Fifty-four children were rescued from slavery in the cocoa and palms fields in West Africa earlier this week, one of the biggest developments in the effort to end child slavery in cocoa in years. The children were as young as 11 years old, endured hazardous working conditions, labored 12 hours a day, and were not paid.
(See www.interpol.int/Public/News/2009/CotedIvoire20090803.asp.)
The article demonstrates that lower prices requested by consumers encourages irresponsible plantation owners to support human trafficking and slavery in the region.
At the same time, we have received news that Hershey is inviting the public to “Celebrate National S’mores Day” on Monday, August 10, by making s’mores with their chocolate…even though some of their cocoa supply may be tainted by child slavery.
We believe that this is the moment in which we need to stand up and say YES to Fairly Traded Cocoa as well as all the other Fair Trade products available in the market.
Let's celebrate Smore's day with Fair Trade chocolate and ask Hershey to do the same!
Please visit www.globalexchange.org/cocoa for more information on how to participate.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Fifty-four Children Rescued from Slavery in Cocoa Plantations
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey this is a great idea! We all must understand that we are voting for what we believe in with every dollar we spend. If we stop supporting these companies economically, they will be forced to change their policies. I encourage all of you to purchase fair/ethical trade chocolate. We here at Endangered Species Chocolate practice an ethical trade policy. This means we are actively working to improve the living conditions for our cocoa farmers and their families. We do this by installing water pumps and filtration systems as well as donating school and medical supplies. Additionally, all of our cocoa comes from small family-owned farms assuring us that the workers (usually family members) are treated humanly and receive fair wages. For more information about our ethical trade policy, our charitable donations or are delicious premium chocolate products visit us at www.chocolatebar.com or email us at community@chocolatebar.com. As always...Savor Chocolate. Save Our Planet.
Kyle
Endangered Species Chocolate
http://www.cadbury.com/media/press/Pages/ftcdmanzcan.aspx
Post a Comment