Make this your last slave-chocolate Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a major holiday for the chocolate industry. Sunday night, VT Oxfam members raised funds by selling fair-trade chocolate goods across campus. Unfortunately, most of the chocolate sold for the holiday will help sustain one of the most universally supported systems of human rights abuse in the modern age.

Approximately 40% of the world’s cocoa supply comes from farms in West Africa supported by child slavery with most in Cote d’Ivoirie (the Ivory Coast). The U.S. Department of State estimates that 109,000 children are working in an abusive labor environment with as many as 10,000 suffering as victims of human trafficking or enslavement. Tragically, these are conservative estimates. In 2005 the International Labor Organization estimated that as many as 200,000 children work in West Africa cocoa farms.

Candy companies have publicly acknowledged this problem since at least the early 2000s, when the United States government attempted to regulate the labeling of chocolate to distinguish normal products from slave-free products. The industry successfully intervened and agreed to a non-binding agreement to monitor sources of cocoa and reduce support of the child slavery practice. According to a 2008 report by the International Labor Rights Forum, major chocolate companies have reported that proper tracking or monitoring of supply chains is “impossible.” Multilateral efforts, including some by the Cote d’Ivoirie government, have been made to reduce harm to children and farmers, but the problem persists.

 

One of Equal Exchange's CoOp workers.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. Supporting a Fair-Trade certified product provides farmers with a larger share of profits and ensures support of an ethical supply chain. Chocolate bars from Equal Exchange, for example, are available in many grocery stores in the organic and alternative foods section. Certain stores will sell fair-trade cocoa for baking purposes and other ethical chocolate options. It’s true that simply carrying a fair-trade label does not guarantee ethical practices. But with a little bit of research, you can concentrate your buying power away from the slavery-supporting status quo. Truly fair-trade products may cost a little bit more than the candy bars at the checkout aisle, but they lack the moral externalities present in every Hershey’s bar, every Swiss Miss packet or every bag of M&Ms.

Free2Work is a project that gives companies ratings on their labor practices. They’re currently developing an app that scans products and reports on the labor practices that went into creating them. Through awareness and education, we can stop unknowingly supporting modern slavery.

We know this comes in the midst of the holiday and you may have dipped into your box of chocolates already. But we ask, now that you know the truth, that you make this your last slavery-supporting Valentine’s Day. Spread the word, buy fair trade and lobby for stronger efforts by governments and companies to curtail child slavery. A couple dollars’ difference is worth supporting human rights.

For more information, please visit the following websites and documents:

The International Labor Rights Forum Cocoa Campaign
Oxfam International: A Sustainable Cocoa Chain Report
Stop Chocolate Slavery, information and resources
ILRF Report: The Cocoa Protocol, Success or Failure?

Free2Work Company Reports

• Hershey C-
• Godiva D-
• Russell Stover D
• EqualExchange B+