Recently, several of my legal friends have been discussing the problem with buying unethically produced chocolate for the holidays. Unfortunately, around the world, many of the major chocolate producers use cocoa beans gathered through the use of child labor.
Using children to do work for lower costs is wrong on so many levels and completely unnecessary. Now, I fully support kids learning how to become adults through simple, child-friendly jobs. For example: babysitting, mowing yards, having a newspaper route, helping around the family business, shoveling snow.
What I do not support is major industrial companies using the poverty of third-world countries to unethically and immorally encourage children to drop out of school and work in conditions that are completely illegal in the United States. As a teacher of Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, one of the great issues that globalization has caused is that it allows international companies to pick and choose where to manufacture and thus avoid the legal standards of work and health safety.
With so many people in the work field looking for jobs, the devastating impact these jobs have on the children, the unethical underhanded dealings of this type of business ~ the use of child labor needs to end. However, the companies that participate in this type of behavior are only interested in profits. So they are unlikely to stop the practice until it no longer benefits them to do so.
How do we take away their profits? By not consuming their products!
So take a moment and do your own research. Find companies that do not use child labor in their chocolate production when you buy your holiday candy this year. You might check out the article “Ethical Chocolate Companies.” While I have not verified the information in their list, others claim they are legitimate. Note that the major producers – Mars, Hershey’s, Nestle, and Godiva – are not on this list!
Companies that ignore or subvert the law will listen when their buyers speak out. So take a stand against the despicable practice of child labor this Valentine’s Day and share the power of love for our world.
OMG, in a land lacking decent chocolate, I have found heaven!
Yes, Metro Center at Xujiahui station in Shanghai. So amazing!
Its like a chocolate paradise, two floors of chocolate, twizzlers, jolly ranchers, and the best thing ever . . . Reese’s!
And the cafe upstairs has mint chocolate and iced mint drinks! Chocolate ice cream too!
This started as an experiment with altering the tried and true Peanut Butter filled Dipped Ritz cookies (I actually made some of those too). I have some family members who actually prefer mint to Peanut Butter and friends allergic to peanuts, so I thought I would try out something new for the Christmas season. Happily, these yummy alternatives were quite the success! And they really are quite easy to make!
Ingredients
Directions (approx. 1 hour)
They’re ready for you to enjoy!! Let me know what you think; I’m kind of proud of this recipe!
Haha, had a little fun today! My roommate and I went wandering and we finally got the chance to try these fish-shaped waffle treats. We’ve been dying to try them for a while, but they usually are filled with this bean paste that doesn’t sound too appetizing. However, today the little shop across from the hotel offered the ones filled with chocolate so we took a chance and grabbed one on the spot. It cost 100 yen (approx. $1), and was pretty good. I thought it was a little bland (literally a pancake filled with cheap chocolate), but I think it has a lot of potential. I want to try making one with sweeter pancake batter and perhaps a more flavorful chocolate. Still, I had fish-shaped waffles! How awesome is that?!?
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 