Nourished Magazine :: Wisdom to thrive by

“284,000 children in West Africa [are] working in hazardous conditions, many under forced labour, .. handling pesticides and chemicals without any protective equipment” - Stephen Knapp, Fair Trade Association of Australia.

Not many people would know these very disturbing facts about Chocolate:

• 70% of the worlds cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast in Africa.
• More than 600,000 children who live in this region work on cocoa fields
• 284,000 children work in dangerous conditions
• In Cote d’Ivoire on the Ivory coast 40-50% of children between 5 and 14 years of age work full time.
• 15,000 are captured, beaten, forced to work, underfed and not paid.
• Many of these children are trafficked from other African countries like Mali.
• Major chocolate companies know this but still buy from the criminals who run these plantations.

Even though US citizens eat less chocolate than Europeans, most of the cacao from slave plantations in African goes to the United States. Australian’s too consumer large amounts of chocolate, which companies like Nestle knowingly trade on slavery.

In 2001, two politicians in the US created a protocol, with the help of the chocolate industry, to stop child slave labour for cocoa. The Harkin-Engel protocol or “Cocoa Protocol” was witnessed by 8 major chocolate companies. To this day, these companies and many more haven’t complied. The Protocol stipulated that by July 2005, the chocolate industry would develop standards of certification. This deadline was not met. An extension of the Protocol was agreed upon, giving the industry 3 more years to implement the Protocol. That deadline runs out December this year.

There seems to be two solutions to the chocolate slavery issue emerging:

1. Current chocolate corporations insists on Fair Trade cocoa, instill infrastructure to ensure slavery does not return and continually inspect cocoa plantations. Some of the major corporations are taking steps toward this, albeit very slowly.
2. A completely new chocolate industry based on Fair Trade cocoa, driven by consumer power, overtakes the old world chocolate industry.

It seems the second solution is definitely underway. Even so, it is estimated that Fair Trade chocolate represents less than 1% of the world’s roughly $60 billion chocolate market.

What is Fair Trade?

This from the Fair Trade Association of Australian and New Zealand:

“Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers - especially in the South*. Fair Trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade.”

*the South is a more egalitarian term for the incredibly outdated, capitalist term, ‘developing countries’.

Fair Trade is about giving disadvantaged people power: by paying producers and workers fair prices for their work, by helping them gain the skills and knowledge they need to develop their businesses and to operate in the global economy, and by challenging unfair trading practices. It is about providing fair go, not charity.

Cameron Neil, from Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTANZ), says December 02, The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, is the Australian Chocolate Industry’s deadline to implement the Cacao protocol. Along with World Vision, FTANZ demand the Australian chocolate industry mandate fairer conditions for cocoa farmers. They ask Chocolate companies to agree to stop “racing to the bottom of the supply chain”; for the whole industry to agree to pay a minimum rate for cacao that ensures an end to the poverty cycle in the communities who supply their raw materials. Communities can then rebuild their lives and stop enslaving their children to commodity prices.

World Vision has estimated that chocolate companies in Australia would lose only 1% of their profit margin if they were to do so. 1% is not much to ask for. Let’s hope they come to the party.

Fair Go

Chocolate has come a long way in the last 5 years.

Year 2003, in Netherlands, Teun (Tony) Van de Keuken filmed himself eating 19 bars of chocolate and calling the police to demand they to arrest him for breaking Dutch law and buying stolen goods: chocolate that was produced from slave cocoa. They refused. He then took himself to court for doing so. The prosecuters refused to charge him. He appealed. The second judge agreed with his first trial judge, but he did say there were deep issues involved and, “not only you, Teun van de Keuken, but other consumers in Holland and the rest of the world are responsible for these atrocities”. Tony plans to travel to Africa to find a child slave to bring a civil suit against him.

Meanwhile, in 2005, Tony started Europe’s first fair trade chocolate company, Tony’s Chocolonely. It was an overnight success. Tony’s chocolate bars are made from cocoa produced by a 45,000 member collective in Ghana and their success proves you can make money without causing harm.

Earlier this year, Tony released a film about his experience called Tony and the Chocolate Factory.

Fair Trade Standards demand that companies work with communities who are implementing education and health care projects which lift the ’standard of living’ of workers and ensure sustainable environmental and economic futures.

One very impressive, world-changing company is Australia’s Loving Earth. They’ve gone one step further than fair trade by truly partnering with indigenous co-operatives in Mexico, Peru, Indoneasia, China and Australia. The foods they use, are wild crafted or grown in traditional, sustainable ways. Their cacao, for example, is the original heirloom, royal criollo from Xoconusco (Soconusco), grown in ancient permaculture type glades by indigenous families following the ways of their ancestors. They use wild crafted agave and vanilla and include all sorts of fair trade ingredients like goji berries, cashew nuts and Aboriginal bushfoods.

Ceo, Scott Fry, says their focus on adding value at the point of origin, ensures their cacao is not treated as a commodity but the valuable food source it is. Loving Earth aims to grow a new chocolate industry based on ’single origin’ cacao, which, like the wine industry, celebrates the regional significance of different species and farming communities.

This type of fair trade tastes sweeter to me. After all, the people Scott work with are engaging in culturally rich, meaningful work which will Nourish their land and their people for generations. Now that’s community development.

Which Chocolate?

If your favourite chocolate doesn’t state that it is fair trade, chances are, it’s not.

Eileen at Consumption Rebellion, who obviously has not yet seen Loving Earth chocolate, says these brands are definitely slave free and fair trade certified:

• Scarborough Fair
• Cocolo
• Maya Gold
• Alter Eco
• Dagoba (not their whole range - Check the Label)
• Chocolatier Milk and Dark Chocolate Things - available in selected Coles and on counters in Starbucks
• Oxfam Shops carry a range of Oxfam Fairtrade Certified chocolates

If you know of more please let us know by commenting below.

These brands may or may not be fair or are only fair to keep their organic status. Eileen feels they are involved in the fair trade market to cash in and may not continue to buy fair cacao if circumstances should change.

• Green and Blacks - organic chocolate that is also slave free. Having said that, this brand is owned by Cadbury’s who are NOT slave-free.
• Kaoka
• Rupunzel - [have trademarked the columbian word for dehydrated cane juice "Rapadura" dissallowing even Columbian people from using it.- Ed]
• Tava
• Abundant Earth
• Endangered Species - audits are not independent.
• Just Organic
• Any chocolate that has Australian Certified Organic accreditation. (There are heaps of accreditation systems but ACO requires that all ingredients in the product are produced in accordance with Internation Labour Laws. This includes no slavery in the production process).
• Chocolate that has NASAA Certified Organic Accreditation.

A good start.

These companies are working towards slave free production:

• Cocoa Farm - harvest cocoa ONLY from Australian crops.
• Cadbury Range - including Picnic, and Fry’s Turkish (owned by Cadbury Schweppes)
• Streets (owned by Unilever)
• Arnotts - now apparently have ONE supplier who belong to the Cocoa Initiative. Not a great step but at least its a step.

All these chocolates have refined sugar, so probably not a good choice for health in any case.

These guys are a definite no go. They don’t buy slave free and they don’t care:

• Entire Nestle Range
• Hershey (actually has a policy to *not* reveal its cocoa sources, despite a Supreme Court action to do so…. legal case still going…)
• Mars Company (includes M&Ms)
• Lindt - how many practitioners say to eat Lindt 70% cocoa for health? If only they knew that’s 70% slavery they’re recommending.

That’s the head count so far. If you know any more, please comment below.

What Can I do to stop Chocolate Slavery?

1. Buy only fair trade chocolate
2. Ask you local shop to stock fair trade brands
3. Tell you family and friends about chocolate slavery
4. Contact chocolate companies’ consumer hotlines, telling them you want a slave free line
5. Find out if your Superannuation Fund has shares in one of these companies. If it does, ask the fund manager to ask the company, as a shareholder, to consider ratifying the ‘cocoa protocol’
6. Join Fair Trade Australia and New Zealand.

About the Author...

A Super Hero and one of many who have realised their true calling as saviors of humanity, healers of our connection with Nature and creators of Heaven on Earth. The Nourisher's gift is the re-spiritualisation of the 'process of recreation' we call eating. Mother of three Super Heroes in training and wife to her God incarnate, The Nourisher hails from the place of feminine healing, Byron Bay, Australia. She gathers together Life Creators from all over the globe at NourishedMagazine.com.au