Fair Trade Research Paper

Child labor in the chocolate industry is an issue that effects children in impoverished countries in West Africa, but should be taken care of together by society. The article, Child Labor and Slavery, goes into further detail about the child labor and slavery involved in the industry and how children are forced into these immoral practices. The awful reality is that “hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents or outright stolen and then shipped to Ivory Coast, where they are enslaved on cocoa farms” (Gregory, 1). The children in West Africa are generally surrounded by severe poverty, which leads to children working at a young age to help support their family. Many of the children laboring on cocoa farms are between

The Federal Trade Commission was founded by Woodrow Wilson the twenty-eight president of the United States and it was established in September 26, 1914 in Washington D. C. The seal for the Federal Trade Commission was adopted in 1915 and designed by Tiffany and Company. The seal symbolizes many of the values and promote the agency mission. The winged flywheel represents progress and reflects the commitment to protect consumer interests in a world of involving technology. The shield represents the role in defending American consumer interests. And it protects the benefits of robust competition and fighting harm to consumers from unfair deceptive practices. The scales are the traditional of emblem of justice

Many of the products that are used and consumed in the United States are made in other countries. One of the main reasons for multinational corporations to produce goods in countries other than the United States is the cost of production. It is far cheaper to produce goods such as blue jeans, paper goods, and plastic toys to name a few. In recent years the conditions in sweatshops in China, Japan, and elsewhere have garnered public outcry from Countries like the U.S. and most of Europe. The main contention, child labor in dangerous and horrid conditions. However one often overlooked example of child labor in sweatshop-like conditions exists were many people never thought. The chocolate we eat. “From 2013 to 2014 more than 1.1 million children in the Ivory Coast were engaged in the most common Worst Forms of Child Labor as recognized by the United Nations… up from 791,181 children from 2008 to 2009” (Berman, 2015). The benefactors of this child labor are huge multinational enterprises such as Nestle, Mars Inc., and The Hershey Co.

As mentioned earlier, 70% of cocoa beans come from plantations in western African countries. However, most workers on these plantations are child slaves who are abused, not paid, and confined to grueling labor for years and years. Many of these unfortunate children aren’t over the age of sixteen yet they are forced to work from dusk till dawn. To add to this, there are a great amount of dangerous throughout the plantation. These include exposure to toxic, agricultural chemicals on the cocoa beans, being forced to use dangerous machetes in work, and being crushed by hundred pound bags of packed cocoa beans. The conditions that they live in are no better either. From sleeping on planks of wood as a bed to being fed the bare minimum of the cheapest food, most of these children don’t even receive basic education. One of the worst parts of this tragedy is that chocolate companies know what is happening yet they continue to receive cocoa from child slaves, and then they sell the public this deplorable

Man's needs for chocolate caused slavery. For instance, “there are approximately 600,000 cocoa farms and there are approximately 15,000 young children slaves working to provide for their families. Even though the workers are payed little. They are barely fed either. The workers have one meal a day, and that is corn paste so not only are they working with hardly no pay they also aren't healthy either. During all this heartache, this is what colonized slaves, and how chocolate affected slavery” (Chanthavong, 2002). Can one only imagine being in a field, hours upon hours. Working basically for a farmer who does not care for one’s well-being. He only cares for how much chocolate that one can produce. Do you know how miserable one can be? Feeling hopeless at times only thinking about their family and how they will make it through this hardship. Not knowing who to turn to, where to go, and

Mankind’s obsession with chocolate dates back as early as 1750 B.C. What started out as a form of currency has now turned into a symbol of love and commitment. In the United States alone, the consumption rate of chocolate is steadily increasing. This is not surprising as Valentine’s Day brings in more than 50.8 million pounds of chocolate in just one week. Yet, with numbers like that the United States fails to rank in the top 10 countries for chocolate consumption worldwide. It is evident the United States loves its chocolate, however, most people are unaware of the slavery involved with the production of it. Each year hundreds of thousands of children are captured and forced to work on cocoa farms. Would people still purchase this small

When chocolate started to become more popular, demand increased for more production and lower prices. Chocolate comes from the cacao bean, which grows in tropical areas including West Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Individuals who harvest chocolate only earn two dollars or less per day. Because of this, they use child labor to keep their prices lower. In a shocking 2000 documentary titled Slavery: A Global Investigation, a British organization called True Vision Entertainment reported on cocoa being harvested by child slaves. The award-winning film exposed what is going on in the plantations. They interviewed several children who were said to have just been freed from slavery by the Ivorian authorities. Their guardian describes the long hours they worked each day, and how they were locked in a shed every night. They were allowed one bathroom break, where they were given a tin cup to use. During the “breaking-in period” (which was the first six months after beginning to work there), they say, they were routinely beaten. If anyone would try to escape, they were beaten even more severely. The boys reveal hundreds of scars lining their backs and torsos. Toward the end of the film, the filmmakers meet with one of the “slave masters,” who admitted he purchased the boys and that his men routinely

Chocolate industry has brought over 80 billion pounds of revenue to the economy. Western countries are the main consumer in terms of chocolate consumption, and Ivory Coast is the biggest cocoa producer supplying 60% of world’s cocoa beans. More than 10 million people rely on the cocoa beans productions in Ivory Coast, however there are uses of child trafficking and force them into slave labour. Children are malnutrition and they are working under very poor conditions and environment, using hazardous equipment such as machete without proper safety regulation. The use of child labour violates the definition of fair trade according to world fair trade organization: fair trade is a fair partnership designed to aid producers in developing countries; helps contribute to sustainability by offering better trading conditions and securing rights of workers. In my opinion this issue is very serious and should be taken action internationally, children are ignored and have to work in horrendous conditions which defy the Catholic Principles of Social Justice – human dignity, active involvement, rights to work and the common good.

Despite their role in contributing to child labor, slavery, and human trafficking, the chocolate industry has not taken significant steps to remedy the problem. Within their $60-billion industry, chocolate companies have the power to end the use of child labor and slave labor by paying cocoa farmers a living wage for their product. The chocolate industry is also being called upon to develop and financially support programs to rescue and rehabilitate children who have been sold to cocoa farms. To date, the industry has done little to remove child labor, let alone aid survivors of child labor. Hershey’s, the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America, has not thoroughly addressed accusations of child labor in its supply chain and

Nowadays, chocolate probably is one of the most popular food all over the world. we consume a lot of chocolate per day, and the factories of chocolate try to invent different kind of chocolate and different flavor to satisfy the customer. However, there is no one knows where do the cocoa beans come from and how do they produce the cocoa beans. Beyond of the halo of chocolate, there is a cruel and no humanity activity is happening in Ivory Coast called child slavery. Why is the child slavery so normal in West Africa? The main factor is the cocoa price is too low that makes the farmer cannot earn enough money to employ adult employer. In Ivory Coast, the traffickers are very enthusiastic in Ivory Coast to transport the children cross the boundary of Ivory Coast illegally and bring these children to the employer. The worse thing is these children never get paid. Moreover, the employer deprives these children’s human right and force them to work in the cocoa field. If children want to escape, they will get abused or even get killed. In order to prevent child slavery keep deteriorating. In 2001, United State establishes a policy which claims ‘no child slave labor’ labeling requirement on every coca product.

In today’s world, people tend to shop for products in any kind of stores for his or her needs, such as Wal-Mart, Sears, and Home Depot. These products include clothing, appliances, toys, etc. However, these were made progressively through sweatshops. Almost every product in stock has a label from the location was made. A few of the known countries that made these products before manufacturing to stores overseas are China, Mexico, and Bangladesh. Sweatshops are created during the Industrial Revolution period of the 19th century, mainly in both the United States and Great Britain. The three things to learn about sweatshops are the definition, its advantages, and disadvantages.

Imagine being forced to work 13 hours with little pay under harsh dangerous wok conditions that’s A sweatshop it is a place, typically in the clothing manufacturing industry where workers do manual labor for very low wages. This labor is done under long hours, poor conditions, and involves many health hazards to the workers.

The month of October is themed “Every Purchase Matters” for Fair Trade USA. This annual awareness campaign rings together a diverse range of corporate, nonprofit, producer and consumer partners with more than 100 events – including fund-raising parties, and promotions across the United States. These events raise understanding and knowledge of the Fair Trade movement with “social, economic, and environmental empowerment” for the farming population and consumers all across the globe (Economics, 2010). In Addition to Fair Trade USA, Cohort 4 believes that the general American population does not support free trade as well. “NBC news and Wall Street Journal did a poll and the results were interesting. Sixty nine percent of Americans believe that free trade agreements with other countries have cost jobs in the United States. While eighteen percent believe that they have created jobs” (Harwood). During the recession it is easy to see that many Americans are out of work. Since many products used in the U.S.

     International trade is defined as trade between two or more partners from different countries in the exchange of goods and services. In order to understand International trade, we need to first know and understand what trade is, which is the buying and selling of products between different countries. International Trade simply is globalization of the world and enables countries to obtain products and services from other countries effortlessly and expediently.

From the graph, cocoa farmers are severely underpaid. Under the fairtrade agreement, farmers can now receive a fair price for their cocoa. Whittaker’s has two fairtrade agreements for their dark chocolate, allowing them to paint an ethical picture of their company. This would attract consumers who are concerned about the origins of their food. (Lindsay