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We've heard what the rest of the world has done. What about us?
Buy Smart
Buy Smart
Buying chocolate doesn't have to be a hit-or-miss in accidentally supporting child labor. Check out the following brands to boycott unethical chocolate and keep your treat good in taste and morals!
Donating is Caring
Donating is Caring
The root of child slavery in cocoa producing regions -such as the Ivory Coast- is poverty. Support the organizations below to make sure your dollars can help take children off farms for good.
Petition to Fruition
Petition to Fruition
Big Choco is doing too little too late, but you can help change that with an autograph from someone who cares.
Buy Smart
Chances are, when you grab your favorite chocolatey snack at the supermarket, you are holding the product of a child's hard work. We know! It's horrifying isn't it? Good news though, the following organizations DO care, and are generally considered to be slave free! Although, if your mouth starts to water at the thought of a KitKat, treat yourself with chocolate bearing certifications like that of Fair Trade- they are better than nothing, and still gets the message across that traditional uncaring chocolate needs to go.
The following are a series of fair trade labels you can find on chocolate wraps and other products to identify products that are ethically sourced. To further read on the organizations from which these labels originate from visit the Fair Trade Labels tab.
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Read the full list here!
Tony's Chocolonely
Alter Eco
Divine
Endangered Species
Donating is Caring
When asked about the children working in cocoa farms, both farmers and the children admit "it's a kind of slavery", but continue working because the poor economy "makes it hard for everyone". Parents shouldn't have to make their children work to make a living, and your dollar can help! The following organizations pay farmers more for their cocoa, or even give your money to families in need directly, no middle man required. Go on, when companies continue to underpay farmers, your dollar matters the most!
Petition to Fruition
"We haven't eradicated child labor because no one has been forced to. What has been the consequence... for not meeting the goals? How many fines did they face? How many prison sentences? None. There has been zero consequence." -Antonie Fountain (managing director of Voice Network)
The spearheads of the chocolate industry -Nestle, Mars, Hershey, and others- have made promises since 2001 to end child labor in their supply chains, and yet the results 20 years later still leave much to be desired. The companies do enough to ward off the media, but in the grand scheme of things little has changed.
As customers, our power is limited. We need laws that would keep pressure on the big companies, and keep them accountable for the human rights violations they currently overlook. No one really wants child slavery, and by signing this (or these!) petition(s) you are helping to give companies one last push to truly change chocolate.
Want to do more? Is your body (or your company!) aching to spring into action? Join the cause personally!
Want to do bigger things without putting your body on the line? Contact your local governor or school to put more pressure on companies and keep potentially slave-produced chocolates out. With recent court cases once again questioning the ethics of the self-regulating chocolate industry, governors are more likely to agree to gain public favor.
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