Viewpoint: Global Exchange

Wed., Dec. 7, 2005

For many of us, chocolate is a pleasant luxury. But chocolate is no luxury for the hundreds of thousands of child laborers that pick the cocoa that goes into some of our favorite chocolate treats.

According to reports by the U.S. State Department, the International Labor Organization and the International Institute on Tropical Agriculture, as many as 284,000 children between the ages of nine and twelve work in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast�the source of 43 percent of the world�s cocoa.

These children work long days harvesting cocoa pods with dangerously sharp machetes and little protection from pesticides, their minders, or the elements. Of these children, some 12,500 were reported to have been working on farms with no relatives in the area�a sign of child trafficking.

These problems are caused by poverty. The average cocoa farming worker earns between $30 and $108 per year. Without sufficient income for their crops, many families are forced to make difficult decisions about whether their children work or go to school. Children are often sold into a life of slavery on cocoa farms so that they can earn extra income for their families. The chocolate industry says it�s working to end these practices, but their plans do not guarantee the minimum that producers need to survive, or the independent certification that consumers want.

But, there is a solution�fair trade certified chocolate. Fair trade guarantees farmers a living wage while prohibiting forced and abusive child labor. Fair trade chocolate is now widely available, but the major chocolate companies like Mars, Hershey, and Nestle still refuse to sell it. Sadly, much of the chocolate found on supermarket shelves continues to be produced under appalling conditions�despite years of public outrage and consumer demand for change.

Instead, it has been smaller companies that are leading the way. Companies like Equal Exchange, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Cocoa Camino, and Alter Eco offer high quality, fair trade chocolates that are now available in many supermarkets, neighborhood groceries, health food stores, and online.

National faith and social justice groups have also been encouraging the sale of fair trade products at school, church, and community fundraisers, both as a means to generate additional income for farmers and to educate their communities about the benefits of fair trade. Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran World Relief, for example, offer programs to bring fair trade chocolate to churches and schools.

By choosing products bearing the fair trade certified label, consumers are helping to build an alternative model of trade that demonstrates the growing demand for products produced under fair labor conditions. The result has been explosive growth in the U.S. market with sales of fair trade chocolate up 78 percent from last year. Trans Fair USA�a certification body�expects to double the amount of chocolate products it certifies next year.

This holiday season, look for the fair trade certified label when you buy chocolate. It�s the surest guarantee that farmers were paid a fair wage, workers� rights were respected, and no child labor was used. Any way you look at it, that�s a sweet gift for Christmas.

Jamie Guzzi, Fair Trade Chocolate Campaigner
Global Exchange