During the process of researching a claim that over 300,000 children, go missing in the United States, every year, I came accross this article...
Think about chocolate slaves
There was no doubt where the children in Mali, Africa were disappearing to.
The police stand silently, looking at the empty train station thinking about how on this hot, humid day, the children were persuaded into leaving their homes for Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast is the leading supplier of cocoa, according approximately 50 per cent of global production. The low price of cocoa and lower labour costs force farmers to use children on their farms. Ivory Coast in West Africa has children working as slaves under "the worst forms of child labour" on cocoa farms.
More than 200,000 children are slaves in West and Central Africa. More than 109,000 children are slaves to Ivory Coast's cocoa industry. The neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast have people luring children to come with them where they promise them they'll have a shelter, food, good pay, and even advantages like a bicycle.
Children go with them, but never get anything they were promised. Instead, they suffer frequent beatings, long intense hours in the melting sun and are forced to work with dangerous tools and poisonous pesticides. When they fall down carrying sacks of cocoa beans, they are whipped until they start working again. What lottery did we win, that we aren't slaves?
Ivory Coast is the major cocoa supplier for Nestlé. When Nestlé sells their chocolate, it doesn't cross the customers' mind that their treat was made by slaves.
The United States spends about $13 billion per year on chocolate, with an average of 12 pounds per person per year. That's a lot of chocolate, which means there is an exceeding number of slaves working to give everyone their delicious treat.
Nestlé signed the "Cocoa Protocol" in 2001, to ensure that cocoa was being grown responsibly. By 2005, the company had failed to fulfill it's promise. The chance of freeing these slaves had disappeared.
Many people think of slaves and child labour as something of the past. What they don't realize is that reports show slavery in the 21st century is the highest it has ever been. Two of five children in Africa are working under 15 years old. Ivory Coast is no exception.
People use the excuse, "it's so far away" to try to justify the guilt in their minds that they can't do anything about this problem.
When Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was being filmed, extra chocolate bars were needing to be produced. They were challenged to make slave free chocolate, but Nestlé didn't like the idea.
Child labour is not a fad given any importance in the media, which everyone cares about for a few days, and then is totally forgotten. It's an ongoing problem of children suffering until we stand up and do something about it.
This hidden problem is a secret well kept by Nestlé, but is the first step we can all take to stopping this child labour. Next time someone is seen eating Smarties, ask them if they know how their chocolate is made or what they'd think if Nestlé's chocolate had a label reading "made by slaves."
Should this be treated as a problem one day, but forgotten the next because we don't want to admit we can do something about child labour on the Ivory Coast?
http://www.canada.com/chilliwacktim....html?id=3b1fa73f-16cf-4a24-b4c0-5f9503f643f5
Think about chocolate slaves
There was no doubt where the children in Mali, Africa were disappearing to.
The police stand silently, looking at the empty train station thinking about how on this hot, humid day, the children were persuaded into leaving their homes for Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast is the leading supplier of cocoa, according approximately 50 per cent of global production. The low price of cocoa and lower labour costs force farmers to use children on their farms. Ivory Coast in West Africa has children working as slaves under "the worst forms of child labour" on cocoa farms.
More than 200,000 children are slaves in West and Central Africa. More than 109,000 children are slaves to Ivory Coast's cocoa industry. The neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast have people luring children to come with them where they promise them they'll have a shelter, food, good pay, and even advantages like a bicycle.
Children go with them, but never get anything they were promised. Instead, they suffer frequent beatings, long intense hours in the melting sun and are forced to work with dangerous tools and poisonous pesticides. When they fall down carrying sacks of cocoa beans, they are whipped until they start working again. What lottery did we win, that we aren't slaves?
Ivory Coast is the major cocoa supplier for Nestlé. When Nestlé sells their chocolate, it doesn't cross the customers' mind that their treat was made by slaves.
The United States spends about $13 billion per year on chocolate, with an average of 12 pounds per person per year. That's a lot of chocolate, which means there is an exceeding number of slaves working to give everyone their delicious treat.
Nestlé signed the "Cocoa Protocol" in 2001, to ensure that cocoa was being grown responsibly. By 2005, the company had failed to fulfill it's promise. The chance of freeing these slaves had disappeared.
Many people think of slaves and child labour as something of the past. What they don't realize is that reports show slavery in the 21st century is the highest it has ever been. Two of five children in Africa are working under 15 years old. Ivory Coast is no exception.
People use the excuse, "it's so far away" to try to justify the guilt in their minds that they can't do anything about this problem.
When Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was being filmed, extra chocolate bars were needing to be produced. They were challenged to make slave free chocolate, but Nestlé didn't like the idea.
Child labour is not a fad given any importance in the media, which everyone cares about for a few days, and then is totally forgotten. It's an ongoing problem of children suffering until we stand up and do something about it.
This hidden problem is a secret well kept by Nestlé, but is the first step we can all take to stopping this child labour. Next time someone is seen eating Smarties, ask them if they know how their chocolate is made or what they'd think if Nestlé's chocolate had a label reading "made by slaves."
Should this be treated as a problem one day, but forgotten the next because we don't want to admit we can do something about child labour on the Ivory Coast?
http://www.canada.com/chilliwacktim....html?id=3b1fa73f-16cf-4a24-b4c0-5f9503f643f5
SHAME
Not even realizing the two were connected...