For Valentine's Day, M&Ms/Mars makes a really cute pink cane filled with, naturally, M&Ms. Kids love them, although the candy might not taste so sweet if we thought about where the chocolate came from.
While American children are gobbling up green and yellow and red and blue M&Ms, hundreds of thousands of African children are being forced by economic hardship to pick the cocoa leaves to make the chocolate that goes inside. Even worse, more than 12,000 of those children are actual slaves, separated from their families, denied basic human rights and needs, and destined to live lives devoid of any freedom.
More than two-thirds of the world's cocoa is harvested by children in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. If they had the time or inclination to think about it, Valentine's Day would seem ironic: child labor being used to produce the sweet taste of Cupid's holiday. But there's no irony, only tragedy.
Out of the kindness of their hearts, U.S. chocolate companies have agreed that by 2005 they will stop purchasing cocoa harvested by slaves. Why it will take another year to end this horrible injustice is a mystery, but I guess we should welcome an end to evil, no matter how distant. But even when the market for child slaves is finally shut down, hundreds of thousands of West African children will be toiling in cocoa fields instead of studying in the class room.
The international human rights organization Global Exchange is urging consumers to urge companies like Mars, Inc., to sell only Fair Trade chocolate, which ensures farmers receive a fair price for their cocoa and removes the economic incentive to force children to work. Some companies, such as Nestle's and Hershey's, are AFL-CIO-approved candy companies, so if you want to give your loved ones some Hershey's Kisses on Feb. 14, you're OK.
Commercials for M&Ms say it's the candy that "melts in your mouth, not in your hand." This year, we should all be pushing Mars, Inc., to melt their hearts a little and stop relying on child labor for their cocoa. On Valentine's Day, remember to only buy Fair Trade chocolate. It'll taste a lot sweeter.
