The Big Swap: Chocolate
February 24, 2010 @ 01:46 PM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with chocolate. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
Credit: Daniel Rosenthal/Laif/Hollandse Hoogte
Child slavery, unfair working conditions, and unsustainable farming practices all factor into one of our most beloved treats.
The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) conducted an investigative report finding that hundreds of thousands of children were being purchased from their parents for very small amounts of money or even stolen and then shipped to the Ivory Coast where they are sold as slaves. The children work 80-100 hours per week without pay, are fed little and beaten. The work itself involves dangerous tasks like working with machetes and applying toxic chemicals and pesticides without appropriate protective gear. It may be hard for an American child to fathom that a child their age has never tasted chocolate much less the fact that the same child is a slave. To learn more, watch the documentary, Slavery: A Global Investigation.
Adult farmers see a disproportionately small amount of money for their labor. According to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), the majority of cocoa is produced on small family-owned plots and farmers often do not know the rising value of their crop. Worse, many farmers have reported that commercial traders use distorted scales cheating the farmers out of revenue. An article on CNN.com discussed the unsustainable farming practices. John Mason, executive director and founder of the Ghana-based Nature Conservation Research Council (NCRC) explains how the soil is being degraded and plant life decreasing while others discuss how farmers feel pressure to use pesticides and fertilizers to protect and grow their crops that ultimately pollute their soil and water and even make the farmers sick.
Chocolate is a $60 billion worldwide industry and is forecasted to reach sales of $18 billion in the United States by 2011. How can you ensure that slavery is not an ingredient in the chocolate you enjoy?
Fair Trade Chocolate purchasing guarantees that the cocoa farmers have an opportunity to make a real living because Fair Trade Standards ensure a minimum price for beans. The minimum price means the farmers can maintain a stable income and provide for their families. Additionally, when farmers sell their cacao beans to fair trade companies, they are prohibited from employing children. This ensures children in the community are getting an education rather than working in harsh labor conditions. A Fair Trade Premium is added to the purchase price and is used by cooperatives for social and economic investments such as education, health services, processing equipment and loans to members. This means the farmers work together in their cooperatives to fund community projects that benefit everyone like scholarships, additional training or healthcare.
Divine Chocolate: Like all of our partners, Divine Chocolate combines an amazing product with a compelling story. In the early 1990s, a group of farmers frustrated with being cheated at every turn, pooled their resources and formed the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative. These farmers based their cooperative on fair trade principles, transparency, democracy, efficiency, and equality for women. In 1998, they formed a publicly traded company, now Divine Chocolate, so that they could directly market their work to the rest of the world. The farmers of Kuapa Kokoo own nearly half of the company, hold seats on the board, and host yearly board meetings in Ghana. Trade as One is proud to be a part of Divine’s continues growth, as they bring justice and transparency into an region and industry devoid of either. Learn more by watching an interview with Divine Chocolate Farmer, Comfort Kumeah.
Now What?
We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post.