US lawmaker urges Valentine's Day chocolate boycott over child slavery

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.turkishpress.com/w.asp?s=u&i=050211223617.1dgataic

US lawmaker Eliot Engel called for Americans to boycott Valentine's Day chocolate gifts, saying such chocolates are likely made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West African nations such as the Ivory Coast.

"The chocolate you buy this Valentine's Day for your loved ones is probably made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West Africa," the New York representative said in a statement.

"In places like the Ivory Coast, child slaves who live in squalor are forced to pick cocoa that chocolate companies around the world make into the candy you buy.

"On this Valentine's Day, I will not buy chocolate and I encourage all Americans to consider joining me in sending a message to the chocolate industry that they have to clean up their act," Engel said.

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[GetTheRightVote]

1. These types of reports make me so sad, poor kids, our kids are so lucky

If only they realized it as well.

:kick:

[Eric J in MN]

2. Buy organic chocolate. It's less likely to be made from slavery (nt)

nt

[catgirl]

3. I thought this was exposed and stopped

This came up several years ago. That's yet another problem
with our pathetic media. Nothing is ever followed up. You
hear about it once or twice, then it disappears. You never know
what happened next.

These kids were not or are not) only living in squaler, they
were imprisoned in their living quarters, except when they
were working, and regularly beaten.

[jilln]

4. here's a list...

http://www.alternet.org/story/12373

Slavery-free chocolate:
Clif Bar
Cloud Nine
Dagoba Organic Chocolate
Denman Island Chocolate
Gardners Candies
Green and Black's
Kailua Candy Company
Koppers Chocolate
L.A. Burdick Chocolates
La Siembre
Montezuma's Chocolates
Newman's Own Organics
Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company
Rapunzel Pure Organics
The Endangered Species Chocolate Company

I pretty much switched to carob when I found out a couple years ago.

Who is this Eliot Engel guy? I never heard of him before and he sounds very progressive.

[NYC]

5. Eliot Engel

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400122

State: New York, District 17
Birthday: Feb 18, 1947 / 57 years old
Religion: Jewish
Party: Democrat

http://www.house.gov/engel/

[gorbal]

6. Thanks for that

I'm a chocolate freak and it's nice to know at least some companies aren't exploiting children the age of my little brother.

[Freebird12004]

11. thanks for the list

yummy ... all I need to do is "print the list" and head out to Mother Earth to shop for "good" goodies. Yea, it's almost guilt free, because "dark chocolate" is rumored to be good for your heart. O8)

[enough]

7. I didn't know about this.

A good time to work on that addiction.

[expatriot]

8. Buy FAIR TRADE Chocolate, it is the BEST

There are a number of fair trade chocolate dealers, Divine chocolate rocks.... it is the best... you can buy it here...


https://www.serrv.org/catalog/index.php?storecategory_id=108&storesubcategory_id=276

[Freebird12004]

10. I'll try "Divine"

I'm a chocoholic ... but only for certain ones.

[mom cat]

16. Try Equal Exchange chocolate bars, cocoa, coffee and tea. All

are fair trade items and are wonderful! If you live in the Boston area, the Harvest Co-op has all of their products. The chocolate bars are intencely delicious and the fact that they are a fair trade item is the sweetest part of all.

[Freebird12004]

9. Buy "Fairtrade" grown items and your money will not go to slavery!

We can use our money in ways to support our beliefs ... buy "Fairtrade" chocolates like "Green & Black's" and you will be helping the growers and producers who are also against slavery.

[Rose Siding]

12. Senator Harken is working on this now, too

Chocolate industry isn't living up to labor agreement, senator says

snip>
Harkin, D-Iowa, said industry representatives had notified him that they wouldn't be able to meet a July 1 deadline to develop a system that certifies that cocoa bean growers aren't using abusive labor practices.

"We have cajoled, negotiated, held meetings and conducted endless conversations with the various stakeholders," Harkin said. "But the time for talk has passed. Children are suffering. The industry must make clear when and if it intends to live up to its commitments."
...
Harkin spokeswoman Alison Dobson said industry officials had agreed to meet with Harkin next month. "We need concrete details and a concrete timeline," she said. Failing that, she said, Harkin will introduce federal legislation that would require chocolate products to carry labels that certify that they have met International Labor Organization principles.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10879671.htm

[struggle4progress]

18. ... "This Valentine's Day, I am going to buy my wife flowers ...

... instead of chocolate. The chocolate companies have the leverage and clout to stop this suffering. But if corporate responsibility is lacking, Congress will be obliged to act," the Iowa Democrat said ...

Lawmaker Shuns Valentine Candy, Cites Slavery Fear
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7599717

[Rainscents]

13. I only eat Organic foods mainly due to this reason

and also, it's so much better for you. I support fair-trade and support the small organic farmers who is mostly democrats!

[murray hill farm]

14. What about the rest of the year?

I love chocolate...help! What about Hersheys chocolate? What about those wonderful "midnight" milkey way bars...please say they are ok...i am practically in love with them.

[Toucano]

15. Well, you can't give flowers either.

Companies like Dole willingly exposes workers to toxins in that industry.

"The beauty of these fragrant blooms belies their origins, for the story of the Colombian flower industry is a tale of environmental degradation and human exploitation. Flowers are a voracious crop: they consume more pesticides than any other agricultural product and gobble up savanna farmland once used to grow local dietary staples like potatoes. Their thirst for water is also prodigious; the once-ample water table below the plains fell so low after four decades of flower production that regional taps ran dry until a water pipe was extended from Bogotá in the late ’90s.

Just as flower cultivation is harsh on the environment, so is it unsparing on the majority of the country’s estimated 75,000 workers employed at flower farms. Most, about 70 percent, are women who earn just (US)58 cents an hour and work up to 60 hours a week, often without full overtime pay, before special occasions like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. The workers, by many accounts, suffer from a myriad of health problems linked to exposure to pesticide cocktails that are applied up to several times a week to guarantee elegant, pest-free blossoms. "

http://www.zmag.org/content/Colombia/cox_flowers.cfm

[struggle4progress]

19. Maybe we need to abandon the conspicuous consumption lifestyle.

[Liberty Belle]

17. Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate is grown on Hawaii's big island.

No slave labor there--and it's delicious! Sold by vintage years, just like wine.