The document discusses the use of child slavery in cocoa farms in West Africa that produce cocoa beans used to make chocolate. It notes that over 100,000 children ages 9-16 are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions, often beaten, receiving no pay and little food or sleep. Attempts by US politicians to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through the Harkin-Engel Protocol have failed to meet deadlines. The author argues more needs to be done to raise awareness and pressure chocolate companies to ensure fair treatment of workers through fair trade certification.
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The document discusses the use of child slavery in cocoa farms in West Africa that produce cocoa beans used to make chocolate. It notes that over 100,000 children ages 9-16 are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions, often beaten, receiving no pay and little food or sleep. Attempts by US politicians to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through the Harkin-Engel Protocol have failed to meet deadlines. The author argues more needs to be done to raise awareness and pressure chocolate companies to ensure fair treatment of workers through fair trade certification.
The document discusses the use of child slavery in cocoa farms in West Africa that produce cocoa beans used to make chocolate. It notes that over 100,000 children ages 9-16 are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions, often beaten, receiving no pay and little food or sleep. Attempts by US politicians to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through the Harkin-Engel Protocol have failed to meet deadlines. The author argues more needs to be done to raise awareness and pressure chocolate companies to ensure fair treatment of workers through fair trade certification.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
The document discusses the use of child slavery in cocoa farms in West Africa that produce cocoa beans used to make chocolate. It notes that over 100,000 children ages 9-16 are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions, often beaten, receiving no pay and little food or sleep. Attempts by US politicians to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through the Harkin-Engel Protocol have failed to meet deadlines. The author argues more needs to be done to raise awareness and pressure chocolate companies to ensure fair treatment of workers through fair trade certification.
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Ruth Thomas
LA 101 04-19-11 Chocolate Slavery
Chocolate. Gooey or crunchy. Dark, white, or milk. Most of us in our lives have eaten at
least a piece of chocolate if not day in and day out. When we eat it, we probably do not even
think twice about who made it or where it came from. All we care about is how satisfying the
chocolate is to our taste buds. How would you feel if I told you that the piece of chocolate that
you eat is made by slaves? Crazy thought, right? It’s the truth.
I never knew that slaves still existed, let alone that our chocolate is made by them. This
fact is sad to admit but I used to eat at least two candy bars a day, not realizing that slaves are
making this delicious bite for me; for us. February 17 th of this year was when things were put
into perspective for me. This semester I am taking a sociology class that focuses on race
relations. One of the lectures focused on the slave work done in the Ivory Coast. Professor Sam
Richards started lecture by giving each of us two pieces of chocolate chips, and letting each of us
eat one right away. Then we watched a documentary about this slave work. Afterwards, he
challenged us to eat the second chocolate chip. Lots of people looked around confused as to
whether we really should eat it or not. He ate it himself. The message he wanted us to take home
was to understand whose hands made this delight for us. The decision to stop eating chocolate is
up to us, and he knows that is going to be difficult for most of us to do. But there is a solution,
which we will get to.
So who makes the chocolate? Not only adult slaves, but mainly children slaves. Over
100,000 children are forced into the slavery on cocoa farms (Richards). Their age ranges from
nine to sixteen (Chocolate Slavery…The Bitter Truth). Often these are children to the farmers.
The farmers cannot afford to send their children to school so they make them work instead. Some kids are tricked, being told that they will get money for their families or a gift for
themselves. Instead they received the gift of torture. The thought of children, young enough to be
my nephews, working hard and getting beaten up breaks my heart. They have attempted to
escape but usually fail. Once they are caught, they get whipped so badly to show others what will
happen to them if they do the same. Beatings are not only given for attempting escapees but for
those who take breaks or do no work at all. They work up to fourteen hours a day with no pay,
little food and sleep, but lots of beatings.
The adult slaves involved have similar stories as well. Some of them were randomly
kidnapped and forced into labor. Others were tricked into this business, thinking that they would
get paid and could make a living for themselves and their families. After they got involved, they
found out the harsh way that they would not be paid nor could they leave. After stepping foot
into the labor force, either willingly or unwillingly, these people will never see their families
again, unless changes are made.
The main task for these slaves is to plant cocoa beans and harvest the cocoa plants. What
is most interesting is that none of these slaves have even tried chocolate. They are around it so
often but none have tried even a taste. They do not want to eat something that they receive no
money for but work so hard to produce. One of the reporters asked a child if he could say
something to the consumers, what he would say. I cannot remember his reply verbatim but it
went along the lines of this: I hope you enjoy my sweat and blood because that is what it takes to
make this food that you people take for granted. Those words have stuck with me and have
changed me into truly appreciating where the food that I eat comes from.
What has been done to fix this issue? Two men, representative Eliot Engel and senator
Tom Harkin, came together to create the Harkin-Engel Protocol, which is also known as the Cocoa Protocol. Prior to the formation of the protocol, they wanted to label cocoa products as
slave free. Many companies do not qualify as slave free cocoa so it was agreed just to create the
protocol. This protocol was created “to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the growing of
cocoa beans and their derivative products from West Africa” (The Harkin-Engel Protocol). Take
note that it did not say to eliminate child labor altogether, but just the worst forms of it. The goal
was “to develop and implement voluntary standards to certify cocoa produced without the ‘worst
forms of child labor’,” (Cocoa Protocol aka Harkin-Engel Protocol). It was agreed that on certain
dates certain actions would be carried out. The most recent date was July 2005 on which the
parties involved were supposed to have “certification that cocoa has been grown without any of
the worst forms of child labor” (Cocoa Protocol). The deadline was not met and was extended
for another three years, which was not met again. Where does this leave us? We are still left with
extreme child labor, child trafficking, and the continuation of slavery.
Why is it that most of us do not know about this appalling business going on? For one,
most of these farms are in areas that most people don’t travel to. If they do not visit it, they won’t
see it. Farmers are also good at keeping a low key on the abuse. They do not get caught in the act
and therefore no legal action is inflicted upon them. If people do know what is going on, they do
not want to change it because that could potentially slow down or end cocoa production. No
more chocolate in the world? They probably think it is best to just keep their mouths shut. The
main reason is that big chocolate producing companies like Hershey’s will not stop the slaves
from making the product that racks in billions of dollars for them. However they do acknowledge
the fact that their products are made by child slaves and they feel deep concern for these children
(Robbins). The concern is not deep enough because like I said they won’t stop selling their
products. My primary focus is the chocolate industry. However cocoa beans are not the only things
slaves work to harvest. Coffee beans are also planted with these cocoa beans. They get hand-
picked by slaves too, but they do not receive as much attention as the cocoa beans do. I felt as
though I should include this information because as I was researching I stumbled upon an
interesting quote that I think relates to why companies do not care about these slaves enough.
“This industry isn’t responsible for what happens in a foreign country,” said Gary Goldstein of
the National Coffee Association (Robbins). This quote shows the selfishness in some of these
companies. As long as they are able to sell what they want they do not care how it was produced.
What am I trying to do? If it was not for this class, I would have never been aware that
child slavery is still going on. I want to spread this knowledge and make people aware. The
media makes people aware of many things, important and unimportant. I think this is a topic
worthy to make the news if persistent about it and have changes made. It is time for these parties
who agreed on these dates to step up to the plate and play their role. If possible, I wish that the
Ivory Coast in the near future can change the way chocolate is made from humans to factories. I
wish that people would be willing to donate money to these farmers so that the money can trickle
down and benefit them and their workers. I wish that this “job” would be more so voluntary than
forced. When I say voluntary I do not mean no pay. I mean that they want to work hard to earn
their money to support their families or earn money for school. Work should be something you
want to do, not forced into doing.
What do I want you to do? You are aware now of the seriousness of this issue. You can
make others aware of the seriousness of this unfortunate situation. You can petition against these
cocoa companies. You can buy Fair Trade Chocolate, which guarantees that the producers will
earn enough money to send their children to school. For the children or adults that are too old for school, it ensures them that they will be paid. It will cost you a little bit more than your average
Hershey or Mars candy, but it is worth it. I am a penny pincher and always want to buy the
cheapest of things to save money, so I understand that viewpoint of buying the cheaper
chocolate. However, I want to know how you can live with yourself knowing that a child is
beaten up to make this treat for you.
Whip. Gooey, crunchy. Whip. Dark, milk, white. Whip. Rich, creamy. Whip. Does it
have a bitter taste now? Will you look at chocolate the same? Works Cited
The Chocolate Industry, Plagued with Child Abuse, Rape, Sodomy & the Murdering of Children for Organ Trafficking: Sequel to “The Cocoa Plantations America’s Chocolate Secret…”
The Cocoa Plantations America’S Chocolate Secret Forced Child Labor, Rape, Sodomy, Abuse of Children, Child Sex Trafficking, Child Organ Trafficking, Child Sex Slaves: The Chocolate Industries Well Kept Secret/Harkin - Engel Protocol
The Chocolate Industry, Plagued with Child Abuse, Rape, Sodomy & the Murdering of Children for Organ Trafficking: Sequel to “The Cocoa Plantations America’s Chocolate Secret…”
The Cocoa Plantations America’S Chocolate Secret Forced Child Labor, Rape, Sodomy, Abuse of Children, Child Sex Trafficking, Child Organ Trafficking, Child Sex Slaves: The Chocolate Industries Well Kept Secret/Harkin - Engel Protocol
