"Bitter Chocolate" -reflection

Recently I have read part of the book "Bitter Chocolate" for a class I am taking. We are looking at the nature of dependency on argicultural (natural commodities) export of certain nations. I always knew that there was a 'darker' side to chocolate. Looking at the reality that the counrties that are the largest producers of chocolate also are the most corrupt in the tactics used to farm the goods. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say that this industry is "bad" when so many families are so dependent on this trade for there livlihoods. Many times, the children are the one's that volunteer to go work on the the Cacao farms in hopes to bring home money. There are the few bad apples that lure the naive children under false pretenses. They promise that the children will be paid for there work, but then deduct the cost of living expenses and the cost of purchasing the worker, rarely do they see any money at the end of there 2 year tenures. The Farmers often treat the children very poorly. The children are not given adequate rest/breaks, they work 10 hours straight during harvesting. Food is unplentiful and are usually locked in their quarters with others to prevent escape. With conditions like these, one asks, why does the world love this delicacy more than the children being forced to farm the harvest? Or why are people willing to turn their head to avoid looking at the atrocities occuring. There have been movements/pressure placed on the chocolate manufacturing/producing corporations to demand better accomodations to the workers in this industry. Though, the laws and labor practices are still overlooked to a large degree. As consumers we have the ability to try to "help" the situation. We can boycott chocolate: which is a poor idea. It would crash the economy that these countries are so dependent on and then we wouldn't be able to enjoy the yummy goodness of chocolate. Then there is that Fair Trade, option: This guarantees that the farmers are paid atleast a little more that the cost of growing the commodity. This seems to be a fair option. But then, there is also the horrible chemicals that are used to allow mass production of the crop. These kids are still developing and exposure to this chemicals is probably not good. Consumers can opt to buy organic & fair trade. So why hasn't more been done? It's because of the corporations. The corporations are in the trade to make a profit. The majority of them are worth more than the countries themselves!! Because of public pressure, they have set standards for the trade guidelines to help eliminate the child labor practices. however, the children are still working these farms and not attending school. Until the countries can bring up there economies they will be largely dependent on these agricultures that barely cover living costs.

For now, I will only buy organic fair trade chocolate (esp. if it's from Africa) or just opt for Carob instead......