Keiith
January 5, 2012, 1:35am
1
I believe the vegan community would be interest in this:
Child slaves are being used to raise cocoa in West Africa. http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/ Slave Free Chocolate is trying to stop it. Thank you for your time.
Keiith
January 11, 2012, 2:08pm
2
Here are two more links that I hope are useful
http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign
http://www.stopthetraffik.org/takeaction/chocolate/
People around the world share a love of chocolate, one of the most delicious and pleasurable foods on earth. Thousands of children in West Africa are forced to labor in the production of cocoa, chocolate’s primary ingredient. The West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is the leading supplier of cocoa, accounting for more than 40% of global production. Low cocoa prices and thus the need for lower labor costs drive farmers to employ children as a means to survive. The US Department of State estimates that more than 109,000 children in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” and that some 10,000 are victims of human trafficking or enslavement.
These child workers labor for long, punishing hours, using dangerous tools and facing frequent exposure to dangerous pesticides as they travel great distances in the grueling heat. Those who labor as slaves must also suffer frequent beatings and other cruel treatment. Cote d’Ivoire’s child laborers are robbed not only of their freedom but of the right to a basic education. In a country where more than half the population is illiterate, basic education of “cocoa children” takes on an even more critical significance for Cote d’Ivoire’s future. Increased access to education must be a key component in any effective strategy to reduce poverty and exploitative child labor.
-from the Cocoa Campaign of the International Labor Rights Forum
Nobody eats more ethically than vegans. Please include these children in your circle of compassion.
Edit:
Here is another link specifically for cruelty free vegan chocolate
http://www.foodispower.org/chocolatelist.htm