Ah, those sweet chocolate gifts
Gift chocolates for nearly any special occasion are a no-brainer, right? I mean, over 90% of all women and almost as many men love chocolate, be it sweet, creamy milk chocolate or the more robust and exotic dark chocolate. Americans spent some $700 million on chocolates solely for Valentine’s Day 2012. Worldwide, chocolate is a $90 billion a year industry. So what’s not to like about the fruit of the cacao?
Quite a bit, actually. For the remainder of this hub, we’ll take a look behind the truffles and probe a little deeper into those fancifully wrapped gift boxes. We will discover where chocolate originates and how it gets from bean to candy. Be advised it is not an entirely pretty picture for a product that has come to symbolize love.
In the beginning, a tree called cacao
Chocolate comes from the bean of the cacao tree which grows in a tropical Cocoa Belt 10 to 20 degrees north and south of the equator. The beans themselves commonly are called cocoa.
The Olmecs of present-day Mexico are generally credited with being the first to brew a drink from cocoa. The Mayans picked up cocoa cultivation by about 600 B.C.E., and cocoa farming spread to the Aztec about 200 years later.
Hernando Cortez introduced cocoa at the Spanish Court in 1528 and went into the cocoa growing business for himself in New Spain. Cocoa trade in earnest between New Spain and the Motherland was established by 1585.
While cocoa production remains an important industry in the South American tropics, fully 70% of the world crop is grown in Côte d ’Ivoire and Ghana in sub-Saharan West Africa.
The bitter behind the sweet
Right now, as you are reading this, as many as a quarter of a million children, most not yet adolescents, are working for little or no pay to supply the world with chocolate. Probably not one in a thousand of these boys and girls has tasted chocolate. Not ever.
Few people on this planet are gripped harder by poverty than the people of West Africa. With that poverty comes all the attendant ills: malnutrition, disease, lack of clean water, illiteracy, feelings of utter despair and sheer hopelessness. These people remain victimized by an industry that exemplifies the pretentious fallacies of trickle down economics. Precious little of the $90 billion spent annually on chocolate ever makes it into their pockets.
The bulk of West Africa’s cocoa production comes off family farms. Many of these plots are no more than five acres. Like the family farm of a largely bygone era in this country, the farm families of Africa must grow their own workers. The children of cocoa have no choice. Their families rely on their hard work. And hard work–12 hours and longer a day–in the cacao trees leaves no time for school.
The world responds…almost
British Broadcasting Corporation journalists more or less broke the story of child labor and trafficking in child slaves in 2001. The response from the world community at large was typical. Some committees were formed to study the problem, action plans were outlined. The U.S. Department of Labor ponied up $5 million in funding, while the $90-billion-a-year chocolate industry offered one million dollars. That’s right. One million dollars.
Meanwhile, something of a chocolate curtain was cast around cocoa production in Africa in an attempt to keep investigative eyes out. A few journalists never came back from trying to dig deeper into the story. So easy to become lost in the Dark Continent, don’t you know.
A dozen years later and little has changed for the cocoa kids of Africa. A few more news stories are filed. Here and there a documentary on the subject gets its 15 minutes, and the demand for chocolate continues to grow in the wealthiest countries of the world.
Oh, Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa and Rep. Eliot Engel (D) of New York introduced legislation in Congress designed to pressure American companies to respond toward ending childhood slave labor. The chocolate industry had little difficulty killing the bill, offering up a Harkin-Engel Protocol in its place. To date the impact of the industry’s efforts to end “the worst forms of child labor” have been something less than exemplary.
WCF ECHOES: a sustainable gift
The WCF ECHOES provides training and tools to youth in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d ’Ivoire. Young adults receive hands on training in farming skills. Program graduates receive tool kits which help them start their own businesses. A $275 gift provides hybrid cocoa seeds, seedling bags, protective clothing and safety gear, farming tools and supplies. The WCF is a private foundation under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. For further information click here.
World Cocoa Foundation
Hope does exist for a brighter future for the children of Africa. The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is one chocolate industry initiative targeting labor issues as well as education and training to improve the efficiency and sustainability of cocoa farming. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private foundation, WCF is able to raise funding and apply initiatives directly to those people who most need assistance.
Working outside the chocolate industry, the Food Empowerment Project is another resource for action directed at ending human rights abuses and other injustices within the food production chain.
How can one person make a difference in the face of so much misery and injustices in the world? Simply give a damn and join us at H.O.W. to learn more.
H.O.W. to help
No one is going to get serious about boycotting chocolate until needed reforms in the industry are pushed through. Nonetheless, chocolate lovers can express their desire for change to those best positioned to make change happen.
Mars, Inc. ~ “We believe it is our responsibility to make a difference by addressing the challenges that we share with society,” says President Paul S. Michaels on the company’s website. You can contact Mr. Michaels by clicking here.
Nestlé USA ~ says “Creating Shared Value is a fundamental part of Nestlé’s way of doing business that focuses on specific areas of the Company’s core business activities – namely water, nutrition, and rural development – where value can best be created both for society and shareholders.” Contact Nestlé here.
The Hershey Company ~ claims “Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of the company’s global business strategy, which includes goals and priorities focused on fair and ethical business dealings, environmental stewardship, fostering a desirable workplace for employees, and positively impacting society and local communities.” You may get in touch with America’s candy company here.
Kraft Foods Group, Inc. ~ boldly declares “Our business depends on a quality supply of farm products, today and in the future. That ’s why we support sustainable farming projects. It ’s good for our business, helps the environment and can improve the lives of local farmers.” Ask them if that applies to farmers in Africa, as well, here.
This Valentine’s Day
Alternatives to standard issue, boxed gift chocolates are available. Fair Trade USA has an excellent website offering information on a wide range of products and suppliers. Sure, taking this option requires doing some homework and putting a little thought into buying a Valentine’s Day gift. But isn’t the object of you affection worth the effort?
By all means indulge your sweetie’s sweet tooth with his or her favorite chocolate candy. But please remember where that chocolate came from, whose little hands worked to grow and harvest it and take whatever action you can to make life a little bit sweeter for the cocoa kids of West Africa.
Thank you!
© Jim Miller 2013
, A Dark Tale Behind Gift Chocolates www.ozeldersin.com bitirme tezi,ödev,proje dönem ödevi