Chocolate Children Eric Bencosme 611

Dear Chocoholic,

            Children are being trafficked every single day to farmers just to produce the sweet rich chocolate we eat everyday. Children in Africa are being used as child slaves.

                       

            Children play a role in the chocolate making in companies like Hershey's. 200,000 children work on cocoa farms.75 percent of the worlds cocoa is produced by the Ivory Coast. Children are smuggled across the border. Their parents don’t even know their children are being used to produce the chocolate we consume. Some children that work their don’t even know how chocolate tastes like or know what it’s used for. These roles that children play have a huge impact (effect). Children are exposed to pesticides and fertilizers. The chemicals make the air and water dirty. People and animals who breathe the air will become sick. Children suffer wounds from the machete.According to CNN's Freedom Project videos a child named Abdul who works in a cocoa farm suffered machete marks. The children that work on these farmers have never gone to school.

            There are many courses of actions that can make a big difference. One course of action is buy fair trade chocolate. “Fair trade standards guarantee farmers get $150 on top of the market price” (Reverse Trick or Treaters by Ben Block) for not using child labor. Another course of action is reverse trick or treating. Reverse trick or treating is when adults give you candy you give fair trade chocolate back to them. In the article “Reverse Trick-or-treaters Deliver Fair Trade chocolate” it states that farmers are paid more with fair Trade, so they don’t have to live in poverty and their children can get an education. Isn’t this a great way to raise awareness?

            What will you do to stop this horrific use of children? Let’s work together and STOP CHLID LABOR!!!!!!!!!!!!