Chocolate bars and child labor

[SMTA]

Really? I disagree. "Consumers play an essential role in diminishing the food industry’s injustices. Child slavery on cocoa farms is a difficult issue to fully address because the most serious abuses take place across the world; however, that does not mean our responsibility is reduced, since chocolate is a luxury and not a necessity like fruits and vegetables."

Child Labor and Slavery in the Chocolate Industry

Child labor has been found on cocoa farms in Cameroon, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, although since most of Western Africa’s cocoa is grown in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the majority of child labor cases have been documented in those two countries.

foodispower.org

My boycott alone is a drop in the bucket, add enough drops and the bucket overflows.

‘Your boycott’
What a stupid post.

 

[mrjurrs]

‘Your boycott’
What a stupid post.

How so?

 

[bearpoker]

Cadbury's on global citizen's list:

https://www.globalcitizen.org/fr/content/good-chocolate-guide-world-vision-no-child-sale/

Thanks for the link. I like Choceur. I'm relieved to see that it's UTZ certified, so I can keep buying it.

 

[bearpoker]

Holy cr*p. Thanks very much. I'm pretty safe but DRUMSTICKS! Damn

Back in the '70s and '80s there was a boycott of Nestle because they were selling baby formula to poor 3rd world women and pushing them to use it instead of breast feeding. That's when we found out that Nestle was so diversified that a thorough boycott was very difficult.

 

[mrjurrs]

Back in the '70s and '80s there was a boycott of Nestle because they were selling baby formula to poor 3rd world women and pushing them to use it instead of breast feeding. That's when we found out that Nestle was so diversified that a thorough boycott was very difficult.

Boycotts rarely work, but that campaign took the shine off of Nestle's.

As an individual consumer, my only power is my pocketbook. And while it means essentially nothing to the company...it does reduce their bottom line infinitesimally.

 

[Cardinal]

Do you believe in child labor? Do you like chocolate? Those two things may be in conflict depending on what chocolate company you buy from. This is an area where US consumers can make an impact. Buy 'Fair Trade' chocolate, it's more expensive, but I bet you could do with a little smaller serving anyway...it works for me.

"Eight children who claim they were used as slave labour on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast have launched legal action against the world’s biggest chocolate companies. They accuse the corporations of aiding and abetting the illegal enslavement of “thousands” of children on cocoa farms in their supply chains. Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA), on behalf of eight former child slaves who say they were forced to work without pay on cocoa plantations in the west African country."

Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US

Chocolate companies are among the defendants named in a lawsuit brought by former child workers in Ivory Coast

www.theguardian.com

Yikes.

Global supply chains means that something in your house was made with labor under abusive conditions. You do what you can (such as the very good suggestion of buying fair trade chocolate -- I'll have to look into that), but what a mess.

 

[bearpoker]

Boycotts rarely work, but that campaign took the shine off of Nestle's.

As an individual consumer, my only power is my pocketbook. And while it means essentially nothing to the company...it does reduce their bottom line infinitesimally.

It's no great sacrifice on my part to skip buying a Hershey bar. Now that I know about the child slavery problem, I'll look for the seals shown on the website that Demon linked. It's not because I want to boycott. It's because I don't want to support child exploitation.

 

[mrjurrs]

It's no great sacrifice on my part to skip buying a Hershey bar. Now that I know about the child slavery problem, I'll look for the seals shown on the website that Demon linked. It's not because I want to boycott. It's because I don't want to support child exploitation.

Thank you.

 

[SMTA]

Cadbury's on global citizen's list:

https://www.globalcitizen.org/fr/content/good-chocolate-guide-world-vision-no-child-sale/

NUTS!
Toblerone ain’t on the list.
No more here (used to be gifts).

 

[Demon]

NUTS!
Toblerone ain’t on the list.
No more here (used to be gifts).

No Lindt's either.

 

[SMTA]

No Lindt's either.

And no US companies.

 

[Demon]

And no US companies.

Yeah, that kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

[SMTA]

Yeah, that kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.

Americans just don’t give a shit about anyone else.

 

[mrjurrs]

Products should not be allowed to be sold in this country that don't adhere to minimum standards that our workers enjoy. Safety, ethics, sanitation, environmental, work/life balance.

That would be a humdinger to enforce, though.

I think a new division in the IRS could implement something. Corporations provide huge benefits to America, but they take more than they give. Requiring some level of corporate behavior overseas seems okay to me.

 

[mrjurrs]

Lawsuits mean nothing.
Verdicts carry weight.

Decision came back ruling against the workers. Pundits say the way it was ruled creates a new pathway for a different legal claim. We'll see.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-416_i4dj.pdf

 

[mrjurrs]

Funny... you are confused by the chocolate and you arrange a production where you ask the readers... the theme is successful, the chocolate can be boycotted.

I don't see a difference. An individual consumer can only speak with their pocketbook, chocolate bar or Tesla.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

I don't know if there is an organized boycott, mine is just personal. I think the bottom line is what drives corporate change, so boycotting the company would work better imo. Are they in non-food products also?

I know Dove is into both chocolate and shampoo. Is it on Santa's nice or naughty list?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

My tiny bit of research (NO, NOT YouTube) says that Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Hawaii can all support cacao crops.
I daresay that there's even a slight chance that my own Zip Code in L.A. County is Zone 10b, which would indicate the possibility, if adequate water is available.

 

[bearpoker]

I know Dove is into both chocolate and shampoo. Is it on Santa's nice or naughty list?

Dove (chocolate brand) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dove (sold as Galaxy in the UK, Ireland, the Middle East and India) is an American brand of chocolate owned and manufactured by Mars. Dove produces a wide range of chocolate candies, as well as other chocolate products such as milks, cakes and ice creams.

 

[ClaraD]

You missed my point, and your husband is a perfect example. Pepsi cola made the choice for company profits over a wage that would have reduced the profits but provided an actual wage for the workers. Children are in the fields because their parents have no options otherwise.

So, in the meantime families should just starve and to be damned with their right to live right? You do realize that Pepsi does not care if it is an adult or a child that they hire right? Nor does Coca Cola for that matter. They will continue to hire just adults, but lots of families in their entirety will starve to death, because there are no social programs in these countries that we are discussing. You cannot force the countries to have said social programs nor will they. So, your solution is to hell with the kids that are hungry because you think it is awful that they are working.

 

[ClaraD]

My tiny bit of research (NO, NOT YouTube) says that Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Hawaii can all support cacao crops.
I daresay that there's even a slight chance that my own Zip Code in L.A. County is Zone 10b, which would indicate the possibility, if adequate water is available.

Cacao needs mountains and tropical weather.....there are no mountains in Florida. You also have to grow it under a larger hardwood like mahogany...Alabama and Georgia have the same issue and also are not tropical...it is too cold to grow cacao in both of those areas. You could maybe get limited growth of cacao in Southernmost areas of Florida...but it is not going to provide a bounty crop. They could ideally be grown in Puerto Rico...protection from wind, sun etc...mountain areas and plenty of hardwoods....Florida is not going to produce enough cacao and will be subject to a cold snap that would kill all the cacao trees that do grow.

 

[mrjurrs]

So, in the meantime families should just starve and to be damned with their right to live right? You do realize that Pepsi does not care if it is an adult or a child that they hire right? Nor does Coca Cola for that matter. They will continue to hire just adults, but lots of families in their entirety will starve to death, because there are no social programs in these countries that we are discussing. You cannot force the countries to have said social programs nor will they. So, your solution is to hell with the kids that are hungry because you think it is awful that they are working.

Nope, my solution is to place guidelines on American corporations operations internationally. They aren't saving those children or their families. Read the source article.

 

[ClaraD]

Nope, my solution is to place guidelines on American corporations operations internationally. They aren't saving those children or their families. Read the source article.

Except, you need to remember these corporations are not American corporations, they are international corporations. While they may have an office or corporate headquarters here, that is the same for each of these countries or regions. They are under completely different rules. You need to lobby the country, not the corporation.

 

[jamesrage]

Do you believe in child labor? Do you like chocolate? Those two things may be in conflict depending on what chocolate company you buy from. This is an area where US consumers can make an impact. Buy 'Fair Trade' chocolate, it's more expensive, but I bet you could do with a little smaller serving anyway...it works for me.

"Eight children who claim they were used as slave labour on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast have launched legal action against the world’s biggest chocolate companies. They accuse the corporations of aiding and abetting the illegal enslavement of “thousands” of children on cocoa farms in their supply chains. Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA), on behalf of eight former child slaves who say they were forced to work without pay on cocoa plantations in the west African country."

Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US

Chocolate companies are among the defendants named in a lawsuit brought by former child workers in Ivory Coast

www.theguardian.com

No I will not boycot companies who buy their goods from companies or farms that use child labor. The most I will is try to get them to buy from sources that don't use child labor. Do you boycott companies that don't pay their workers a livable wage? Do you boycott companies that pay their workers almost next to nothing to make your cellphone, computers, TVs and other goods?

 

[Port & Starboard]

Might as well boycott all those electric cars and cell phone manufacturers while we are at it.

Exposed: Child labour behind smart phone and electric car batteries

Major electronics brands, including Apple, Samsung and Sony, are failing to do basic checks to ensure that cobalt mined by child labourers has not been used in their products, said Amnesty International and Afrewatch in a report published today.

www.amnesty.org

Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths

Dell, Microsoft and Tesla also among tech firms named in case brought by families of children killed or injured while mining in DRC

www.theguardian.com