Is your chocolate harvested by child slaves?

[iago]

Answer: probably.

http://www.foodrevolution.org/slavery_chocolate.htm

That's a bit out of date, but according to my research the planned elimination of child slavery by 2005 wasn't met, so it was extended to 2008. That wasn't met either, so it was extended further out.

This sort of goes with a thread I posted about a Chinese guy committing suicide, in that the prices we pay for things are totally unrealistic, and greatly depend on the abuse of other cultures.

As for companies that most likely support child slavery by buying their cocoa from suppliers that use child slaves:

The $13 billion U.S. chocolate industry is heavily dominated by just two firms - Hershey's and M&M Mars - who control two-thirds of the market. Unfortunately, both of these companies fall into the category of those companies who use large amounts of Ivory Coast cocoa, and whose products are almost certainly produced in part by slavery.

[...]

M&M Mars and Hershey Foods Corp. are not alone. Other companies whose chocolate is almost certainly tainted with child slavery include: ADM Cocoa, Ben & Jerry's, Cadbury Ltd., Chocolates by Bernard Callebaut, Fowler's Chocolate, Godiva, Guittard Chocolate Company, Kraft, Nestle, See's Candies, The Chocolate Vault, and Toblerone. While most of these companies have issued condemnations of slavery, and expressed a great deal of moral outrage that it exists in the industry, they each have acknowledged that they use Ivory Coast cocoa and so have no grounds to ensure consumers that their products are slavery-free.

Companies like Mars, Hershey, and Nestle often say that there is no way they can control the labor practices of their suppliers. But there are other chocolate companies who manage to do so, and it would seem that if the bigger companies really wanted to reform problems in the supply chain, they have the power and ability to do so.

There are in fact many chocolate companies who only use cocoa that has definitively not been produced with slave labor. These companies include Clif Bar, Cloud Nine, Dagoba Organic Chocolate, Denman Island Chocolate, Gardners Candies, Green and Black's, Kailua Candy Company, Koppers Chocolate, L.A. Burdick Chocolates, Montezuma's Chocolates, Newman's Own Organics, Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, Rapunzel Pure Organics, and The Endangered Species Chocolate Company.

Personally, when I do eat chocolate (which is rare), I'll buy Fair Trade. It's significantly more expensive ($4 - $5 for a bar), but it's worth it in my mind. They talk about Fair Trade in that story, too.

[warz]

I hope mine is.

[Newby]

I hope mine is.

Their sweat, blood and tears only add to the rich flavor.

[iago]

If you guys are joking, it's in incredibly bad taste (no pun intended) -- we're talking 10-12 year olds who spend their entire lives being beaten within an inch of their lives and who never get to see their families.

These children, usually 12-to-14-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week. They are paid nothing, are barely fed, are beaten regularly, and are often viciously beaten if they try to escape. Most will never see their families again.

There's absolutely nothing funny about that.

[warz]

That's just the extra ingredient of love. And, you can't spend your entire life being a 10-12 year old. You'll eventually hit 13.

[while1]

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I couldn't care less at the end of the day.  As long as I don't have to see it or know about it.  I mean sure, I read the story and I think to myself "How terrible" but at the end of the day when I'm out buying shit, it's not like I'm going to go way out of my way to try and buy this "Fair Trade" or w/e shit you talk about.  It's the price they pay for living in a developing nation.  Hey, even America had abuse of child labor and slavery in it's history.  I'm a self-centered selfish bastard who doesn't care about shit unless it directly (and to an extent indirectly) impacts my life, I admit it.

You're such a carebear iago.  I'm kind of glad people like you exist to do my share of caring about such things :P.

[Rule]

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I couldn't care less at the end of the day.  As long as I don't have to see it or know about it.  I mean sure, I read the story and I think to myself "How terrible" but at the end of the day when I'm out buying shit, it's not like I'm going to go way out of my way to try and buy this "Fair Trade" or w/e shit you talk about.  It's the price they pay for living in a developing nation.  Hey, even America had abuse of child labor and slavery in it's history.  I'm a self-centered selfish bastard who doesn't care about shit unless it directly (and to an extent indirectly) impacts my life, I admit it.

You're such a carebear iago.  I'm kind of glad people like you exist to do my share of caring about such things :P.

Between this, and other posts, I think you need an empathy chip.

Sure, almost everyone is a hypocrite, myself included, but at least we are hypocrites! (e.g. at least we care, to some extent).

When you say it's the "price they pay for living in a developing nation", you make it sound as though they have a choice.  It's also similar to saying when a woman is raped, it is the price she pays for being attractive to the rapist.

[while1]

I have a mild case of aspergers.  It explains a lot of my social ineptness and why I have to work so hard to empathize.

[iago]

As I said in another related post, the word "sociopath" comes to mind.

[disco]

That's just the extra ingredient of love. And, you can't spend your entire life being a 10-12 year old. You'll eventually hit 13.

Then it's time to start thinking about your career as a child soldier!

[dark_drake]

Bu... bu... but I thought Cadbury Cream Eggs were laid by magical rabbits?

[Sidoh]

I hope mine is.

^-- this is what i was going to post.  thank you, sir.

[Furious]

/shrug

Bad things happen everywhere all the time.  It doesn't directly affect us and I don't intend to make it affect me.  If you're worried about the treatment of children in 3rd world countries, buying an expensive chocolate bar isn't the way to help the problem.

[Quik]

This thread is hilarious and rather sad..

[iago]

/shrug

Bad things happen everywhere all the time.  It doesn't directly affect us and I don't intend to make it affect me.  If you're worried about the treatment of children in 3rd world countries, buying an expensive chocolate bar isn't the way to help the problem.

I absolutely disagree. The torture of people, no matter where they live is bad, and the first step to changing things is to recognize the problem exists, and avoid supporting it. I really don't understand how people can ignore or make fun of the problen so easily -- is an absolutely horrible thing.