Considerate Chocolate: considering the troubling story behind our Easter eggs – Molly Lambert Langley Park School for Girls
Easter: a time for appreciation- an appreciation of religion; an appreciation of togetherness, and of course, an appreciation for chocolate.
The story behind our chocolate
Chocolate has for centuries been an indulgence, enjoyed by everybody, from the Mayans to the Aztecs, and the fifteenth century Spanish court to the general public today.
Yet despite the rich global history of chocolate, chocolate has a dark, troubling history too, which unfortunately continues to grow today.
Although an uncomfortable topic to discuss, the immense volume of chocolate we consume in our daily lives, is often a product of child labour.
Since the twentieth century, chocolate has become much more accessible to the general public, and as a result the demand has heavily increased, with the UK being the fifth largest consumer of chocolate in the world, consuming 7.5 kg of the sweet treat per person - (according to a CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs report published in 2014).
This rise in demand forced a rise in cocoa production, with cocoa plantations developing in countries such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to profit from the booming chocolate industry. However, according to Slave Free Chocolate, (an organisation which aims to ‘aid in eradicate the worst forms of child labour and child slavery in the cocoa farms of West Africa’), today, there are 2.3 million children working in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa farms.
These children are victims of shocking abuses of basic human rights, deprived of an education, and vulnerable to atrocities including slavery and human trafficking.
Although some change has been made to combat this issue, as major chocolate companies such as Nestle and Hershey have been held accountable and have pledged to resolve the issue of child labour in the production of their chocolate, we are still a long way from indefinitely abolishing child labour, and anything that can be done will make a difference.
How can I help?
Obviously, by boycotting Easter eggs this year, we could easily avoid any contribution to the funding of child labour used to produce them. However, if you aren’t ready to give up your Easter chocolate fix, there is still much more which can be done. For example, you can donate to organisation such as Slave free Chocolate or the Fairtrade foundation, and you could even get take part in campaigns such as the Fairtrade Fortnight, organised by the Fairtrade Foundation.
Or instead, you could simply buy an ethically-sourced chocolate Easter egg this Easter. For example, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, well-known brands such as Cadburys (which was the first major chocolate brand to be certified as Fairtrade), and Green and Black’s Organic are committed to selling ethically-sourced chocolate. Additionally, many ‘own-brand’ chocolate products sold by supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Waitrose also ethically-sourced or Fairtrade chocolate.
After all, Easter is a time for appreciation; a time for consideration: of other people and bigger issues. The very least we can do, is pay the simple cost of an Easter egg; a small price to pay, to help solve an immensely bigger issue.
Molly Lambert – Langley Park School for Girls
