I Admire The Chocolate Bar

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

Human trafficking and child abuse are major problems along the west coast of Africa. Cocoa plantations are so notorious for the use of forced child labor (and forced adult labor) that U.S. Representative Eliot Engel and Senator Tom Harkin created a protocol to end child slavery and initiate labeling for products that are produced “slave free.” A joint committee was formed and called the International Cocoa Initiative, with the aim to have a

Since the creation of Hershey’s chocolate, chocolate today has taken on many different flavors and shapes.

“ Worldwide, there are an estimated 246 million children engaged in child labour. Some 180 million children aged 5–17 (or 73 percent of all child labourers) are believed to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including working in hazardous conditions such as in mines and with dangerous machinery. Of these children, 5.7 million are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, 1.8 million are forced into prostitution or pornography and 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities.”

In addition to the personal preference of taste and quality, Rogers’ Chocolates also has to be aware of the current political stances of their customers. This is shown in the case by the human rights concerns expressed by customers. These views held by their customers have changed, and will continue to change, over time.

Not only is their chocolate unhealthy, it doesn’t taste very good either, but the corruption lies deeper than their consumer products. Within the countries of South America, where Hershey’s, and essentially all chocolate companies import their cocoa from, the cocoa farmers are not what they seem. On the outside they appear to be men working hard at gathering the raw substance, but look into the darker areas of the farms, and you find children, maybe just barely the age of 10, perhaps older, but more likely younger. These children aren’t the sons and daughters of the farmers though. These children are the

The beans are collected, cleaned, milled, and turned in chocolate liquor. The four main ingredients in a Hershey's bar are chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and milk. The milk and sugar are combined and dried until it has a thick taffy texture. Then chocolate liquor is mixed with the sugar milk, and this mixture turns into a dark brown powder called chocolate crumb. Cocoa butter gets added to the chocolate crumb, then the mixture is grinded through steel rollers making it a smooth chocolate paste. The paste is poured into huge vats called conches, where large granite rollers smooth out any gritty particles. Next the chocolate needs to be cooled so it reaches the proper texture. Next the chocolate needs to be molded into the signature Hershey shape. The molds are put onto a vibrating conveyer belt so the air bubbles are removed, and the chocolate can settle. The bars are then sent through a cooling tunnel, where they are cooled until solid. Then the bars are ready to be sent to wrapping (McGarry,1).

Moreover, consumers and employees are also demanding chocolate companies to follow good corporate social responsibility practices in addressing the environmental concerns in terms of how to design its packaging, procurement and operational decisions. Human rights concerns are also high in terms of consumer expectations of chocolate companies with respect of forced child labour in West Africa. All of these driving forces - societal concerns, attitudes and change in lifestyles, are strong enough to shape up the competition and impose the constraint on chocolate industry profitability and competitive survival.

Hershey has bought and produced tons of chocolate for over 50 years that has had the blood, sweat and tears of the not only the children on the Ivory Coast, but the adults as well. The way that Hershey has been able to sell to their consumers with very low prices on all their products is because they buy from the cocoa farms that have child slaves. Many of which were taken from their homes, sold or needed to provide for their families. They would come work for cocoa farmers and get paid little to nothing. Children who work on the Ivory Coast usually are between ages 12 and 16,

In “Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?” John Robbins describes how Hershey’s abuse labor forces and how other major companies deter that from happening in their chocolate. Robbins explains that the Hershey “company purchases the primary ingredient in its products from sources notorious for abusive labor practices…”(1) Robbins emphasizes that Ivory Coast provides forty-three percent of the world’s supply of cocoa beans. He explains that in “…West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast, where Hershey sources its cocoa, and that forced or involuntary child labor was common in these areas”(1) Robbins states that there have been thousands of children who were either purchased or stolen to be enslaved to work on cocoa farms. He further explains

West African chocolate producers have been at the heart of shocking allegations that they are using children as slaves to work on their plantations. Children (usually ages 12-16) are involved, because they work on the plantations under very poor conditions and with low pay. Many popular chocolate companies are also involved, considering the fact that they buy chocolate from these plantations. The chocolate industry is determined to grow cocoa that profits the government and their country, but in order to gain a larger profit, they distribute below-poverty wages for the farmers who produce it. Low wages mean farmers cannot hire the labor needed to harvest the crop, and encourages the use of child slavery and the worst forms of child labor.

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.

Born into a poor, lower-class family, Milton S. Hershey dropped out of school before reaching the fourth grade. He developed an interest in becoming a confectioner. He believed there would be great demand for affordable, mass-produced chocolate, and thus he built the Hershey Chocolate Company. Hershey’s is now the largest producer of quality chocolates in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Although he enjoyed making money, Milton S. Hershey was intent on using his vast fortune for philanthropic purposes. He decided to surround his enterprise with a model town and personally financed the building of roads, utilities,

“The Dark Side of Chocolate” is a documentary that explores the underlying issues prevalent in the cocoa trade. For most first world countries chocolate is seen as an accessible treat, however in third world countries, the production of cocoa creates social issues that must be eliminated. Cocoa trade is one of the largest industries in West African countries, but the issues that arise from such trade do more harm than good. The cocoa plantations are trafficking humans to work on their plantations. Furthermore, most instances suggest that these workers do not receive any compensation for their work and most importantly some of these slave laborers are children. Thus, the three issues that the cocoa companies routinely commit in exchange for lower costs are human trafficking, slave labor, and child labor. These companies are aware of such issues but refuse to actively combat them because they are better off financially. It can be argued that these issues can be mitigated through various social, governmental and political policies aimed at combating these problems. The three main issues will be addressed and the various stakeholders affected by these issues will be analyzed. Then this paper will look at the possible solutions to these issues, whereby through government, social or political means.

Chocolate became “a respected scholarly subject” only in recent decades suffering from “puritanical prohibitions” of discussing food or writing about it that were recognized standards of behavior in the Western world. The reviewed book The True History of Chocolate is a valuable addition to what the public knows or, rather, does not know about chocolate, with an interesting historical background that makes an entertaining and useful reading and extends one’s knowledge of things we use daily, sometimes without realizing their long history of evolution and multiple meanings.