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Over 40 % of all chocolate produced in the world is grown in one country - the Ivory Coast and 70% is grown in West Africa. The cocoa bean is actually enclosed in a large pod with a sweet pulp. The pod grows on trees and is harvested by whacking the trees with machetes. The pod is then opened with a machete and the beans are separated from the pod and dried before bagging. Child labor is used to harvest and open the pods, spread the beans out to dry and bagging the beans. Children involved in the harvesting of the pods are often injured by the machetes that they use. Most cocoa is produced on small plantations who then sell their beans to a middle man that collects the beans and carries them to large companies. They then ship the beans to their chocolate factories in the US and Europe. These large companies know that the beans are produced by forced and slave labor, but claim that they are not responsible. Under public outcry they have in the past come up with plans to try to decrease child labor violations, but have not done the one thing that would allow farmers to prosper which is to pay more for the crop.
When you buy chocolate from a company that is not involved in buying fairly traded cocoa there is a good chance that a portion of it was produced by child slave labor. Below are some companies that produce fairly traded chocolate - Most can be found at Whole Foods or other Health Food stores. Trader Joe's also carries their own fairly traded chocolate bars.
Equal Exchange - http://www.equalexchange.coop/
Sweet Earth - http://www.sweetearthchocolates.com/
Devine - http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/
Green and Black's Maya Gold Chocolate bars are made from fairly traded cocoa beans. Every time you buy a fairly traded chocolate bar you are voting with your dollars for just and good labor practices.
For more information on the problem of slave labor and trafficking among cocoa producers please check out the following web sites;
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