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Chocolate Slavery

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Slavery in the Chocolate Industry

Day to day many of us consumers just buy products in stores and consume them without really thinking how and where they came from. Surprisingly the chocolate industry yields approximately 13 billion dollars annual. This number is very high although, should be a reasonably lower since there is slavery in the chocolate industry. Child slavery has been increasing over the past decade in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Greed and corruption has in the past decade ruined the morality of the chocolate industry. It has also ruined countless lives and families in the process of making an already wealthy individual even wealthier. There are many surrounding issues behind the child slavery in the chocolate industry. The underlying problems are systemic, corporate, and individual issues. The systemic issues are that even though these are put in place, they are rarely enforced. This is a main concern because there are many “open borders and a large shortage of enforcement officers.” The oaths and outlooks of local officers are altered by bribery of money and other materialistic items and privileges from the members of the slave trade. Many cocoa farmers believe that slavery is the only way to lower the already low prices even more. Recently the prices fell from 67 cents a pound to 51 cents a pound due to global forces (which are no control to the farmers). The problem is these farmers are already making a substantial amount of money. They are just being greedy by supporting slavery, yes they are making more money, but at the cost of innocent lives. Many people in these parts of the country are very poor. Poverty is high; so many kids believe this is an amazing opportunity. They find out rather quickly that it is hell on earth, and they have no option of leaving.

Corporate issues should be held equally responsible. Big companies such as Hershey, Mars, and Nestle are supporting slavery! They are the main consumers of the cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. These huge corporations have been purchasing from third world countries for years now and slavery is nothing new to them. In 2000 True vision made a documentary about how pervasive slavery is in any market. “In the year 2000 Human Rights Report, estimated that in recent years over 15,000 children from the neighboring nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo had been sold into slavery in the Ivory Coast.” Many huge corporations are involved and supporting slavery, which is the result of a one percent fair trade in chocolate sales. Hershey and Mars chocolate companies are the most prevalent offenders of purchasing from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Which in return potentially makes them the biggest offenders and supporters of child slavery.
Upon, the public outcry for change:
In 2001 the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association put together the Harkin-Engle Protocol, which calls for the development of industry wide labor standards and voluntary certification, reporting and individual monitoring. The Protocol also implements an industry-funded foundation to create and oversee programs related to this issue. The deadline was July 2005 and as of this writing there has not been much improvement. (Audet 1)
Even though Hershey and Mars Chocolate are the biggest offenders, it doesn’t stop there. Many staple companies such as Cadbury’s, Ben and Jerry’s, Godiva, Kraft, Nestle, and Toblerone are also supporting and buying from the farms that utilize slavery. Consumers have to look for a fair trade certified label on chocolate to one hundred percent know they aren’t supporting slavery. More specifically every individual is and should be held responsible for this child slavery. This is a multi billion-dollar organization. To say this is only caused by one person’s actions would be inaccurate. To work for the companies that are involved in this, is making you indirectly involved. Your paycheck is coming from the punishment and unethical practices in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. More Specifically the higher you go up in company also comes more responsibility. As for who is more at fault? The CEO’s and administrative personal of the company and the farm owners hold more responsibility for what is going on. They are more involved in the buying of cocoa beans and structure of the market, leading to them putting a blind eye to such a horrible problem. It doesn’t end their though, anyone and everyone involved in the production of cocoa beans from picking them to selling to consuming them are supporting child slavery. Some consumers believe that since they are not involved in the production, they aren’t supporting slavery. Yet they are held responsible for keeping a horrible corporation like so in production. A lot of these ideas and actions come from such a tight competition between competitors. The lower their cost of production potentially the more profit they can obtain. With so many companies involved in the industry, it is a huge reason and problem why slavery exists. As stated earlier law enforcement is tainted by a constant bribery and fear of death. Any enforcement involved is turning a blind eye and letting this gruesome living conditions continue. This type of inhumane actions can be stopped easier than anyone thinks. We as a whole have to stop consuming from these companies to put them out of business. So next time you think about consuming a chocolate bar think to yourself, if you want to be the problem or against it!
Many consumers question, is the child slavery if and at all justifiable? We have concluded that in no way would this ever be justifiable. Yes, most kids are getting fed and sheltered but, the type of treatment they are being but throw is absolutely ridiculous. These kids are working 16-18 hour days to be fed bread and contaminated water. These issues have always been on the back burner and need to be republished and fought against. If everyone would put a stop to supporting these companies and slavery farms, it would save many innocent lives. We have concluded that these kids would rather live with their family in a poor environment than rather being treated as animals. We as the people need to take a stand and fight for these children’s’ lives. We need to get the government more involved and put an end to this! We live in a society that us as a whole could put an end to this horrific problem, if we work together.

Can you just add some more background detail to it only a little, I know she said not to be to wordy also add your references, my printers out of ink so if you could print this and the questions out that would be awesome. Otherwise if you think its ok, I think itll work lemme know

Works Citied

Audet, Marye. "Do You Support Child Labor?" HubPages. HubPages, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. .

"Slavery In the Chocolate Industry." Food Empowerment Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.

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