With Easter right around the corner, lets talk about something that everyone loves: Chocolate. Did you know that the average American consumes 11 pounds of chocolate in a year? Did you know that 70 percent or more of the worlds cacao production is produced using abusive child labor? Major, trusted chocolate brands are often guilty of including cacao harvested by children and slaves in their supply chains. Hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents or outright stolen and then shipped to Ivory Coast, where they are enslaved on cocoa farms. Destitute parents in these poverty-stricken lands sell their children to traffickers believing that they will find honest work in Ivory Coast and send some of their earnings home. The terrible reality is that these children, 11-to-16-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor up to 100 hours a week. They are paid nothing, receive no education, are under fed, and are often viciously beaten if they try to escape. Most will never see their families again. The next time you reach for a candy bar, buy candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters, or stock up for holiday baking, consider the price thousands of children are paying to bring you your chocolaty cheer. BUT dont despair yet, ethically sourced chocolate is gaining prevalence and becoming easier to find (not to mention afford) every day. The key is in consumer awareness. Consumer dollars send a very clear message to manufacturers about what the public will and will not tolerate. The most effective way to find ethically sourced chocolate is to look for a short supply chain. Bean to bar producers who own the entire production chain all the way back to the beans and Direct Trade producers whose chocolate comes from single, identifiable origins are ideal. Many companies today who proudly list extensive information on the cacao farms they work with on their labels. Equal Exchange and Askinosie Chocolate are two examples of such companies. This article is FULL of places where you can purchase Fair Trade Chocolates. huffingtonpost/john-robbins/is-there-child-slavery-in_b_737737.html Where your products come from MATTERS. The places that you invest your money speak volumes about what you value. This Easter, and in holidays in the future, I hope that you will consider purchasing fair trade chocolate, in efforts to put an end to child labor and trafficking.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 01:51:24 +0000
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