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More than 2 million children in Ghana and Cote DβIvoire work in hazardous conditions growing cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, according to the US Department of Labor1. While some companies have begun tracing their supply chains to prevent child labor, the vast majority of the 3 million tons of cocoa produced each year come from small farms in West Africa, where farmers and their children live on less than $1 per day2.
This scorecard will help you find ethically sourced and organic sweets, and understand what these labels mean. Brands marked "B" or higher rely on a third-party labor certification for all their cocoa, whereas "C" and below only certify a portion of their chocolate products at present.
This is, of course, not a comprehensive list of ethically sourced chocolate companies; however, the scorecard features companies who are also Green Business Network members, as Green America has screened them for their practices.
*These companies have pledged to be "100% sustainable" by 2020, without specifics or 3rd party certification.
All Figures from the "Big Chocolate" Scorecard and the Cocoa Barometer. This list is not exhaustive of all chocolate companies. If your favorite chocolate brand is not listed, consider calling the company to ask about its commitment to ethical sourcing.
Well, I will stop with the comments about Godiva, I will add Godiva to my boycott list. Thanks for an enlightening article.
Anyone thinking about sharing that link on their smartphone can go ahead and get off their high horse and go buy a good ol' Hershey bar.
I'm caffeine free
hahaha!
Question: Did you post your comment using IE, Edge, Chrome or Safari?
@SamKerry While eating chocolate. I was never on a high horse, though. It's the same reason I feel Michael Vick got totally fucked over. A vast majority of this country contributes daily to the inhumane torture and slaughter of millions of animals for food, fashion, & sport with zero consequences, yet Vick does the same and goes to federal prison for a year and a half.
@JeffMurray Sorry, I didn't mean to point fingers. I was only trying to funnily state that big corp is unfortunately ingrained into our day-to-day products.
@SamKerry I know they are recording everything we say, so I went all-in and got home automation going.
@JeffMurray Nice!
@SamKerry Some people think I'm a conspiracy theorist when I say this, but I've read transcripts from my Google account that show that they were recording before I activated the voice to text.
@JeffMurray I get ya. I work in software (e.g. web app programmer). Although I don't have the skill-set for Apple/Google/MS/NSA apps, I know what our smartphones ( and "internet of things" ) are capable of.
If you think about it
All children's clothing is made for children by children.
They use children to measure the patterns , but I don't think "All" children's clothes are made by children . . . ?
I liked your comment, but I really don't "like" your comment. Children should be allowed to have childhoods not slaving away for pennies.
@Douglas sweatshops