve experimented with sweet and savory cacao recipes, delved into the dark secrets behind major chocolate producers (and found out how to buy ethically sourced chocolate), discovered why cacao is considered a superfood, interviewed a small, local bean-to-bar chocolatier, and quite a lot more. We hope you’ll join us for this adventure. If you’re not already subscribed, please do so below for the full experience:



We would also like your appreciation for not including any puns about “having a taste of…” or things being “sweet,” in this announcement. There may, however, be some puns made over the course of chocolate month. We are not liable for bouts of punny-ness, fits of anger, or injury as a result of these puns.

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Nicholas Tippins