Reverse trick or treating

October 26, 8:49 AMAlameda County Progressive ExaminerCorey Hill

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On Saturday, October 31st, children across the country will don costumes and flood the streets, pounding on doors and asking for candy.  Although the happy kids will indeed receive all the candy they can fit into their bags, not everything will be as sweet as it seems.

There is a darker reality lurking behind many of the bright packages kids will be picking up this October 31st, and that reality is exploitation.  

Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean.  Every Snickers, M&M, and Hershey bar began as a football shaped pod on a cocoa plantation. 

Unfortunately, cocoa production ranks among the world's worst industries in terms of labor practices: unsafe working conditions, below poverty level wages, and widespread environmental degradation.  Worst of all, in the race to provide cocoa crops at the lowest possible price, some farms and plantations resort to forced child labor. 

Concerned parents don't have to sit this holiday out, though. 

San Francisco based human rights organization Global Exchange offers parents the opportunity to make a difference while accompanying their children as they trick or treat .  Free of charge, Global Exchange provides reverse trick or treating kits.  Inside the kits are cards containing information about the exploitative labor practices of the cocoa industry, as well as a few samples of delicious fairly traded chocolate. 

These fair trade chocolates are made from heavily scrutinized cocoa crops, coming from farms or plantations that have been inspected to insure that all cocoa farmers are paid a livable wage.  Parents and children are encouraged to distribute the kits while they trick or treat, spreading awareness in a way that is both fun and informative. 

The chocolate and the kits are available for free; interested parties who cannot pick the items up are requested only to pay $5.50 for shipping and handling. 

For further information, or to request a free reverse trick or treating kit, please contact Global Exchange via telephone at 415-575-5557.