Dear candy craver,
When you take a bite of your delicious chocolate do you
ever think about where it came form or who made it? Do you ever wonder who
started the possess of making it? Well if you travel to West
Africa then you will know that it all starts with children. Yes,
children. When I say this I mean that some chocolate companies like Hershey and
many more use children to cut down cocoa beans. This is called child labor.
Children play a big role in the making of chocolate. Many
children are brought to Ivory Coast
and West Africa where 75% of the world’s chocolate
is produced. In the movie “The Dark Side of Chocolate “traffickers put the
children into a van and transport them across the boarder to whichever location
they are heading to. In the movie there was a trafficker that was revealed that
explained step by step how he took the children across the boarder to the cocoa
farms. In the movie there was a statistics that showed that in 2006, 132
children were trafficked. In 2007, 140 children were trafficked 2008-2009 about
150 children were rescued. According to the movie inside the fields children
are often mistreated and are exposed to pesticides and fertilizers. These are
harm to children because these pesticides and fertilizers contain harmful
chemicals that can make the children sick or even makes then die. Children also
have to handle machetes witch are like big knifes that can harm the children.
Children are affected both physically and emotionally. The
children who get interviewed are often scared of the grown ups because they
think they are going to harm them just like the ones in the cocoa bean farms.
The children who get interviewed are uneducated because they do not go to
school. Children in the cocoa bean farm children in the cocoa bean farm don’t
get to see their families at all. So they often think about how they miss their
families.
You can help make a difference and help stop child labor.
One thing you can do to stop child labor is to support an event called reverse
trick or treating. This event can help many children this even benefits the
farmers. As the article “Reverse Trick or Treating” by Ben Block states in the cocoa
industry, Fair Trade standards guarantee a premium of $150 on top of market
prices for each ton of cocoa they produce, as long as they meet specified labor standards. So to do this
event, on Halloween for each person you revise candy from you give a fair trade
chocolate bar. This simple task can make a difference because you know that you
are giving chocolate that does not start of with children.
Another way that you can help with child labor is to raise
awareness about how child labor is used in the making of chocolate. This would
help a lot to stop child labor because if you tell people about what is
happening we can all team up and protest against the child labor you can make a
big difference.
The next time you take a bite of the delicious chocolate
just remember that it all starts with children. We all need to help and stop
child labor. You read about what we can do to make a difference and now it is
up to you to you to stand up to child labor and make a difference.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Lopez
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