I was browsing the internet the other day and I found a documentary called The Dark Side of Chocolate (look for the link in the end of the article). I'm kind of a chocoholic, so that got my attention. It was about something I had never heard about before or even thought about: child traffic, labour and slavery in cocoa plantations, especially in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
I watched the full documentary, I red some articles about that too and now I want to tell you all about it. Apparently, that wonderful candy most of us love is made with the blood of suffering children that are ripped off their families, abused, deprived of education and they aren't even payed. This goes against everything stated by the International Labor Organization and by the United Nations International Conventions on child labour. The greatest problem is that this is done with the knowledge of this countries governments and also of the major chocolate manufacturers, such as Nestle and Hershey, for example.
But let's start from the beginning.
According to the Food Empowering Project and Anti-Slavery, Ivory Coast and Ghana, in West Africa, are the main cocoa producers in the world, responsible for 70% of the world cocoa beans production. According to the same sources, chocolate industry is worth more than 100 billion dollars a year, so, to begin with, we have a huge contrast here: one of the most profitable industries of the planet gets its main ingredient - cocoa beans - in some of the poorest countries and harvested by some of the poorest people of the world.
It all starts in the countries nearby, such as Mali and Burkina Faso, that, as we all know, are two of the poorest countries in Africa. There, children ages between 12-16 (or younger) are kidnapped, sold by their families to smugglers or allured with promises of a better living and a good salary. They are taken by middlemen and smugglers and, in most cases, they never see their families again.
When they arrive at Ivory Coast or Ghana they are brought to cocoa plantations where they have to work 10 or more hours a day, carry heavy loads and use dangerous tools such has hatchets. Poorly fed, these children are deprived of any education. If they slow down, complain or try to escape they suffer beatings. They don't get any payment. Sometimes it's the family who sold them who gets a little money.
Farmers, governments, industries, they all deny this, but the hidden cameras in the documentary "The Dark Side of Chocolate" show us the real truth behind all this "happy" industry. So, while our over weighted kids are playing and eating mouthfuls of chocolates, african kids are starving and being abused so they can harvest cocoa for us. Probably, they never even tried chocolate in their lives.
Major companies such as Nestle, Mars, Hershey say that they don't know anything about child labour and slavery on the plantations and suppliers they buy from. They claim they don't own the plantations and can't control what's going on there. But can we really believe this? Do they really want us to believe that they are impotent before this major issue? We're talking about some very powerful and rich companies. They can buy and control their plantations. They can implement rules, they can CHOOSE from where to buy their cocoa beans. West Africa is not the only place where cocoa beans are produced. If those companies made a stand for what's right, maybe there wouldn't be so many abused children in those countries. Maybe they could be enjoying proper education and playing around like OUR kids, while adults go to work for a fair salary. The thing is, child labour, slave labour actually, is cheaper. And that's what those companies live for: money, profit, numbers. And that's what those children are for them: another number, profit.
I'm not saying you should stop buying chocolate. I'm saying you should KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BUYING. And look for alternatives. Because there are some. I totally understand that some brands are hard to find, especially for those who live outside USA, like me. But if we demand them, things start showing up.
HERE is a link for chocolate brands approved by the Food Empowerment Project. So next time you have chocolate cravings, please favor those slavery free brands. For them. For me. For you. For our future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pictures found on Google.
Watch the documentary
The Dark Side of Chocolate HERE
