Rox makes an Ashland connection

Whooo hoo!  Rox Chox will be available soon to the fine folks in Ashland, Oregon at the Ashland Food Coop!  The thrill of hearing another grocery buyer say, 'Yes, please' to our delicious chocolate just doesn't get old.


In other news, Rox and Chox are really grateful for student loans.  They are essentially paying for the creation of a small-scale raw food preparation space: tools of one arm of my social art practice.  Today I said to River, "by January, we'll be in the black!" and he said, "No, no, honey.  When you've paid yourself back all that you've invested, then you'll be in the black."  Finances are not my strong suit, but I sure don't have a problem letting go of them when it is a very good investment.  With our Raw Lab almost finished, our last big investments are coming up: a mold and labels.  And then a short little tiny bit later Rox Chox will be solidly in the black.  And all the happier for it.

The graduate seminar talk about Rox Chox went well, by the way.  People asked some clarifying questions, used the word 'delicious' more than a few times, and were impressed with the Fair Trade aspect especially.  One insightful question posed was, "how do you see your labor and the labor of those who are farming the cacao to be related?"  That is a great question, and at the time I talked about raising awareness for fair trade practices.  But really, although I haven't (yet) met the farmers of our cacao, coconut, vanilla, xylitol, and salt,  we are all collaborating.  I suppose I see this as a giant collaborative art project, synthesized in a tasty treat.  The project is finished when the smile is on the mouth that is savoring the result of all of our combined work.