This Valentine’s Day, I’ll be indulging in guilt-free chocolate. Alas, all the calories will still be there, but I can rest assured that Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates represent little harm to the sweet earth or its inhabitants.

Sweet Earth was launched by Tom Neuhaus, a Cal Poly professor who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. The chocolate used is all certified organic, which has obvious benefits for the environment, but it’s also fair trade – meaning that the cacao beans have been purchased directly from growers or their cooperatives for a higher price than the prevailing market. Eliminating the middleman puts more money in the pockets of the growers, allowing them to invest more in their own communities, and often, the certification means that certain environmental standards have been followed as well.

Fair trade also seeks to address the dark side of the chocolate industry. Not dark as in a higher percentage of cocoa, but an element that involves child labor, slavery, and unsafe working conditions. You can read some of the buzz kill stats on the Sweet Earth website, and rest assured that the chocolates you get from Sweet Earth in no way contribute to these harmful practices.

In fact, Neuhaus not only visits cocoa farms firsthand, but also founded Project Hope and Fairness, a charitable organization that is currently focusing its efforts to help Ivory Coast cocoa farmers, many of whom are dirt poor and struggling to eke out an existence while they farm one of the world’s most prized luxury goods.

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates will be one of the featured vendors at the upcoming Earth Day Food and Wine Festival in April, but if you’d like to pick some up for Valentine’s Day, check out the list of locations in your area. They’re also available at Splash Café on Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo (co-owned by Tom’s sister Joanne Currie and the “production site” for all the chocolates) or at The Crushed Grape in the Madonna Shopping Center.