Harvesting cocoa pods; © 2003 Fair Trade Foundation
You’ve probably heard of “blood diamonds.” But unfortunately diamonds aren’t the only commodity that is produced with slave labor. Many African cocoa farms produce “blood chocolate,” at the cost of cruel labor practices and child abuse.
Africa, especially its Ivory Coast, is the world’s largest cocoa producer, according to a guest post on Treehugger.com by Ted Dworkin of the Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store. (“The Bitter Truth About Chocolate.”)
According to Dworkin, the US State Department has reported slavery on many of these cocoa farms, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture reported in 2002 that nearly 284,000 children were working under unsafe conditions. Back in the United States chocolate manufacturers often don’t take responsibility for these unsafe working conditions, because they do not own the farms.
But there is growing awareness of this problem, and now many chocolate brands, manufacturers and importers, in addition to consumers, are insisting on slave-free chocolate products. Even the chocolate giant Cadbury announced in March 2009 that they plan to achieve fair trade certification for their top selling chocolate bar, Cadbury Dairy Milk, by the end of this summer.
According to TransFair USA (an independent, third-party certifier of fair trade products in the U.S) fair trade certified is a market-based system for sustainable development. To earn that certification importers and retailers pay a premium price to farmers and farm workers, who then commit to grow and produce goods in accordance with rigorous standards that guarantee worker rights, community empowerment and environmental sustainability.
It’s not hard to find fair trade certified cocoa and chocolate products in your local supermarket, many of which are made here in the Northwest. Dagoba Organic Chocolates and Chocolate Alchemy are two Oregon chocolate manufacturers that offer fair trade chocolate.
Another popular Oregon chocolate merchant, Moonstruck Chocolatier, is not fair trade certified, but the company says on its website that it supports fair trade initiatives and will not use cocoa harvested with slave labor or abusive child labor practices.
TransFair USA provides a list of fair trade certified chocolate products, broken down by brand, manufacturer and distributor/importer, on their webpage.
Another website, “Stop Chocolate Slavery,” created by UC San Diego students, has a table of common consumer products containing chocolate, such as Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Clif Bars, and lists the origin of the products’ cocoa ingredients, and whether they are organic or fair trade.
So buy fair trade chocolate, and enjoy an ethical and sustainable Easter celebration this year.
Comments
Thanks for this great article. You can also find a chocolate company scorecard from the International Labor Rights Forum that ranks chocolate companies based on their labor rights standards and take action by visiting their website, laborrights.org.
Wonderful article! Since I am a big chocolate consumer, I will make sure my chocolate is not only organic but also fairly traded. Thanks for the useful links!
Wendy
Thanks for recognizing the chocolate companies who are dedicated to fair trade. Alter Eco Fair Trade (www.altereco-usa.com) is another great brand for organic, fair trade chocolate. Alter Eco works with Fair Trade cooperatives around the globe to ensure direct trade, fair wages, and funding for community projects, women's empowerment programs, and scholarships. You can find their products at Whole Foods. Did I mention their dark chocolate tastes absolutely incredible?? Thanks for the great read!
Thank you for the article; I was unaware of this issue. I will keep this in mind.
Thanks for mentioning Fair Trade chocolate. Fyi, my name is Tex, though, not Ted. No biggie:)
Thanks again!
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