Wednesday, January 19, 2011

A sweet treat leaves a sour taste

I think it would be fair to say that most people love chocolate.
But many do not know the sickening truth behind cocoa production...

The leading countries for the cocoa bean industry are in West Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire alone, there are more than half a million cocoa farms.
This country along with Ghana provides 
about 60 - 80% of cocoa beans in the 
world industry.
Cocoa beans
However, on each farm, it is estimated that there are around 12-15 thousand children working as slaves in dreadful conditions. But how did they get there?
Although child slavery is illegal in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, a study shows that each year 200,000 children are trafficked
in these countries.

Slave traffickers look for boys who are by themselves and take them in, only to sell them to Cocoa farmers who need cheap workers. Sometimes they look for families with boys in them and collaborate with a family member to force the job of a cocoa bean picker on a poor child.

Often, a child slave is paid nothing for their work. The money instead goes to those involved in trafficking the child and the boss of the farm on which the child works. 
These children cannot get to school.
These poor children not only are not paid but also are often not fed properly. 
It seems almost impossible to escape from this exploitative trade.
So what can be done?
Please let others know the truth of what is behind the chocolate industry. Buying Fair Trade chocolate brands such as: Green & Blacks (which is also organic), Cadbury Milk Chocolate (please note: only the plain dairy milk is Fair trade) and Whittakers Creamy Milk Block. Buying Fair Trade and not supporting child slave labour may force farmers to change the way they act.  


Thank you to all the websites which provided helpful information and pictures for this article.

8 comments:

  1. I have recently tried Cadbury Dairy Milk now that they use Fair Trade Chocolate. I am certain that it tastes better than ever. The chocolate seems smoother and less bitter.

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  2. thanks for the reminder, I too will be trying to make better choices.

    Great blog.

    Kirsty

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  3. That is just disgusting if I do say so myself.
    You would hope that in a world that has come so far that these sorts of things wouldn't happen any more.
    Thank you for letting us know!

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  4. Your blog is so delightfully naive Louise. What a sweet little overview, but really? learn how to research.

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  5. Liz, perhaps you should learn punctuation (you need a capital on learn). Can you explain how this is naive?

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  6. Hey Liz. I'm not sure why this is naive. Could you enlighten us if you do have anything to add to this topic? I for one am really interested in Fair Trade. Also, you might need to think some more about the tone of your comment, as it does seem ... a little obnoxious if you ask me.

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  7. Great blog! You're obviously very thoughtful and passionate - inspiring stuff!

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