These terms all refer to the working conditions of the people who are making the products happen. If the people are treated unfairly, paid exceptionally low wages, forced into child labor, etc. then the product is cheaper and the company makes more profit at the expense of human lives. Halloween and Easter are two major candy holidays in the U.S. and most of that candy comes from unimaginable working conditions with many of the workers being children who were sold into slavery so we Americans can fill pumpkins and Easter baskets (while complaining about childhood obesity and diabetes- but that's a story for another time).
I have copied and pasted some facts from recent studies below:
"During this week's ghoulish Halloween festivities, Americans will binge on a predicted $2.2 billion worth of candy...
"Top cocoa-producing countries like Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire remain rife with forced child labor, child trafficking, extremely low pay, and near slave-like conditions, according to an annual audit released last month by Tulane University's Payson Center for International Development...
"To keep the cost of our treats low, about 3.6 million children in West Africa work on cocoa farms, according to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), many of whom were trafficked illegally from other countries. There are about 150,000 child slaves just in Cote d’Ivoire. American kids may look forward to trick-or-treating, but many of those goodies were produced by children younger than them...
"Hershey's, according to another new study by leading human rights and labor rights non-profits, is one company in particular that perpetuates child labor by failing to monitor how its cocoa is produced...
Please sign the electronic petition asking Hershey's to change their practices. For the full article and the petition at the end of the article, click here.
These facts are baffling, outrageous, and unnecessary. It doesn't have to be this way. To add insult to injury, October is National Fair Trade month. Ironic isn't it? I have a few suggestions that may be challenging but we have to start somewhere.
This Halloween:
- Don't buy big brand candy. I realize it's too late to reverse the production process for the candy already in stores, but it's the only way to send a message to the companies.
- Look for fair trade candy for your party or make caramel apples, popcorn, or homemade brownies (with fair trade cocoa powder).
- Don't complain about the prices of fair trade. I know this one hits us all where it hurts but we have to change our mind set. Every time we justify a cheaper product saying it's all we can afford, we allow ourselves to be as evil as the companies who choose to ignore such tragedies. We must consider the price difference a donation to free a child sold into slavery and forced to work in awful conditions.
- Helpful tip: go to www.frontiercoop.com and start a buying club. These items are whole sale (which means very affordable) and many of their products are certified organic and fair trade.
We are on the path to a fair trade home ourselves. It has been an adjustment for us, so I understand what I am asking you to do, but how can we not do the best possible good for our fellow human beings? Do you want your child harvesting in a field for a stranger who kidnapped or bought them? All for a frivolous holiday? Of course not! That almost feels like I just crossed the line; but we have to wake up and realize this is happening! We can't ask someone else's child to do that either. In fact, perhaps we can all look into adopting a child that has been rescued from human trafficking scandals (and maybe that's a story for another time).
"During this week's ghoulish Halloween festivities, Americans will binge on a predicted $2.2 billion worth of candy...
"Top cocoa-producing countries like Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire remain rife with forced child labor, child trafficking, extremely low pay, and near slave-like conditions, according to an annual audit released last month by Tulane University's Payson Center for International Development...
"To keep the cost of our treats low, about 3.6 million children in West Africa work on cocoa farms, according to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), many of whom were trafficked illegally from other countries. There are about 150,000 child slaves just in Cote d’Ivoire. American kids may look forward to trick-or-treating, but many of those goodies were produced by children younger than them...
"Hershey's, according to another new study by leading human rights and labor rights non-profits, is one company in particular that perpetuates child labor by failing to monitor how its cocoa is produced...
Please sign the electronic petition asking Hershey's to change their practices. For the full article and the petition at the end of the article, click here.
These facts are baffling, outrageous, and unnecessary. It doesn't have to be this way. To add insult to injury, October is National Fair Trade month. Ironic isn't it? I have a few suggestions that may be challenging but we have to start somewhere.
This Halloween:
- Don't buy big brand candy. I realize it's too late to reverse the production process for the candy already in stores, but it's the only way to send a message to the companies.
- Look for fair trade candy for your party or make caramel apples, popcorn, or homemade brownies (with fair trade cocoa powder).
- Don't complain about the prices of fair trade. I know this one hits us all where it hurts but we have to change our mind set. Every time we justify a cheaper product saying it's all we can afford, we allow ourselves to be as evil as the companies who choose to ignore such tragedies. We must consider the price difference a donation to free a child sold into slavery and forced to work in awful conditions.
- Helpful tip: go to www.frontiercoop.com and start a buying club. These items are whole sale (which means very affordable) and many of their products are certified organic and fair trade.
We are on the path to a fair trade home ourselves. It has been an adjustment for us, so I understand what I am asking you to do, but how can we not do the best possible good for our fellow human beings? Do you want your child harvesting in a field for a stranger who kidnapped or bought them? All for a frivolous holiday? Of course not! That almost feels like I just crossed the line; but we have to wake up and realize this is happening! We can't ask someone else's child to do that either. In fact, perhaps we can all look into adopting a child that has been rescued from human trafficking scandals (and maybe that's a story for another time).
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