Today was a very eventful and fun day in Amsterdam!
We started the day off early to take a cruise along the canals of the city, which came with beautiful views and a unique perspective of the city. This was a lovely and relaxing start to the day, but also very informative, as I learned a lot about Amsterdam’s different districts and architecture.
Next, after a quick lunch picnic by a canal, we visited Cacao & Spice, a local chocolate shop that specializes in ethical and sustainable chocolate entrepreneurship. We were able to learn about the origin of the shop and the chocolate industry in The Netherlands while tasting some chocolate sold in the shop. This was a fantastic experience, and it taught me so much about common unethical practices in the chocolate industry and efforts that can be taken to combat them. I also learned that sustainability goes much further beyond the common connotation of environmental effects. Cacao & Spice is extremely dedicated to every facet of sustainability through associating with practices such as paying cacao farmers a wage significantly above free trade standard, farming using a biodiverse environment, uplifting woman-run cacao producers, using all parts of the cacao plant in various ways, and choosing to harvest all cacao from Africa instead of Europe to help create more jobs there. One of the owners shared that she and her husband’s inspiration for starting this business was to better represent Amsterdam, which is the largest cacao importer in the world, by separating from subsidy-minded companies that stick to fair-trade costs.
After visiting the shop, the other owner of the shop gave us a tour of the surrounding area, which included greeting some of his friends from other shops, sharing historical information that I would never have learned otherwise, and debunking common misconceptions about the infamous Red-Light District. Restating everything I learned could fill a novel, but the thing that stuck out to me the most was when we were walking through a narrow street, and our guide explained that when he was a child, it was one of the most unsafe places in the city. He compared it to Kensington, a neighborhood in Philadelphia that is commonly avoided because of the ongoing opioid crisis that exists there. A similar crisis was occurring in this neighborhood in Amsterdam, but I learned that once the Dutch government and community ceased criminalizing and ostracizing those with drug addictions and helped many enter recovery, the neighborhood was able to be uplifted and become a safer place for all. This really hit home for me, as I grew up in Philadelphia and still live in the area, and it is very inspiring to see what a change in mindset and strength in community could do to make the world a better place.
Finally, I spent the rest of the day exploring a shopping district with friends and eating a delicious dinner. Today was a great day, and I learned so much valuable information about Amsterdam and its community.