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Heather, the vc reporter also wrote about this today. http://vcreporter.com/article.php?id=5336&IssueNum=147. There will be a forum for discussion about it too.

So now chocolate is somehow bad for Ojaian's now? Let's ban that in the city now too. You are one out of millions who would even consider turning chocolate against others. I've been reading these topics posted on this website lately, and it seems to me that a lot of people in Ojai are yuppies. Kids love chocolate, adults love chocolate, it is delicious, and is one if the world's most delicious treats.

Sundae, it would appear that you've not read the articles in question. If so then the statement "kids love chocolate" would have a whole new meaning to you. Not looking at chocolate as a 'bad' thing but rather wanting the means with which chocolate is produced to not injure children. Ironic isn't it that the thing many children love most is causing suffereing?
Well that at least that is my point in it all. The link which doesn't seem to work above is: http://vcreporter.com/article.php?id=5336&IssueNum=147

You must be joking. Thanks for sucking the joy out of every last nook and cranny of life. What's next?

You must be joking. Thanks for sucking the joy out of every last nook and cranny of life. What's next?

Taking pictures of buildings? Writing snarky editorials for the OVN? I dunno. What IS next?

snarky is one of those words that brings with it so many images...

Fair Trade Chocolate is a wonderful thing. It pays a fair wage to the farmers, is usually organic and therefore better for the environment, and it tastes great too!

Please enjoy it in abundance!

Sundae said:
Kids love chocolate, adults love chocolate, it is delicious, and is one if the world's most delicious treats.

i'll add:
AND much of it is produced using child and slave labor.

nobody's advocating banning chocolate, but some of us are interested in pursuing ways in which we can enjoy some of our more chocolate-covered holydays AND have a good social conscience about our brothers and sisters the world over too. awareness and activism don't suck the joy out of these celebrations...greed already did that, ignorance perpetuates it, and active love will put it back.

Thank you for posting this information Heather and Kate. I'd like to see someone like Anderson Cooper investigate this for CNN! (Maybe it's in the works.)

I was relieved to see that " Not all chocolate is produced unjustly. Fair trade chocolate as well as organic chocolate (organic farmers are subject to strict labor regulations) can be purchased at retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Lassen’s and Whole Foods Market. " And of course locally Rainbow Bridge and I think Farmer & the Cook & maybe Westridge Market have divine fair trade chocolate bars!

I hope teachers are educating their students about this. Can you imagine the outcry if young children, who are still sensitive and not hardened by life, learned the facts that kids their age are working as slaves? And not just for chocolate!

Here's a pretty good guide to some slavery-free chocolate:
http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/main.html

There's a table at the end of the article with brand names & other info.

*Organic* doesn't mean Fair. Sometimes yes, but not a guarantee. Fair Trade is often organic, but not always.

Thank you, Heather, for making us aware of this issue. A more thorough explanation of the chocolate/child slavery connection can be found at the Trade and Environment Database (http://www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm). I, for one, was blissfully ignorant of this situation until now.

Chocolate Sundae: I can sympathize with your frustration that so many things you thought were great, like chocolate, turn out to have a dark side (no pun intended). I love chocolate, too. Are you really surprised that things like slavery exist in the world? That humans are capable of abusing children? That some people are so greedy that they will do anything for money? If so, you are in for a rude awakening some day.

It seems as if nothing is as it seems.

I read the link Lanny posted above. This is the true horror of Halloween, the horrible irony of chocolate, a symbol of love and celebration.

The worst part is that campaigns to stop child-slavery has been going on for a long time. If there is still doubt in your mind about whether or not this is true, after visiting the above web sites, go visit Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and read up on al the aspects of labor exploitation in the chocolate industry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_exploitation_in_the_chocolate_industry

It says that A BBC reporter reported in 2001 that uncounted numbers of children have been reported missing. Many of them are believed kidnapped and sold as slaves for about US$30. Other children are sold by their parents. In the poor parts of Mali street sellers and other slum families sometimes sell their children into slavery for a few dollars. It is believed that 15,000 or more children are in forced labor camps in the Cote d'Ivoire, some under 11. They are unlikely ever to be reunited with their families. Often they are held forcibly on farms and made to do tiring work for 80 to 100 hours per week and those who attempt to escape are beaten.

"People who are drinking cocoa or coffee are drinking their blood. It is the blood of young children carrying 6kg of cocoa sacks so heavy that they have wounds all over their shoulders. It's really pitiful to see."

I came back to read the link Phalarope posted above because I noticed that my Paul Newman organic chocolate chip cookies did not say "Fair Trade." I was going to write the company (since they donate their profits to thousands of charities worldwide) but was relieved to learn this:

"Now, as far as chocolate goes specifically, there is, apparently, another option that is slavery-free. According to Caroline Tiger, writing for the online magazine Salon, "organic chocolate, sold by such U.S. companies as Newman's Own and Dagoba, is also 'slave free,' since organic farms are subject to their own independent monitoring system that checks labor practices." It has also been noted that, as of now, they don't grow cocoa beans organically in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), which is where the vast majority of the reports about chocolate slavery have come from. Finally, according to Camille Littlejohn of Newman's Own Organics, the limited supply of certified organic cocoa ensures that organic cocoa farmers receive a premium price. So, apparently, organic is also okay."

Lets ban clothes cause they are from sweatshops. Just like all the halloween costumes you purchase for your kids every year. Hypocrites.

Lets ban clothes cause they are from sweatshops. Just like all the halloween costumes you purchase for your kids every year. Hypocrites.

What exactly are you defending?

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

That Anonymous is mean-spirited, but, he has a point! I can see where he (or she) thinks people who fuss over where their chocolate comes from while wearing clothes made in sweatshops are hypocrites. I'll just say that the people I know that bother to buy Fair Trade food also try to clean up other areas of their life, including not buying anything produced in sweatshops. All we can do is try!

wonderful article by Robert Cohen at OjaiHealing ... obviously it is not chocolate, cocao, that is the poison -- but rather sugar, dairy, and other drugs, violence and non-foods -- and the ten-times overeating -- which is the ball-and-chain of the consumer-serf masses and their victim children ....

"When you know better, you do better" Maya Angelou. Until someone becomes conscious they can't make real decisions. This is just the beginning of people becoming conscious of these issues.
This is what I most like about the post, it makes me think and gives me (often) multiple sides of an issue so I have the tools to "do better" in the future.

and the ten-times overeating -- which is the ball-and-chain of the consumer-serf masses and their victim children ....-MT

I picture the vast majority of our crisises vanishing as more individuals reawaken body consciousness. To me this means eating healthy portions of raw, organic food and intelligent exercise. When we start making loving decisions for our self then it cannot help but over flow to others. This is the nature of abundance.

That Anonymous is mean-spirited, but, he has a point! I can see where he (or she) thinks people who fuss over where their chocolate comes from while wearing clothes made in sweatshops are hypocrites.

You give Anonymous too much credit -- he/she has no point at all. If anyone made the point, it was you. Anonymous simply presented an attack in the form of a straw man.

Everyone here was judged guilty without the benefit of being able to answer the question "DO YOU worry about forced labor on the cacao plantations without also worrying about similar labor practices in the textile and clothing industry?" This question was not asked -- instead, a hit-and-run accusation was made by a person who had no intention of staying around to deal with he consequences of their words, which is fittingly ironic because it would seem that this thread is all about consequences; the consequences of our habits, whether these consequences are intended or not.

I asked Anonymous what he or she was defending, and got no answer. This person made it quite clear what they were against, but did not explain what they were for. Are they for slave labor? Are they for turning a blind eye to the whys and wherefores of anything that makes a profit for America and Americans? Are they for putting their fingers in their ears and going "NANANANANANANANA!" until all of the ugly truth stops? A lot of people are, and a lot of them are pretty high up on the food chain. They make rules. They make laws. They keep as tight a rein on publicly disseminated information as they possibly can, and they work to control what you see and don't see on the nightly "news". Have you heard anything about the forced labor that supports some of our national habits and a good chunk of our economy on Eyewitness News, or on Fox Cable News, or in any of the MSM outlets? No -- and you won't.

What are these people defending? Child labor? Yes -- they are. I don't think you should even expect to hear about this on 60 Minutes, and if you do hear about it during prime time you can bet that Rush Limbaugh and his dittoheads and everyone else of his ilk will be trying to shout it down before the sun rises again.

In the beginning of the Iraq War, it was made clear by the Administration and the DOD that there would be no photos or video of the caskets coming back to America. Opponents of the War would not be allowed to use the truth to sway public opinion. It's the same kind of thinking that also says, about everything else from global warming to their kids' criminal activities to corruption in their political party to the destruction of the US Constitution, and so on and so forth: "Don't tell me this shit. I don't wanna hear it. Don't suck the pleasure out of my day. Just go ahead and suck the pleasure and life out of someone else's day, instead."

I have a hard time remembering to insert my nym, apparently. That previous post was me, for what it's worth.

This is much ado about nothing, the actual amount of "slave labor" is a very isolated and small in number. Good marketing by the Fair Trade Cocolate people who pray on the emotions of the gullible however.

This is much ado about nothing, the actual amount of "slave labor" is a very isolated and small in number.

1) Prove it. Back this up with facts.

2) How much slavery is acceptable, according to your outlook?

I'd like to ship "Anonymous" to a cocoa plantation on the Ivory Coast! I'd like him to trade places for just one day with one of the thousands of children working up to 80 hours a week...

I'd like to ship "Anonymous" to a cocoa plantation on the Ivory Coast! I'd like him to trade places for just one day with one of the thousands of children working up to 80 hours a week...

Why would he give up that free guest room at his Mom's house to work in the hot sun?

The extent to which West African cocoa producers employ child labor is, inpart, a function of economic factors. The extent of child trafficking is like wise affected by such factors, these include low cocoa prices, low incomes of family farmers, and large numbers of small holder farmers who cannot afford to engage hired labor. Lack of adequate school facilities in cocoa producing areas also plays role. Cultural factors are involved too. Sociologists point out that not only is there a tradition of children participating in household and farm work from an early age(the IITA study), but there is a strong tradition in West Africa of child migration bothwithin countries and across borders. Such migratory patterns make it difficult tomonitor and control child trafficking. A study of Malian children points out that children are often sent to live outside the family, village or country for work, family solidarity, or education and concludes that migration is a rite of passage, and a financial necessity for many.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kqyPB2CiWfYJ:www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32990.pdf+Combatting+Child+Labour+in+Cocoa+Growing&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

phalarope tu boner!!
tu es le meilleur!!
damaste'

The extent to which West African cocoa producers employ child labor is, inpart, a function of economic factors.

Spoken like a true Republican.

Again: how much slavery is acceptable in your world view, regardless of the reasons for it?

Merci.

Sigh.

Once again: merci.

I found this website that might be helpful for finding sources of Fair Trade Certified products.

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/

6%

6%

May you spend the rest of your life with people just like you.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=169506

Eating chocolate can help preserve the biological diversity of Central America's rain forests.
I just returned from Costa Rica where many small finca owners are trying to make a living with their cocoa plantings. I think if you could see what is going on there, you would want to support them. I am saddened by your report of what is happening on the Ivory Coast, never the less, I plan to pass out chocolate this Halloween. Perhaps I am wrong in my assumption, but it would seem that most U.S. chocolate comes from the closest geographical source, namely Central America. Viva la pura vida!

This might help:

http://www.healthyat100.org/display.asp?catid=3&pageid=4

Thank you gimaha. That is one of the best things I have ever read! The whole site is wonderfully uplifting and educational. Namaste.

PS That does not mean that I thought the story about the parents eating their child was uplifting. That is a choice too awful to contemplate!

I, too, enjoyed the link to Thich Nhat Hanh's talk on Mindful Consumption. All of this has inspired me to make more of an effort to find out where my food is coming from. I do know that we can't assume anything logical about food distribution. Maybe higher fuel costs have changed the equation lately but if it's true that 40% of the world's chocolate orginates in the Ivory Coast than there's a good chance a lot of it ends up in the U.S., just as Florida oranges make their way into orange juice sold in California.

On a related note, there is an anti-sweatshop bill being considered in the Senate.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-367

It's unclear who's going to fund enforcement of this bill but it's interesting that it is being discussed.

On the same site as Thich Nhat Hanh's article, there is a very good piece titled
"Is there Slavery in your Chocolate" by John Robbins. While it underscores some of the points made by previous comments here, it also raises some other issues. I hope both Lanny and Suza were able to read this article as it was more in keeping with the thread.

Wow! Thank you, once again, gimaha! That article you posted, "Is There Slavery in Your Chocolate" by John Robbins, is the most extensive piece on chocolate AND coffee I've read so far. Anything written by John Robbins is bound to be good. I got so carried away reading the other articles on his site, I almost missed the one on chocolate.

From the beginning the topic here reminded me of the "blood diamond" situation.

I'm being quite serious here when I could see Disney doing a movie, possibly an animation, of the chocolate crisis.
Let's call it "Dark, Very Dark Chocolate", or "The Dark Secret of Chocolate".

Also, let's hope no one confuses cacoa/cocoa with coca.
Slightly different target audience.

Good Sunday morning.
Everyone survive the full moon?

A lot of people feel there's a dark side to almost everything that makes BIG money -- not just chocolate. To a great extent, it was this belief that drove a lot of people in the 60s and 70s to at least try to drop out of society.

Could people ever again be capable of forming as functional a cooperative as Stephen Gaskin's "The Farm" in Tennessee? Certainly not without it's problems, it nonetheless survived longer than any other modern communal society in the US. (An interesting place to read about it, if you somehow missed hearing about it the first time around:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farm_(Tennessee) )

Over the years, up to 1500 people at one time decided that this was the best place to put their courage where their convictions were, but Gaskin never criticized those who chose to follow their hearts at home in their own dwellings and in their own neighborhoods. I had a friend who lived there for a year, and he said he never worked harder in his life. He'd originally gone to The Farm for the free bud, and found out soon enough that pot was most certainly not what the place was all about -- it was about work. While it was the work that drove most people away, it was the work that kept others there, and The Farm survives today although Stephen Gaskin is no longer the leader.

Ali-Sun and I visited the Farm a few years ago - a friend of a friend met us at the gate, gave us a four hour tour and cooked a great tofu and mushroom lunch for us. It still has a sense of magic, with the Mushroom People, the hidden houses in the trees, and the school buses that made the Farm their final destination.

The Farm actually came about via San Francisco in the sixties. Gaskin and others gave regular talks in SF that began attracting dozens, then hundreds, and even thousands of people. Gaskin himself began receiving invitations to speak nationwide to synagogues, churches, and other groups of interested people.

Not wanting to miss his lectures, hundreds of hippies piled in their VW buses and bugs and followed him around the US. They eventually returned to SF, and at that time it was felt that a commune should be started, but where? The location in Tennessee was chosen for good weather and cheap land.

It apparently was incredibly harsh the first few years, but is a gentle place to be these days.

It's so nice to read this! I always wanted to visit the Farm. But don't we sort of have our own Farm in upper Ojai?

I envy you, Tyler -- that sounds like a wonderful trip. I'd always hoped to make it there, but I haven't done it and can't guarantee that I ever will. Still, it's on my list...

This is anecdotal, but there's a story that says Gaskin and his people eventually won over the locals, most of whom hated (read: feared) their new neighbors. I heard that the turning point came one year when The Farm wound up sharing their food with local farmers & families who had lost most of their harvest for some reason. That's a real-life feel-good story that was worth a movie, but such a movie was never made. I wonder how things are between the locals and the Farm family now?

Do you have a few photos that might be worth a thread someday?

PS Just so we get back to the matter at hand, I'm sure the folks on the Farm eat Fair Trade organic chocolate. Or maybe they grow their own.

Suza, I doubt they grow their own. Cocoa is not known to do well in Tennessee. Whether they buy certified organic, "fair trade" chocolate, I could not say. But if so, they do no real help to the world. Certification is a business: it costs real money. It apparently helps some people here in the U.S. feel better about buying something from Sara Lee, Starbucks, Costco, or another conglomerate monster. But it does not help the independent, small family farmers in the third world who cannot pay for it, do not pay for it, and are not "certified" as a result. They struggle to produce a quality cocoa bean, or coffee, and hope for a fair price. Many have realized that they can no longer sell just the bean or the green coffee, and are now offering their own, single farm roasted coffees or chocolates, directly to you if you will reach out and buy it. They farm sustainably; they produce a real, unforgettable quality in many instances. They by their efforts and small scale help to preserve the rainforest and environment so vital to us all. You are not helping them by buying only "certified fair trade" from the U.S. multinationals. Indeed, your choice to buy only from those who pay to "certify" may be just the straw that pushes them out to slash and burn, cut hardwoods, or whatever else is left for them to do when their family farm fails.

What is "fair" about Starbucks paying $1.26/lb. for "certified fair trade" coffee to farmers, and then selling it for $12 or more per lb. to us? (Do you know that Starbucks already pays $1.26/lb., or more, to many farmers all around the world just for quality coffee - not certified - that meets its standards?)

We pay for certification. But what does it buy us?

One thing it buys is a lesson that we are not using our dollars as we could be. If we feel we need certification, it means we do not know, or do not trust, the people we are buying from. That is a more fundamental problem, which we could more directly cure by not doing business with people or companies we don't know or don't trust. Get to know the people we buy from. Buy from people we know.

It seems almost un-American in this day and age, when people certify their future spouses with prenups and lawyers, certify themselves and their children with psychologists and grades and advanced degrees, and, yes, certify their food that they bought from some anonymous giant company by looking for a seal of approval from some other anonymous person they don't know (who was paid by the first for the "certification").

Why not just get to know the people we buy from? If we cannot trust them, let's not do business with them.

If we buy so many things from so many people that we could not possibly get to know or trust them all: Buy less.

Meanwhile, chocolate in many parts of the world is a wonderful thing, with much tradition behind it. Whatever they are doing in Ivory Coast, I strongly doubt applies to the Costa Rican cocoa farms gimaha saw. "Certified fair trade" is not the answer; we will cut out all those good people from the market, and force them to commoditize their product as being the same, equivalent as any other "certified" whatever it is.

Here's a better idea: Go down to a cocoa producing country, meet a cocoa farmer with top notch cocoa, help them make the best chocolate in the world if they are not already, and set up a website and shipping or importing. Its not all that hard to do. Then come back here and turn us all onto it.

If we cannot do that, do the next best thing: Buy from those who have.

If each of us did that, just imagine.

anonymous 11:13 -- thanks for reality check...

phalarope - would love to dig out some photos of that trip - I think we were there in '00. Little too much on the plate today, though. :)

hey tyler-
hello from san francisco! I'd also love to see those photos. Ina May Gaskin was a huge inspiration to me during the years I was having my babies. Her books on midwifery and childbirth are amazing-- especially her latest one that is full of bith stories from The Farm. very cool that you guys went to visit!

oops - that last post was from me. i'm on someone else's computer and forgot to log in.

Hi Leslie - hope SF is treating you well. Midwifery is still taught and practiced on The Farm, and in fact the wife of our tour guide was a member of the fold.

phalarope - would love to dig out some photos of that trip - I think we were there in '00. Little too much on the plate today, though. :)

Thanks, Tyler. Sometime, maybe.