Hi! Well, this isn't really science related, but I think that it's important, so here it goes. Recently I came upon some research about slavery in the cocoa trade.
http://www.foodrevolution.org/slavery_chocolate.htm
This shocked and apalled me for several reasons:
1) Why hadn't I heard of this sooner? I subsequently learned that several large chocolate companies (M&M, Hershey) pledged in 2005 to eliminate slave labor from their chocolate-though to debatable success- so that lead me to believe that I need to pay closer attention to the world around me. However, I do not believe that this issue recieves the attention it deserves.
2) The children involved ranged from only 12 years old to 16 years old. These are my peers! In another life, I could have been the one forced to work on these plantations, fed only cormeal and beaten.
This, of course, made me angry! So, I pledged to only eat slave-free chocolate on www.pledgebank.com. This is an interesting website. You think up something that you want to do (ie. donate money, plant trees, even read a certain book) and pledge that you will do it if __ number of people also pledge to do it by a certain date. If you reach your goal, then you and __ other people go out and do whatever it is you pledged. It is free, and a great way to spread your message. If you want to pledge to eat only slave free chocolate, go to
http://www.pledgebank.com/EatSlave-free.
You may react like I did at first. "Well, eating slave-free is good, but I love my chocolate and don't want to give it up..." To you I say that there is no need to give up chocolate. A list of slave-free chocolate companies is avaliable (among other places) here: http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/goodchocolateproducts.html
If you have trouble finding (or don't like) these brands, buying organic chocolate is a good way to be reasonably certain that it is also slave-free, as no organic chocolate is produced in the Cote d'Ivoire, where most of the slave-trade cocoa comes from. If you are particulary concerned, you can e-mail/call your local representatives as well as the large chocolate manufacturers, demanding chocolate to be required to be slave-free.
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12 comments:
Why did you use the name Marta?
It's my spanish name.
madelyn i am ever so lonesome, wont you please comment on my blog or at the very least take my survey?
Pretty cool Marta, It is neat to see that you have found something that interests you and have gone out and tried to do your part. I really like how you seem to be a natural blogger, good citations, links, everything! way to go!
Wow I had no idea that people still use slaves to make something as good as chocolate. I've had the fair trade chocolate and I LOVE it. I didn't know it was made slave free, I just thought that it gave more money back to the workers. It's so cool that there's a company who makes sure the chocolate remains slave free.
Wierd, I thought slavery was eliminated. But, would slavery be extinguished if we boycott its goods? Will it make a difference? I mean, even if you get enough protesters, wouldnt the slavers just use the slaves for different work, such as working in other factories? I've always wondered if it would make a difference.
troy-
slavery hasbeen abolished in the United States, but its still an all too real thing in other parts of the world.
i've also wondered about the boycotting thing...
madelyn-this is a good post. mad props to your blogging skills =P
Troy and Melissa make good points. Even if we were to get every student (around 1,800 I think) to eat only fair trade chocolate, would that really make a difference to people thousands of miles overseas, who have hundreds of coporations clamoring for cocoa? Well, if your goal is to completely eliminate slavery, even from the cocoa trade alone, then the answer would be no. If you have different goals, however, it would make a difference. You could want the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you aren't ripping people off. You could want to spread awareness so that a larger, more influential group could champion the cause. Boycotting can be an effective tool, escp. when used to stop a capitalist organization. If, as I earlier mentioned, a larger group took up the cause to the extent that it convinced a LARGE number of people/corporations to not by slave cocoa, then yes, it would work. No money = a change in tactics.
Wow.....this is all really deep Stuff. You know this could relate to our assignment on change. If enough people in the world ban together to say, boycott the chocolate companies that use slave labor to harvest the cocoa, then the companies would need to change their supplier of cocoa in order to stay in business. Maybe it might cost a little extra but the main principal of any coproation is to make a profit. In the long term it could pay off and the company might end up making more of a profit if people are interested in the cause and support the corporations change by buying their product.
Great discussion already everyone! Marta, you are a true blogger. Nick, great point on how this can relate to our assignment on change. How can Marta's daily acts cause a change? What can we attribute these changes to?
I think that actions, such as the one in the aformentioned book, can create a change by raising the awarness of other people who then continue the cycle.
As to what Troy said: does it matter what little difference it makes. Is that an excuse to just go on and keep giving that company your business. If you do choose to support that company you are basically saying that you agree with what they do and how they run their business. That chocolate should taste pretty bad if you know that slaves suffered and maybe died to make that chocolate.
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