[CommAdvocacy] Fair-trade chocolate

[Jessica Bass]

Hi,

Do you like chocolate? Did you know the majority is produced by child slave labor? An estimated 284,000 children are working on cocoa farms in hazardous tasks such as using machetes and applying pesticides and insecticides without the necessary protective equipment. About 64% of children on cocoa farms are under age 14, meaning that the loss of an education comes at an early age for the majority of children on cocoa farms.

For years, US chocolate manufacturers have said they are not responsible for the conditions on cocoa plantations since they don't own them. But the $13 billion chocolate industry is heavily consolidated, with just two firms -- Hershey's and M&M/Mars -- controlling two-thirds of the US chocolate candy market. Surely, these global corporations have the power and the ability to reform problems in the supply chain. 

Find out what you can do to fight such abuses on March 10 at 7:30 in the West Lecture Hall. 

Amnesty International will be screening "The Darker Side of Chocolate," and will be serving fair-trade chocolate and hot coco!

Hope to see you there!
Amnesty Signers


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