Since Halloween is looming ever closer on the horizon here, and many of us are going to be stocking up on goodies to pass out to the little Trick-or-Treaters that pass through our neighbors, the inspiration for this post came at just the right time.
Who doesn't love a good piece of chocolate? A candy bar to get through the day, a gift for a loved one, ice cream and cookies for a sleepover...chocolate is everywhere! And why not? Scientific studies are proving that (dark) chocolate is good for your heart and brain, and that any kind of chocolate releases feel-good hormones. But it's time for everyone to know the truth about chocolate, and I feel it is my responsibility to help forward that knowledge. With knowledge comes responsibility. As Martin Luther King, Jr. puts it, "Our Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
The vast majority of main-stream chocolate in our stores is brought to us compliments of forced child labor. Slavery. This problem was first brought to the worlds attention via British and American Journalists in 2000-2001. You can read about their discoveries here. Due to public pressure, the Harkin-Engel Protocol was enacted in 2001 where mainstream companies promised to work towards eliminating the "worst forms of child labor". (more about Harkin-Engel here).
As I'm sure you can imagine, this "working-towards" promise was nothing
more than a farce, and here we are, 12 years later, still faced with the
bitter truth that every time we buy chocolate we are supporting child
slavery. The tasks these children are forced to do include spraying hazardous chemicals onto the crops with no protection from inhaling the fumes and using machetes to cut down and break open the cocoa pod which often result in cuts and scars. The vast majority of these "workers" do not attend school, cannot read or write, and live on a diet of corn paste and bananas. A 2011 study done by Tulane University estimates around 2 million children enslaved in coca related activities. Things are so bad, in fact, that the International Labor Organization has dubbed the cocoa industry as the WORST form of child labor.
So
what do we do about it? The answer is simple. Take a stand with me, and
REFUSE to buy chocolate originated in slavery. Let these companies know
that we are serious about ending the use of child slaves in our
chocolate process. We can work together to end slavery, and I am asking
you to start with the cocoa industry.
Don't worry! This doesn't mean that you have to stop buying chocolate. Lucky for you chocolate-lovers out there, there are a lot of options that do NOT originate in slave-based cocoa production. And quite frankly, these options taste a whole lot better, as well!
So let's talk fair trade for minute. The quick definition of fair trade is that the workers were paid a fair wage. That means NO SLAVERY. That means NOT PERPETUATING POVERTY. That means providing HOPE and a FUTURE for the workers, especially, in this case, the ones in the third-world countries harvesting the cocoa. Look for Fair Trade symbols like these on your labels and you'll know that your money is helping to END SLAVERY.
The best way to go about this is to not buy chocolate from mainstream brands--Hersheys, Mars, Cadbury, Nestle--they ALL use slave-derived cocoa. I'm NOT ok with that. And you shouldn't be either.
Don't rely on the Fair Trade label alone. This certification is awesome, but it is also extremely expensive.
Do some research. The internet is so handy. Do some reading on fairly traded, ethical brands of chocolate.
Yes, it's going to take "sacrifice" from us. It means looking harder when we are craving a good candy bar. It means paying a few more dollars for our chocolate. But when the difference is supporting slavery or freedom, it shouldn't be that hard of a choice, right?
As of today, I am taking a pledge to not willingly support slave-derived chocolate. And I am challenging you all to take that stand with me. I can no longer be so selfish as to think that my desire for a Milky Way outweighs the global ramifications of supporting the slave industry through the spending of my money.
Let me leave you with one last thought :
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps perpetrate it.
He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
{Martin Luther King, Jr.}
Refusing to cooperate with evil any longer,
-A.A.
find out more and sources I've used:
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