I hate it when my classes interfere with my real life-- seriously, it's a major pet peeve of mine.
So, of course, I'm going to share what I have found out and learned with you all, so that you can join in my frustration ;)
Seriously though, Did you know that there are more people in slavery today than there were when slavery was legal in the United States and Europe?
In school, we study and talk about the horrors of the old slave trade and the evils of the plantations that thrived on the forced labor of African slaves.
But how often do we talk about the slave trade that continues today?
When do we talk about the young girls kidnapped around the world and forced into prostitution or sold to rich businessmen to be their sex slaves?
Or how about the boys kidnapped and forced to do hard, often dangerous labor in a place far from their homes?
How about the parents that think that they are leaving their child for the day and then never get them back because their children have been sold?
Why don't we talk about that??
It's not pleasant, but it goes on. And it's not some far off problem. Human trafficking happens in OUR cities, right in our backyards. It's not some far off people in Thailand or India selling girls in Red Light Districts. This happens HERE!
What does this have to do with Hershey you ask?
I just finished writing a paper about Hershey chocolate and after doing about 10 minutes of research I came to a decision.
I cannot buy anything made by Hershey.
Why not?
Because the cocoa farms that Hershey purchases their cocoa for their products from uses child SLAVE labor.
As if child labor in a potentially dangerous environment is not bad enough, 15% of these children report being forced to work.
These children should be going to school, they should be having a childhood, they should be enjoying their lives. They should not be forced to harvest cocoa day after day.
And Hershey knows! In 2001, a reporter shed light on the slavery in cocoa production and the chocolate companies were told that they needed to do something about this problem. Some have. Mars Inc, for example, has made great strides in ensuring that their products are not produced by slaves.
Hershey has not.
They have made almost no progress in getting their products Fair Trade Certified and continue to refuse to trace their supply chain in order to check and make sure that their suppliers do not use child slaves.
If you want to find out more about what Hershey has or has not done, read this report developed by several NGO's. It's disturbing to read about what is going on in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and to know that my chocolate cravings help to continue this problem.
So I'm going to stop. I am not going to give my money to a corporation that supports child slavery, there is just no way.
As a person who loves people and loves children, I think that this is just awful. Without even considering my beliefs as a Christian, just as a human, I cannot support this. I think that most of us would like to think that if we had lived in the early 1800s, we would have been against slavery. We would have seen that it was wrong and refused to own people as if they were cattle. We see now that that is so wrong and we like to think that we would have tried to stop it.
Well here's our chance. Slavery isn't over. It didn't end in 1865, it still goes on. So are we going to stand against it? Or are we going to claim ignorance and ignore the cries of children all around the world?
But I am also a Christian, and as such, I believe that every human life is a precious gift from God. It doesn't matter what a person's skin color is, where they live, or how much money they have, they are precious to God. Genesis 1:27 tells us that we are created in the image of God. God does not make accidents. He knows and loves every person on this planet by name.
If every life is precious to God, than every life must be precious to me. If I am striving to live my life like Jesus, than I will love everyone the same and pour my life out for every person in need.
This weekend we celebrate Easter. The time when Jesus gave His life so that each one of us could spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Jesus poured out His life and His blood for my salvation and freedom, and I can't give up chocolate for the freedom of young boys in the Ivory Coast?
How is that living a life like Jesus did?
My desire in life is to look as much like my Savior as I can, and this is one way that I am going to try. Jesus would not have overlooked the suffering of these children, and neither can I.
I want to go ahead and address some of the responses that I know are probably going through your head:
1. You are only one person, what good will you not buying Hershey products do?
I was a vegetarian for 4 years, I can't tell you the number of times that I have heard this said to me.
I'll be honest, its not going to do much. Me not buying my occasional Kit-Kat is not going to upset the Hershey company and completely destroy the chocolate empire that they have built.
But you know what will? If you join me. And you tell your friends and they join too. Together, we can make a difference.
But even if you don't, even if it is just me, does that really matter? Should I give my money to a company that uses child slave labor just because if I didn't it wouldn't do anything? of course not!
If someone was running a brothel, would you go in a pay for a prostitute, just because if you didn't someone else would?? What sense does that make at all!
The bottom line is, whether or not Hershey changes or notices that I don't buy from them anymore, I WILL NOT be a part of supporting slave labor. I will not knowingly give my money to a company like that.
There is a quote from Helen Keller that I LOVE that speaks to this issue.
2. Hershey isn't the only company doing this, what about all the others? What about sweatshops, etc?
Good point, if you know of other companies that use child slaves, PLEASE tell me so that I can stop buying from them too.
But here's the reality, if I were to spend a whole bunch of time researching all the places that I cannot shop and the brands that I can't buy, I would very quickly get burnt out. There are just so many out there, it would be really hard. So I'm going to take it slow, one thing at a time. First let me break my chocolate addiction and then we can talk sweatshops, because those are awful, too.
If you are interested in making sure that the products that you buy are ethically produced and sustainable, goodguide.com is a GREAT resource. All you have to do is type in either the product that you want to buy or the brand that you buy from and it rates it based on health, society and environment. If you are serious about practicing responsible shopping, then I would suggest checking it out.
We can make a difference. We are called to a light in the darkness and that means showing the people of this world God's love. How can we do that if we support the very people who are keeping them oppressed?
Will you join me? Will you do a little research of your own into the Hershey Company? Will you help me stand up for the rights of children in West Africa?
Take a second and fill out this petition that will be sent to Hershey-- http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1303
So, of course, I'm going to share what I have found out and learned with you all, so that you can join in my frustration ;)
Seriously though, Did you know that there are more people in slavery today than there were when slavery was legal in the United States and Europe?
In school, we study and talk about the horrors of the old slave trade and the evils of the plantations that thrived on the forced labor of African slaves.
But how often do we talk about the slave trade that continues today?
When do we talk about the young girls kidnapped around the world and forced into prostitution or sold to rich businessmen to be their sex slaves?
Or how about the boys kidnapped and forced to do hard, often dangerous labor in a place far from their homes?
How about the parents that think that they are leaving their child for the day and then never get them back because their children have been sold?
Why don't we talk about that??
It's not pleasant, but it goes on. And it's not some far off problem. Human trafficking happens in OUR cities, right in our backyards. It's not some far off people in Thailand or India selling girls in Red Light Districts. This happens HERE!
What does this have to do with Hershey you ask?
I just finished writing a paper about Hershey chocolate and after doing about 10 minutes of research I came to a decision.
I cannot buy anything made by Hershey.
Why not?
Because the cocoa farms that Hershey purchases their cocoa for their products from uses child SLAVE labor.
As if child labor in a potentially dangerous environment is not bad enough, 15% of these children report being forced to work.
These children should be going to school, they should be having a childhood, they should be enjoying their lives. They should not be forced to harvest cocoa day after day.
And Hershey knows! In 2001, a reporter shed light on the slavery in cocoa production and the chocolate companies were told that they needed to do something about this problem. Some have. Mars Inc, for example, has made great strides in ensuring that their products are not produced by slaves.
Hershey has not.
They have made almost no progress in getting their products Fair Trade Certified and continue to refuse to trace their supply chain in order to check and make sure that their suppliers do not use child slaves.
If you want to find out more about what Hershey has or has not done, read this report developed by several NGO's. It's disturbing to read about what is going on in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and to know that my chocolate cravings help to continue this problem.
So I'm going to stop. I am not going to give my money to a corporation that supports child slavery, there is just no way.
As a person who loves people and loves children, I think that this is just awful. Without even considering my beliefs as a Christian, just as a human, I cannot support this. I think that most of us would like to think that if we had lived in the early 1800s, we would have been against slavery. We would have seen that it was wrong and refused to own people as if they were cattle. We see now that that is so wrong and we like to think that we would have tried to stop it.
Well here's our chance. Slavery isn't over. It didn't end in 1865, it still goes on. So are we going to stand against it? Or are we going to claim ignorance and ignore the cries of children all around the world?
But I am also a Christian, and as such, I believe that every human life is a precious gift from God. It doesn't matter what a person's skin color is, where they live, or how much money they have, they are precious to God. Genesis 1:27 tells us that we are created in the image of God. God does not make accidents. He knows and loves every person on this planet by name.
If every life is precious to God, than every life must be precious to me. If I am striving to live my life like Jesus, than I will love everyone the same and pour my life out for every person in need.
This weekend we celebrate Easter. The time when Jesus gave His life so that each one of us could spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Jesus poured out His life and His blood for my salvation and freedom, and I can't give up chocolate for the freedom of young boys in the Ivory Coast?
How is that living a life like Jesus did?
My desire in life is to look as much like my Savior as I can, and this is one way that I am going to try. Jesus would not have overlooked the suffering of these children, and neither can I.
I want to go ahead and address some of the responses that I know are probably going through your head:
1. You are only one person, what good will you not buying Hershey products do?
I was a vegetarian for 4 years, I can't tell you the number of times that I have heard this said to me.
I'll be honest, its not going to do much. Me not buying my occasional Kit-Kat is not going to upset the Hershey company and completely destroy the chocolate empire that they have built.
But you know what will? If you join me. And you tell your friends and they join too. Together, we can make a difference.
But even if you don't, even if it is just me, does that really matter? Should I give my money to a company that uses child slave labor just because if I didn't it wouldn't do anything? of course not!
If someone was running a brothel, would you go in a pay for a prostitute, just because if you didn't someone else would?? What sense does that make at all!
The bottom line is, whether or not Hershey changes or notices that I don't buy from them anymore, I WILL NOT be a part of supporting slave labor. I will not knowingly give my money to a company like that.
There is a quote from Helen Keller that I LOVE that speaks to this issue.
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."
Good point, if you know of other companies that use child slaves, PLEASE tell me so that I can stop buying from them too.
But here's the reality, if I were to spend a whole bunch of time researching all the places that I cannot shop and the brands that I can't buy, I would very quickly get burnt out. There are just so many out there, it would be really hard. So I'm going to take it slow, one thing at a time. First let me break my chocolate addiction and then we can talk sweatshops, because those are awful, too.
If you are interested in making sure that the products that you buy are ethically produced and sustainable, goodguide.com is a GREAT resource. All you have to do is type in either the product that you want to buy or the brand that you buy from and it rates it based on health, society and environment. If you are serious about practicing responsible shopping, then I would suggest checking it out.
We can make a difference. We are called to a light in the darkness and that means showing the people of this world God's love. How can we do that if we support the very people who are keeping them oppressed?
Will you join me? Will you do a little research of your own into the Hershey Company? Will you help me stand up for the rights of children in West Africa?
Take a second and fill out this petition that will be sent to Hershey-- http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1303
Thanks, Laura. I want to try this. We'll see if my weakness for chocolate can be overcome by my love for children. Can't imagine my own children in that kind of life.
ReplyDeleteI thought you might like this post since Halloween is just around the corner.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/10/27/the-great-cost-of-halloween-chocolate/