"Fair trade allows you to use your spending power to make the world a better place."
"Here at Trade as One we’re passionate about using our spending to address 3 crises.
First, the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It’s an emergency on an unprecedented scale.
Second, the problem of human slavery. Fair Trade is about both prevention through employing vulnerable women, and bringing hope and restoration to survivors.
Lastly, the problem of extreme poverty. The worst evils in the world are rooted in the desperation of extreme poverty, and Fair Trade employment is a sustainable route out of that desperation."
My church has events with Trade as One a lot, so I thought I'd do some research.
Is there Slavery in your chocolate?
Most likely, Yes.
The US spends 16.7 billion Dollars on Chocolate every year.
70% of the worlds Cacao supply is grown in West Africa, and 43% is grown on the Ivory Coast (the southern coast of West Africa)
Hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents or stolen, and then sent to the Ivory Coast, where they are sold as slaves to cocoa farms.
These children, 12-to-14-years-old, sometimes younger, are forced to do hard labor 80 to 100 hours a week for no meals or pay. And are terribly beaten if they try to escape.
Most never see their families again.
Some companies that use "slave tainted" cacao beans include: M&M Mars,Hershey Foods Corp., ADM Cocoa, Ben & Jerry’s, Cadbury Ltd., Chocolates by Bernard Callebaut, Fowler’s Chocolate, Godiva, Guittard Chocolate Company, Kraft, Nestle, See’s Candies, The Chocolate Vault, and Toblerone.
Trade as one sells Slave free chocolate, as well as many other products that help other people through your purchases. So before you buy some chocolate for Christmas presents or stocking stuffers, consider that you may be indirectly funding Child slavery. Just because we don't see it daily, doesn't mean its not happening.
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