print out these little cards and leave them at the grocery store next to the slave-using brands!
download pdf for printing here
“Yeah, we know that child slaves harvest a lot of our chocolate beans.”
“We promise we’ll fix it by 2005!”
“Oh, actually, how about 2008? ”
“Well, maybe, 2010?”
“Still not fixed - how about 2024 or 2025? Oh actually, let’s try 2029?”
More Information - if you want it!
I don’t want to buy anything made with slave labor, but it’s disgustingly hard to figure out which products I should avoid! All those big chocolate companies just keep making and breaking their promises, and hoping that next time you’re craving chocolate, you’ll just grab a Hershey’s bar and go on with your day.
In fact, the only times I’m reminded of the child slavery behind chocolate is when I’m actually buying chocolate from companies that don’t use slavery - because they want you to know that your chocolate is ethically sourced. My favorite chocolate brand, Tony’s Chocolonely, has a seal that says “Together, we’ll make chocolate 100% slavery free” - because they’ve done the work to make sure that their chocolate doesn’t rely on child slave labor.
But this means that when I’m reaching for a sweet treat, I’m reminded of the terrible things that people do to other people, every day, around the world - it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, instead of creamy chocolatey goodness.
It is absolutely messed up that Hershey’s chocolate is actually made with slavery, but doesn’t leave that taste, because they work really hard to make sure I’m not reminded of their disgusting business practices, while each bar from Tony’s - a good company - comes with a built-in sad reminder.
So, I propose that every product made with slave labor have a sticker on it that says “Made with Child Slavery” so I can actually ‘vote with my money’ like a good capitalist!
But since there’s no chance of that happening fast enough, do your little part to remind people where their chocolate is coming from - print out these little cards, and leave them at the grocery store!
Want to know where this information comes from?
The big chocolate companies know child slaves are hugely involved in harvesting their beans, and promised to fix it by 2005, but haven’t: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/our-work/child-forced-labor-trafficking/child-labor-cocoa
More details about the slavery trade in chocolate, and what the companies haven’t been able to accomplish despite their promises and profits: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/