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TechnoratiYou gaze at each other, illuminated softly by candlelight. Music plays in the background. Slowly pulling back the ribbon from your gift, your sweetheart glows with delight and anticipation...until the wrapping falls away from the box of chocolate to reveal a blank spot where the slave-free chocolate label belongs.
Even though the chocolate industry committed to ending the worst forms of child labor in cocoa production by today -- July 1, 2008 -- the slave-free label is still missing from lots of chocolate boxes...and chocolate bars and ice cream and syrup and other products made with cocoa. And it's not just because industry talked Congress into a voluntary agreement in place of the 2001 legislation that would have created a mandatory slave-free label for chocolate, which was passed in the House of Representatives by a landslide. It is also because virtually none of the chocolate you buy as a consumer could be certified as "slave-free" if that label existed today.
In one sense, things aren't that different now from the way Congress intended to protect us from tainted chocolate back in 2001. If you find a blank space glaring back from the spot where the Fair Trade certified label belongs on any cocoa product, you know it has not been produced under standards that prohibit abusive child labor.
The chocolate industry's answer to the legislative threat of slave-free labeling was its 2001 pledge to voluntarily certify cocoa produced without the worst forms of child labor by July 1, 2005, known as the Harkin-Engel Protocol, after the two Congressmen who championed the original legislation. When they failed to meet this deadline, it was extended to July 1, 2008 and limited to 50 percent of the Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana.
While industry and governments have taken some steps to address the issue, it is too little too slow. The very title of the Harkin-Engel Protocol commits the industry to "...Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor," yet for over seven years children have continued to languish in slavery and consumers have waited for untainted chocolate. It is also rather shocking that the cocoa industry had the chutzpah to officially commit to ending just half of slavery, not all slavery, in the cocoa fields of these two countries by July 2008.
With the next deadline rapidly approaching, the chocolate manufacturers have redefined the word "certification" to mean "data collection." Industry even titled its 2007 version of its definition a "certification concept." Wouldn't it be great if we could all be released from our moral and legal responsibilities by redefining them? We can hear the chuckles about the "concept" concept forming around water coolers nationwide already. "Think a repayment 'concept' will work for my mortgage?" "Will the boss buy into a punctuality 'concept'?"
Members of the public are broadly familiar with the characteristics of organic and other certification systems, and know that certification is not a 'concept' open to interpretation. Certification systems include elements such as specific standards required of industry participants and independent, third party institutions that confirm compliance with standards.
But the bottom line is that, as a report funded by the US Department of Labor stated, the industry's current definition of certification is "a misnomer." What industry is currently pursuing under its own definition of certification is not truly certification that there is no abusive child labor. It is a survey to determine the prevalence of abusive child labor. And, for that reason, industry is at risk of missing the upcoming deadline yet again. Data collection is not the goal; the goal is protecting children from the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa fields.
Nearly 60 organizations and companies concerned with child welfare have called upon major chocolate manufacturers to sign the Commitment to Ethical Cocoa Sourcing. The Commitment includes requirements that would reach the goal of ensuring that cocoa farming families and workers can live lives of dignity and meet their basic human needs rather than languishing in poverty while industry exploits the dismal price of cocoa in order to rake in profits. The Commitment also requires truly independent, third party certification.
Some have gone even further, by calling on chocolate companies to start sourcing Fair Trade certified chocolate. Fair Trade certification standards prohibit the use of abusive child labor and slavery. Just as important, Fair Trade also addresses the fact that cocoa prices are too low to fully cover the cost of the labor it takes to grow it. The Fair Trade certification system guarantees farmers a stable, decent price for their cocoa.
It is especially disturbing that the companies involved market specifically to children, making them unknowing participants in the exploitation of their peers. One troubling example is Chicago-based World's Finest Chocolate, the leading producer of school fundraising chocolate bars in the country, does not source Fair Trade certified cocoa. World's Finest Chocolate, a company that bases its seemingly squeaky-clean corporate image on supporting children's education, should end its hypocrisy and start producing a Fair Trade certified chocolate bar to fundraise for children's education. It is time for farmers who grow the cocoa in World's Finest Chocolate's chocolate bars to be able to afford to send their own kids to school too.
Go ahead and buy a chocolate gift for the one you love. Cocoa growing communities are depending on you. But from now onward, look for chocolate with the Fair Trade certification label. Because when the object of your affection pulls back the ribbon on your box of chocolate, looks at you, and sighs, "you shouldn't have..." you don't want your beloved to mean it.
Adrienne Fitch-Frankel is the Fair Trade Director of Global Exchange, a national human rights organization based in San Francisco.
24 Comments so far
Show AllCadbury's was a rare example of a company opposing slave-like practices in the Congo during Belgian colonialism years ago. I wonder if they still have an ethical corporate mission???
"squeaky-clean corporate image"
What's that?
Medusa...right on, it's true...everything is tainted by slavery. Consumerism is an integral part of the cycle where slavery resides. Buy less, own less, trade, give away...
http://www.freetheslaves.net/
rapaciously destroying everything nearly everywhere for the capitalists.
~~~~~
abolish corporate personhood first...
then we stand a chance of getting people to matter.
taking candy from a baby
It ain't just the cocoa folks -
www.storyofstuff.com
I wish this article offered some data about the slavery. What are enslaved children doing in the chocolate industry? Where are enslaved children being forced to produce cocoa?
I believe this is happening but I think I would grok the data more usefully if there was some real world context.
Are six year olds enslaved? Are these children sold as workers by their parents? What kinds of conditions do these enslaved chidren live and work in? Are they treated like work horses, fed and put to work like animals?
I think that putting these kinds of details in the article is the kind of information people need to know.
I am not much of a chocolate eater myself. As others have suggested, I try to buy 'right'. I try to buy fair trade, I try to avoid 'bad' companies. . . . but it is so hard to keep track of all the horrible things going on. But tell me a story about how real children are being treated to grow chocolate . . . that, I won't forget.
As a founding member of CA - Chocolate Anonomyous, I must check where the best chocolate maker in the world - Cadbury's of Tasmania, Australia buys their cocoa!!
I have to say this is my worst sin. I do the organic shade grown fair trade coffee, but not the chocolate.
No more. I must have my chocolate, but I will now buy it responsibly.
When you consider how competitive it is for the workers who actually are employed in the corporate production of basic commodities, it's no wonder the Afghans have no intention of giving up their poppy farming. A crop with a premium. And that's sad too.
Nosimaj, stargeeze, Sandy, jclientelle - thanks for seeing the bigger picture.
Clover's pretty tasty, actually. The flowers are sweet with nectar, like lilac buds. I'd enjoy some clover in my salad, as long as it was free of dog-juice.
I bought a bag of organic apples today - trying to do my bit. Felt completely defeated when I got them home - wrapped in plastic (oil, hazard to animals, hormone disrupting chemicals). The label proudly announced, "Product of Chile". I live in Canada. (oil, trucking, automotive industry, gas emissions, GHG, more energy used to transport the apples than there is in the apples, labour issues within the trucking industry, not cleaning the chemicals from other runs out of the truck between shipments, slavery in Chilean fields, deforestation for agriculture, yada yada)
Does adding a chocolate worry fix anything here? Did my purchase fix anything? They are really tasty apples, though; that I must say.
We need a grass-roots revolution and leaders who can help channel our creative powers. We need democracy. Voting with our shopping dollars is not democracy, as sandy discovered. Anyway, all the brands are owned by a maximum of 5 companies operating as a cartel. Doesn't matter which way your dollars vote- they all go into the same fat pockets.
Medusa tells the truth. If we were to boycott every item created through human exploitation and animal cruelty we would run around naked and shoeless and eat the clover in vacant lots. But I do believe that personal change can make a difference if enough people do it.
My kids grew up not knowing what a grape tastes like. After about 20 years I realized that I was making this sacrifice and nobody seemed to be paying attention, not even the farm workers.
Product boycotts will not work unless there is a quantifiable loss of sales that wipes out the profits from bad practices. I am already helping by not buying diamonds and furs. (joke)
I've never heard of this before. Thanks for the links, tnewman.
Exactly right, Medusa (2:06 pm).
And I've been working on the change you suggest.
The system as we know it is hopelessly broken.
But who is willing to create an alternative?
Is the Green Party the solution? Is Ralph Nader?
During the last year I've been listening to Americans bellyache about change here on CD and elsewhere, but few complainers suggest alternatives.
Part of my answer to the call for change in the system is included in my website regarding an issue I've already been working on for several years--light pollution and dark skies--admittedly, an issue that's only part of the overall problem.
But I'm working on a new website that will be a place where I can describe in a much more detailed manner the changes that must occur if we are to survive our own extinction.
I hope you and others readers of CD will help me "create" the changes necessary on my future website.
It'll be titled Earth Aches. Please watch for it and help me create an alternative way.
Earth first in all things and thoughts, deeds and decisions.
In the meantime, yes, I'm working on giving up chocolate! But hey, astronomers suggest the universe is composed mostly of dark matter. I have done extensive research on this dark matter stuff for years. All my research points to what dark matter really is: DARK CHOCOLATE! And sadly, I've been "collecting" way too much of it.
For now: http://www.darkskyinitiative.org
Consumers do have the power to change things with how they spend their money, especially on non essentials or items where there IS a better alternate choice, like chocolate and toys. But consumers also underestimate how much sway they have if they keep up on an issue or two and contact their elected officials about it. Industry lobbyists have a lot of power because they donate a lot of money to politicians, but they also OUT NUMBER consumers when it comes to who's speaking to the politicians. It's sad that many consumers don't know who their elected officials are or how to contact them, or view them as some diety behind the curtain that they can't approach anyway. We pay their salaries; we have every right and reason to be in touch with them and demand they represent us, not corporate special interests.
Everything we buy is tainted by slavery.
should we start on a larger campaign to change the system that has such odious features as slavery? The entire system is based on debt, war and slavery - we can just ignore the slavery most of the time because it's been moved to foreign countries.
____________________
Very true.
But with the large corporations ingrained into our culture pushing products every day on the mind numbing tv, you have to start small or they will bury you.
One thing to remember about capitalists, they only freak when SALES are down.
So we have the power through education of the younger masses. Don't buy chocolate! When I tell my grandaughters (9 & 10)= target age for influence!
When you educate children about this problem, they will join the crusade most or some of the time. But they will be aware, and this younger generation is more concerned than the masses of us old folks.
Boo Yah! Medusa! Word to the truth.
Everything we buy is tainted by slavery. Almost every toy our children play with is made by child-slaves. Almost all the clothing. Diamonds. The granit countertop in our kitchens. Everything made of plastic. Groceries and luxury goods. Even the cell phone and computer the author uses in her work. Even mine - and shopping at Wal-mart is a sad necessity for many.
Can we wear ourselves out fighting in so many causes? Or should we start on a larger campaign to change the system that has such odious features as slavery? The entire system is based on debt, war and slavery - we can just ignore the slavery most of the time because it's been moved to foreign countries.
We have to stop deluding ourselves into thinking a tiny change like checking for a label, or turning off the tap when we brush our teeth, or switching off the light when we leave the room, or "green" cars (what a contradiction!) will actually change anything. We have to go for the bigger picture. and fast.
Thank you for this update and information. I try to be careful in my purchases, buying Fair Trade whenever possible (and also by not buying, whenever possible, if it is not); however, it is nearly impossible to keep up with all of the problematic products & practices that are out there in our world today.
This information helps.
~ ANNE FAITH ~
Thank you.
I'm not sure how well us men could easily live in a world w/o chocolate for women.
Namaste
Yup, I bet the whole foods or organic grocers will provide fair trade cocoa but I thought I'd post a few places where a flood of emails could actually make a difference...
Commercial networks:
World Cocoa Foundation
http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/
Chocolate Manifacturers Association
http://www.chocolateusa.org/
National Confectioners Association
http://www.candyusa.org/
Find problem, make change. No Problem.
I'd hate to live without my chocolate. I buy Rapunzel Organic Swiss Chocolate at the health food store. It's labeled as Fair Trade through the "Hand in Hand-Ecology & Fair Trade Program." It says "Fair Trade since 1989."
mea culpa. I pledge to reform.
Readers can take action on this issue by visiting Global Exchange's cocoa advocacy page: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/ or by visiting the International Labor Rights Forum: http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign
You can view the Commitment to Ethical Cocoa Sourcing here: http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign/resources/861