Most people love chocolate. But what many people do not know is that many popular companies (Hershey's, Nestle's and Mars to name a few) obtain the cocoa in their chocolate from landowners on the Ivory Coast in West Africa who use child slaves to get the cacao beans.
Most cacao farmers earn less than $2 a day for their labor. As a result, they often turn to unpaid child labor to keep the prices down. Many of these child slaves were bought through kidnapping and human trafficking. Their lives consist of cutting down cacao bean pods with heavy, dangerous machetes that have the potential to cut a child's flesh. Child workers on cacao plantations have multiple scars. Once they cut down the heavy pods, they are made to fill heavy sacks that can weigh over 100 pounds. If they do not hurry, they are brutally beaten.
Companies like Hershey's, Nestle's and Mars have these children's blood on their hands. They have promised to clean up their act, but have done nothing so far. A boycott from the big chains might provide the necessary initiative for these corporations to get their act together. Join the fight against this type of inhumane cruelty by urging supermarkets and variety stores to boycott their products.
