Today is Halloween and what is more endearing than the image of cute little children frolicking from door-to-door dressed as ladybugs, ghosts, miniature comic book characters and fairies?
The goodie bags full of candy seems harmless enough, apart from the inevitable exhaustion parents may experience due to sugar-infused children. However, what may be just chocolaty treats for U.S. children could be a contributing factor to the cycle of poverty and forced labor of children across the globe.
Knowledge of this issue is not meant to condemn or guilt-trip those of us who participate in the Halloween traditions or those who thoroughly enjoy consuming chocolate. But, it should be viewed as another, easily practiced, way to actively fight against the cycle of institutionalized poverty.
Living in a globalized world, our habits are not as personal as we often think. I admit that until recently, I had no idea just how far-reaching the ripple effect that my chocolate purchases could have on others.
I never thought about the fact that a 70 cent chocolate bar might be an absurdly cheap price to pay for its complete start-to-finish production. I never bought the “expensive” fair trade chocolates because of my frugal shopper mentality; the mentality where cheaper always wins the consumer’s business. Instead, I blissfully ate my bar of deliciousness, not thinking about the person who harvested the cocoa beans and the multitude of steps that had to have occurred to get those beans into their final product.
When awareness hits, it often hits like an unapologetic freight train.
Such was the case when I became enlightened about the abusive nature that some chocolate production possesses. In other parts of the world, it is linked to child labor, forced labor and trafficking and does not provide enough compensation to help farmers escape poverty.
Many North American children, unknowingly, will literally be eating the fruits of other children’s forced labor this Halloween.
However, 10-20 thousand groups of children are standing up against these unfair conditions this Halloween. In neighborhoods and communities around the U.S. and Canada, these children will hand Fair Trade chocolate 
back to adults when making their trick-or-treating rounds. These pieces of candy will be attached with information regarding the cocoa industry’s current practices.
The goal of Reverse Trick-or-Treating, an event launched three years ago in conjunction with Global Exchange, is to raise awareness among consumers about the current injustices occurring in the cocoa fields. Also, the hope is to encourage others to push the industry toward fair sourcing policies, and to reward those companies that are leading the way in transparent and fair business practices.
Taking small steps of action on this situation resonates with several of BeadforLife’s guiding principles. Purchasing a piece or beautiful, handmade jewelry empowers the Beaders through a fair trade price and other economically equipping skills. What it comes down to is responsible consumerism and conscientious purchases.
Individual changes in subtle, day-to-day habits can change the world.
Will you join me in committing to no longer having an adverse impact on those living in poverty or those being forced to labor for unfair, or non-existent wages in the cocoa industry by only purchasing certified Fair Trade chocolate?
Some “Sweet” Action Steps:
-Commit to buying fair trade chocolate
-Organize a Reverse Trick-or-Treating event in your area next year.
-Encourage wholesale chocolate buyers to press their suppliers for “Proof of Non-Purchase” that demands transparency in the supply chain.
Kristen Painter
Tags: child labor, Fair Trade, Poverty Eradication, Take Action