Chocolate leaves a bitter taste
September 18, 2008

It is enjoyed by millions of connoisseurs around the world, but in recent years chocolate has started to leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

Canadian author Carol Off, whose book alerted readers to the ethical quagmire of chocolate consumption when it was released two years ago, is currently in Australia to talk up the topic.

Her book, Bitter Chocolate, lifted the lid on the use of child slavery in the cocoa plantations of West Africa.

The link between slavery and chocolate is as old as history, Off said.

“There has always been a case where cocoa has been produced by people who didn’t have a lot for people who do,” she said.

“The Aztecs and the Mayans produced cocoa for the King of Montezuma and in Europe they produced slaves to harvest cocoa beans for the chocolate fanatics of Europe.”

Things haven’t changed, she says.

“We have chocolate bars today that seem to be cheap and affordable even to a child … but the truth of the matter is we can only afford this chocolate because people who are picking the beans and cultivating it are children in West Africa,” she said.

“A lot of children voluntarily go (to the plantations) because there’s nothing for them in countries like Mali.

“Their crops are failing and nothing is growing in that part of the world, So a lot of the kids are sent off by their parents to get some money.

“But child traffickers see the vulnerability of these kids, there’s nobody watching over them and they round them up and take them over the border into the Ivory Coast and make money from them.”

It is difficult to help these children, Off says, because much of the Ivory Coast, which produces most of the world’s cocoa supply, is torn by civil war.

The government uses profits from the cocoa trade to fund the war, Off says.

“The complicity here is with them and the big chocolate companies.”

“There are only a handful of multinationals that control the industry and basically they are able to operate with impunity in Africa and Ivory Coast because everybody that has power over the situation is getting what they want.”

Fair trade systems were having a small impact, Off said, but would never provide a full solution.

“They pay a premium to the farmer, the chocolates are more expensive and the profits go back to the farmers.

“Where I went in those situations, the kids are going to school, there was health care, clean water and all these things were paid for by fair trade premiums – but there’s so few of them.

“It represents not even one per cent of all the cocoa being produced, so the vast majority is under this other system.”

The CEO of The Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia (CMA), Trish Hyde, said the CMA was a part of a global initiative to eliminate child slavery and forced labour in the industry.

She said the CMA and other chocolate companies from around the world were working with the governments of the Ivory Coast and Ghana to help eliminate child slavery and forced labour.

“The important thing is from our perspective is the collaboration with government and NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) on the ground, with industry programs … that are actually making changes in the communities.”

The CMA says that in July this year it also helped implement a reporting system that would certify all labour on West African cocoa farms.
AAP

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/09/17/1221330918327.html

On Friday 16 May 2008 (THIS FRIDAY!), join the movement as Australia stands up to end child slavery.

The Global Night Shift is one national event held simultaneously in six cities. In Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, thousands of young people will unite with the vision to end child slavery.

Come to PERTH CONCERT HALL, 7pm – 10pm, and hear passionate speakers, short films and great artists!

FEATURING fire dance troupe Fire ‘n’ Motion!

Tickets are $30 at www.bocsticketing.com.au and all profits go to the End Child Slavery campaign and The Oaktree Foundation’s work in India to build schools for children in poverty-stricken regions of India.

To find out more, you can email endchildslavery@theoaktree.org.

Watch: http://www.vimeo.com/752118

Visit: http://endchildslavery.theoaktree.org/

Buy Tickets: http://www.bocsticketing.com.au/get_events_info.asp?id=NIGH08

Read: Xander’s Blog and sign up for Freedom Friday’s

A friend of mine sent me a link to this article today: It talks about a new book that Benjamin Skinner has written A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery.

Read this: Article

There are lots of books about now, talking about similar things. It certainly seems like people want to make sure that we don’t forget that the slave trade hasn’t actually been abolished.

I watched a video recently which is along similar lines. This one especially has a huge emphasis on the fact that WE can end slavery. There ARE things that we can do to bring about its end.

Watch this: Slavery in the New Global Economy

Speaking of things we can do; FREEDOM Day is coming up in WA. We’re screening “The Jammed”. If you haven’t seen it, or even if you have, get along and bring all of your friends. It’s on the 19th of April (NB: New Date) in the Evening at Perth Fortress Corps of The Salvation Army. There will be fairly traded tea and coffee served and some nibblies provided by a great organic food company.

Go here: The Jammed Website

p.s. read James Thompson’s blog.