 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Order | Resources | FT Project News| FT Movement News | Promotions |
Fair Trade Eyewitness Delegations
FAIR TRADE MOVEMENT NEWS |
Valentine's Day of Action
For 3.6 million children in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire , Valentine's Day will be just another desolate day of harvesting cocoa under inexcusable conditions. Children must climb trees with machetes to cut down cocoa pods; they handle and apply dangerous pesticides; they burn brush; they carry back-breaking loads. Over half of the world's supply of cocoa comes from these two West African countried, at the cost of children's futures.
This is true despite action in Sept. 2009 to include cocoa beans from on the U.S. Labor Department's "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor."
It is time for the U.S. Agriculture Department to act by expediting the formulation of guidelines that will reduce child labor.
Please take a few minutes to send U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack a valentine urging him to ensure that the candy we share with loved ones next Valentine's Day is not spoiled by the bitterness of child labor. This Valentine's Day of Action campaign is led by the American Federation of Teachers. Click here for an appeal from the AFT affiliate New York State United Teachers.
Blood and Chocolate
After 10 years of promises, protocols, and initiatives, the children of West Africa remain at the mercy of the cocoa industry. Read the full article by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman (Sept. 16, 2009) from the Food Politics section of Gourmet magazine. [PDF version here.]
U.S. Department of Labor lists cocoa, cotton & other goods as products made by forced, child labor
Long-awaited reports on child labor and forced labor around the world were released by the DOL on September 10, 2009. Cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire, the source of much American chocolate was included in the list of 122 goods, from 58 countries, made using child labor and forced labor.
According to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the United States “rejects the proposition that it is acceptable to pursue economic gain through the forced labor of other human beings or the exploitation of children in the workplace…These individuals are among the world's most vulnerable, and we have a moral duty to help and protect them."
For more information, see a response to the reports by the International Labor Rights Forum, the DOL news release and the list and reports (194 pgs.).
Children rescued from organized slave labour in INTERPOL-led operation
INTERPOL's first ever police operation targeting child trafficking in West Africa has resulted in the rescue of more than 50 child workers and the arrest of eight people in connection with the illegal recruitment of children. The children had been bought by plantation owners needing cheap labour to harvest the cocoa and palm plantations. For more: INTERPOL news release and background information from the Cocoa Campaign of the International Labor Rights Forum .
Global Fairtrade sales increase by 22%, 10% in the United States
According to Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the global marker for Fairtrade certified products grew by an impressive 22% in 2008 despite the onset of the global recession.
FLO is the umbrella body organization that sets international Fairtrade standards and supports Fairtrade producers. Read more here.
Cadbury pledges to expand Fair Trade
In the US, Cadbury's chocolates are not Fair Trade certified and there is no labor certification behind Cadbury's Creme Eggs or mini eggs, which are manufactured by Hershey Chocolate in the USA. By contrast, companies like Divine, Equal Exchange, Sweet Earth Chocolates, Alter Eco, and Theo Chocolate have been pioneering Fair Trade and sustainable practices for decades, and are 100% Fair Trade.
As we all know, it is important to write companies to pressure them to improve their performance on human rights and the environment. But it is just as important to thank companies when they make a change for the better. Click here to take two important actions.
The problem of trafficked child labor in cocoa harvesting surfaced in 2001 and consumers have been demanding reform since that time. The chocolate companies have all made lofty promises, but how many have delivered? Visit the web site of International Labor Rights Forum to see the 2009 report.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh to become first Fair Trade university in US
On the opening day of the fall 2008 semester, Chancellor Wells officially declared the university to be a Fair Trade University. UW Oshkosh's four governing bodies endorsed a resolution outlining its commitment to: selling Fair Trade certified coffee, tea and chocolate in dining establishments, at catered functions and in department offices whenever feasible and within the confines of its food service contract; offering Fair Trade Certified food products and handicrafts at University stores whenever possible, and identifying and acknowledging Fair Trade certified products and encouraging their purchase by students, faculty and staff. The Fair Trade program will be overseen by the newly formed Campus Sustainability Council.
LRC's Fair Trade Project is planning a Fair Trade Campus campaign in connection with coffee served on campuses of public colleges and universities in New York state. Click here for information from several State University of NY schools.
Slave-free label still missing
Even though the chocolate industry committed to ending the worst forms of child labor in cocoa production by July 1, 2008, the slave-free label is still missing from lots of chocolate boxes…and chocolate bars and ice cream and syrup and other products made with cocoa. And it’s not just because industry talked Congress into a voluntary agreement in place of the 2001 legislation that would have created a mandatory slave-free label for chocolate, which was passed in the House of Representatives by a landslide. It is also because virtually none of the chocolate you buy as a consumer could be certified as “slave-free” if that label existed today.
Excerpt from "Tainted Love? Chocolate-Lovers: Cocoa Industry Set to Be a Heartbreaker on July 1, 2008," Common Dreams, June 27, 2008
Tell Us fair trade movement news we might include here.
FAIR TRADE IS A PARTNERSHIP BASED ON DIALOGUE, TRANSPARENCY AND RESPECT, THAT SEEKS GREATER EQUITY IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
Last Updated: 02/12/2010
© Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
