We Support Delicious Fair Trade Chocolate
Student organizes "buycott" of trafficked chocolate
Lindsay Prior
Issue date: 2/25/10 Section: News
Did you know that an estimated 200,000 children around the world are involved in the cocoa production process, and at least 6% of these children have been forced to work without a salary? If you do the math, that comes out to at least 12,000 children who have been forced into slave labor in order to make chocolate.
Michael O'Donnell, a sophomore and theatre major at Messiah College, has decided to take the initiative to do something about this issue. When David Batstone of the Not For Sale Organization came and spoke in chapel and in O'Donnell's Theatre for Social Change Class, he mentioned his idea to organize a nationwide boycott of chocolate from companies that fail to monitor their suppliers for slave labor. When O'Donnell heard this, he decided to plant a seed for this idea at Messiah College by creating the Campus Wide Fair Trade Chocolate Buycott. To make sure the campus knew about the "buycott," he created a Facebook event and invited Messiah College students to attend.
"The main purpose is to raise awareness," says O'Donnell. "And part of the reason we decided to call it a 'buycott' is because the word 'boycott' is more of a negative term." The group had originally contained the word "boycott," but O'Donnell says that some people suggested the change in order to emphasize the buying of fair trade chocolate rather than traditional boycotting. This way, the term draws attention to the fact that people who support this cause can still buy chocolate, but only the fair trade kind. Unfortunately, a lot of chocolate/candy companies do not fall under this category.
"Many major chocolate suppliers get their cocoa from questionable sources," says O'Donnell. "They aren't monitoring their supply chains the way they should. There are monitors in place, but they are not as affective as they should be."
O'Donnell says he realizes that, realistically, not everyone is going to want to give up their favorite chocolates for this cause. However, he also says that "it would be great … if people stop buying even just one product that's not fair trade … much of what America consumes is from slave labor, so we can't do away with all of it yet, but we can make this a symbol for the fair trade movement." He also adds, "If one in five people stop buying their products, it's going to hurt [the non-fair trade companies] enough so they will have to address it."
You may be wondering how you can expect to live without your favorite chocolate candies for a period of more than two days. Well, don't fret! There are many suppliers of chocolates who actually are fair trade - you just have to look a little harder to find them, and they may be a bit more expensive because their suppliers are actually getting paid.
For more information, check out the Facebook event entitled "Campus Wide Fair Trade Chocolate 'Buycott.'"
Michael O'Donnell, a sophomore and theatre major at Messiah College, has decided to take the initiative to do something about this issue. When David Batstone of the Not For Sale Organization came and spoke in chapel and in O'Donnell's Theatre for Social Change Class, he mentioned his idea to organize a nationwide boycott of chocolate from companies that fail to monitor their suppliers for slave labor. When O'Donnell heard this, he decided to plant a seed for this idea at Messiah College by creating the Campus Wide Fair Trade Chocolate Buycott. To make sure the campus knew about the "buycott," he created a Facebook event and invited Messiah College students to attend.
"The main purpose is to raise awareness," says O'Donnell. "And part of the reason we decided to call it a 'buycott' is because the word 'boycott' is more of a negative term." The group had originally contained the word "boycott," but O'Donnell says that some people suggested the change in order to emphasize the buying of fair trade chocolate rather than traditional boycotting. This way, the term draws attention to the fact that people who support this cause can still buy chocolate, but only the fair trade kind. Unfortunately, a lot of chocolate/candy companies do not fall under this category.
"Many major chocolate suppliers get their cocoa from questionable sources," says O'Donnell. "They aren't monitoring their supply chains the way they should. There are monitors in place, but they are not as affective as they should be."
O'Donnell says he realizes that, realistically, not everyone is going to want to give up their favorite chocolates for this cause. However, he also says that "it would be great … if people stop buying even just one product that's not fair trade … much of what America consumes is from slave labor, so we can't do away with all of it yet, but we can make this a symbol for the fair trade movement." He also adds, "If one in five people stop buying their products, it's going to hurt [the non-fair trade companies] enough so they will have to address it."
You may be wondering how you can expect to live without your favorite chocolate candies for a period of more than two days. Well, don't fret! There are many suppliers of chocolates who actually are fair trade - you just have to look a little harder to find them, and they may be a bit more expensive because their suppliers are actually getting paid.
For more information, check out the Facebook event entitled "Campus Wide Fair Trade Chocolate 'Buycott.'"
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