Chocolate's Slave Labor in Africa

Did you know the majority (70%-80%) of all chocolate around the world comes from Africa, and the majority of that comes from Ivory Coast?

But there is a dark side to this. The multinational corporations are not telling you something, which is that almost all of the chocolate they source is grown by slaves in Ivory Coast, Africa.











People! Avoid M&Ms / Mars, Hersheys, Nestle, Cadbury, etc. Buy fair trade.

Here are some slave free brands:
Alter Eco
Cacao Power
Cloud Nine
Cocolo
Dagoba (at most Oregon grocery stores)
Endangered Species (Whole Foods, Target, New Seasons)
Equal Exchange (Whole Foods, New Seasons)
Green and Black’s (available at Target!)
Newman’s Own (New Seasons, Whole Foods)
Oxfam
Rapunzel (Whole Foods)
Scarborough Fair
Shaman
Tropical Source (New Season’s, Whole Foods)

To buy fair trade goods, look for the logo. Find fair trade products by zipcode Transfair USA's website. Once you are on their site, scroll down:


Cafes & Restaurants:
Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops - Ask for Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee or Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream.
Bruegger's - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.
Caribou Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.
Dunkin' Donuts - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.
Einstein Bagels - Ask for their Global Village Fair Trade Blend.
Noah's Bagels - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.
Peet's Coffee and Tea - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.
Seattle's Best Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Certified Organic French Roast.
Starbucks Coffee - Ask for Cafe Estima.
Tully's Coffee - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.

Stores:
Costco - Look for Kirkland Signature FTC Coffee
Fred Meyer - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea
Giant - Look for FTC flowers, coffee, tea, chocolate
Kroger - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea
Safeway - Look for FTC coffee, tea, sugar
Sam's Club - Look for Member’s Mark® coffee, Neu Direction FTC wine, Peterson Farms FTC Sweetened Dried Triple Cherry & Cherry Berry Blend, FTC bananas, & online FTC flowers
Target - Look for Wandering Grape FTC wines, Archer Farms FTC coffee
Trader Joe's - Look for FTC coffee
Wal-Mart - Look for Sam's Choice FTC coffee, Peterson Farms FTC Chocolate Covered Dried Cherries
Wegman's - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar
Whole Foods Market - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, wine, sugar, energy bars, body care products, flowers, rice

[Further Reading] Good article on slave chocolate