Chocolate and The Modern Day Slave Trade

In America, citizens enjoy many freedoms protected by the Constitution. It is hard for us to imagine, to realize, that slavery still exists, not only in our beloved country, but in the world at large. Sweat-shops, child sex trade rings, and countless other horrible illegal underground cells abound in all of the major cities of America… maybe not too far from your own house.

I recently attended a missions conference called Urbana ‘09. There I learned about not only the slave trade in America, but around the world. I am sure many of you will be shocked to learn what I learned about chocolate. Children in coca-rich parts of the world are often kidnapped, taken miles away from their homes, and forced to harvest chocolate. To make matters worse, companies actually buy the coca harvested by these tiny hands. Children who would normally be in school are beaten, fed little, and threatened while they work for someone else. When I heard this I thought, “surely they don’t support that in America.” I was wrong.

The speaker, David Batstone, a university professor told the assembled that not all companies have  integrity with their chocolate  sources: Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle, and Cadbury Chocolate have refused to reveal where they import their coca from. This leads us to believe they don’t want the public to know because they are benefiting from the labor of little, bruised and bloodied hands.

Can’t wrap your mind around this? Visit free2work.org. I assure you, you will be surprised at the products that lack integrity. This website has a rating system that rates product integrity based on how open a company is. If they refuse to reveal their sources or evidence of child labor is found they either recieve a “no grade” or an F.

 When you log on to this site, I ask you to think about this question seriously: can you live with yourself if you continue to purchase a person’s suffering? Can you live knowing you are consuming someone… a child, an exploited immigrant’s…pain? If you can’t I encourage you to become an informed spender. We realize the importance of buying and going green; let’s realize the importance of buying products that have integrity.

While you’re making a difference in the lives of exploited children around the globe, don’t forget to spread the word. The biggest enemy to freedom is lack of knowledge. Just like you may not have known about the connections between child slavery and chocolate, your friends might not either.