The Truth about Chocolate By: Kevin Gomez

Dear Chocoholics,

 

 Did you know where the chocolate that you ate come from? 60% of the cocoa comes from Ghana and the Ivory Coast in Africa. These places use child labor for the cocoa. They take children and send them across the border. It leads them to the Ivory Coast. This is called “trafficking”. When the children arrive at the Ivory Coast, they send them to the cocoa plantations where they make them as their slaves. “There is an outrageous number of children who are suffering from horrible back pain and other ergonomic neck issues between the ages of 5 and 18 just so we can have chocolate states the article “Reverse Trick or Treating”. It is important we raise our voices against this abuse of children.

   The Fair Trade movement guarantees that farmers receive a premium of $150 on top of market prices for each ton of cocoa they produce, as long as they meet specified labor standards. If more people buy Fair Trade chocolate, more children would be free from chocolate slavery!

 I recommend you kids that when you get chocolate you would exchange it with Fair Trade chocolate during trick or treating. This is called Reverse Trick or Treating. Chocoholics please think before you act.