What you can do to end child slavery in the chocolate industry

[Karmadillo]

Here's a link to a list of actions you can take to end the use of child slavery in the chocolate industry. With the abundance of Halloween candy most of us have on hand tonight, it shouldn't be that hard to find some M&M Mars products to return to the manufacturer with a polite note asking them to use Fair Trade cocoa in the future. It's worth noting the use of Fair Trade cocoa will not only strike a blow against child slavery, it will do an awful lot to guarantee a decent return for independent, small-scale cocoa producers.

I included a couple of additional links, one describing an effort to bring an end to the use of slave labor chocolate in school fund raising, the other giving some background on the conditions child slaves endure.

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/getInvolved.html

NOTE: If you go the site, you'll find links embedded in the suggestions below.

1. Help us pressure M&M/Mars to offer Fair Trade!

2. BUY Fair Trade chocolate for gifts for your loved ones that show you care about fairness for everyone.

3. ORGANIZE a Fair Trade cocoa campaign in your community! For ideas and materials, contact Melissa at [e-mail] or 415-575-5538. Download our Fair Trade Chocolate Action Kit to get started!

4. Get involved in our Children's Education Campaign.

5. LEARN about the plight of cocoa farmers and slavery in Ivory Coast. Check out our background information and news updates.

6. EDUCATE your school, church, or community group about what you've learned. We can supply a speaker and other educational materials. Contact us for details.

more...

http://www.nysut.org/newyorkteacher/2003-2004/031022solidarity03.html

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Supporters of the campaign are asking Mars, Inc., one of the country's largest chocolate makers, to help end child slavery by selling Fair Trade chocolate. Millions of American students each year participate in school fund-raisers that include candy bar sales.

"Our students shouldn't have to sell chocolate to raise money for their schools that was made by kids who never even get to see a school," Hobart said.

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http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=26776

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About 12,500 children working on large-scale cocoa farms had no relatives in the area, a sign that they had been sold into slavery. Some impoverished parents peddle their children to traffickers, in the desperate hope that a portion of their offspring's earnings will be sent home.

Usually the children — and the promises of money — are never heard of again.

The child labourers are forced to pick the cocoa pods, slice them open and scoop out the cocoa beans. These kids work long, hard days, often from six in the morning until six at night. Beatings by farm owners and managers are common. “The beatings were a part of my life,” then-14-year-old freed slave Aly Diabate told international reporters in 2001. “Anytime they loaded you with bags (of cocoa) and you fell while carrying them, nobody helped you. Instead, they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again.”

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Life is not much better for independent, small-scale cocoa farmers. On average, growers earn about one penny of the dollar we pay for a typical candy bar. Farmers and their children are trapped in a pit of poverty, without the income or education needed to climb out.

more...

[mmm]

1. Good post

[slaveplanet]

2. kick

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. Kickin'

this puppy...

[newyawker99]

4. kick

:kick:

[mrbill]

5. willy wonka runs a sweat shop???

what's this world coming to?

[Karmadillo]

6. Kick

n/t

[SaintLouisBlues]

7. And be sure to buy free-trade coffee,

now available all over the place. Tastes better to boot.

It's good to see this movement gathering momentum.

[minto grubb]

12. Fair Trade

Fair Trade is one way we can put money directly into the hands of poor people in developing countries. We don't have to be American citizens, or be someone in Politics to do this. if you have a shopping basket, consider Fair Trade goods. There is also tea, sugar and other goods with the Fair Trade label on.
By asking if your store stocks it, you can also make owners aware of the demand.
My local church wrote apetition to our local supermarket, asking why they didn't stock Fair Trade goods, together with signatures and reciepts, and we got an answer saying that they would stock tea, coffee and other commodities in future.

[Nlighten1]

8. I don't eat chocolate any more.

[DUreader]

10. Buy some fair trade organic chocolate for a friend.

[LeftistGorilla]

9. awwww man....

right after halloween too....
thanks for the post!

[Karmadillo]

11. Kick

n/t