Quiz: How Much Of Our Chocolate Is Tainted By Slavery?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02.14.08
A billion dollars of chocolate is sold for Valentines Day, much of that by Hershey's and Mars. They buy it through dealers like Archer Daniels Midland and Cargills, who buy it from equatorial cocoa growing countries. A big chunk of it comes from the Ivory Coast, where as many as 284,000 children are trafficked and enslaved to pick the crop.
For the answer click through to the next page
How Much Of Our Chocolate Is Tainted By Slavery? 43% of the world's chocolate is produced by the Ivory Coast, the world's largest producer.
We should note that "On 10th October 2007, major global players in the food industry initiated a programme for a more sustainable cocoa supply chain in the Ivory Coast, to improve social and environmental practices. This is a key decision that could lead to ending the trafficking of children into slavery on cocoa farms." But it has yet to be seen if this works. ::Stop the Traffic
See also The Bitter Truth About Chocolate
and ::Planet Green on what you should buy instead.
Fishing Industry and Conservationists Work together for No Take Zone on Arran
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Happy Valentine's Day!
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The stat about 284,000 children being trafficked is not correct. That is the number of children working on family farms in tasks not so suitable for kids. Not an ideal situation, but not trafficking or slavery.
Visit the websites for the International Cocoa Initiative and and World Cocoa Foundation for updated stats about the situation, clarification about what is really happening, and what progress is being made, then decide for yourself what chocolate to buy.
I personaly think its a outrage and that the law should help but even some of the law are helping the people get their slaves. But even sader yet not many people don't even know about the crisis going on. They should make commercials or something just to tell America the truth that all chocolate isnt so sweet.