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There are a few problems with chocolate.  It’s oh-so-tasty, yet not very good for you (although some argue that it isn’t that bad).  But did you know that the cocoa in the chocolate you are eating could be made by slaves?  A majority of the world’s cocoa (30-40%) is grown on the Cote d’Ivoire in Africa.  The numbers vary depending on your source, but thousands of children are trafficked to work on these farms and held as slaves in terrible conditions.  The trouble is that no one knows.

A few months ago we posted the news that Cadbury had promised to make their Dairy Milk bar from fair trade chocolate by the fall of 2009.  Mars has just announced that they will follow and make their Galaxy bar (sold in the UK) fair trade by 2010 and all other items will be fair trade by 2020.  It’s a long way off but it is a big step!

For now the only way to insure that your chocolate is traffick free is to buy fair trade.  It’s like buying slave-free sugar in the days of the African slave trade. Find out where to buy it here.

Demand ethical chocolate.  It costs more, but isn’t it worth it?

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