Summary Of Child Slavery: Chocolate: The Bitter Truth '

Annalise Falci

Ms. Schulz

Social Studies 7

28 February 2018

The Fair Price Of Chocolate For many years, the chocolate industry has used child trafficking and slavery in order to gain millions of dollars a year. This was brought to my attention by the 2012 documentary, Chocolate: The Bitter Truth by BBC. When using child slavery, the farms that produce the cocoa do not have to pay the children anything. Considering this, the question, “Do we pay a fair price for our chocolate?” lingers in the air. In order to come to a conclusion I focused on three aspects of child trafficking, the condition the children work and live in, the prices and income of chocolate and cocoa, and the fact that companies lie about trafficking. Children all around Côte

Firstly, the children do not have a normal childhood, nor do they go to school. In my opinion, people in America somewhat take for granted their education while children in Africa are only working. The children will turn into adults, and their future is determined on education. When they become adults, they will eventually leave the farm. The farmers are ruining children's futures and the possibility of them having a successful job. They are also using dangerous chemicals and machinery daily. Children as young as the age of six are using sharp knives and climbing trees. Secondly, the children are not valued as human beings, they are simplifying a way of gaining profit for many cocoa farmers, and many plantations use children because they do not have to pay them. Many children

Shockingly, The chocolate industry makes a total of eighty-billion dollars a year, and over ten million cocoa farmers depend on this for income. Surprisingly, this averages out to about eight thousand dollars a year. If you think about it, eight thousand dollars in not a lot of money per year, but in Africa the value different. The average income in Ivory Coast is about 1,400 dollars, therefore the workers have enough money to pay the children, for they are making just under 6 times the amount of an average worker in Ivory Coast. The children are not paid to work, but the man owning the plantation does. In my opinion, this is extremely unfair because the owner isn't even doing any work. He sits from afar watching young children work long hours while he gains profit. In order for children to be paid, the price of chocolate would also need to be raised. The price of chocolate is not a lot of money, for the average is around 2 to 8 dollars per bar. Surprisingly, the price of fair trade chocolate is about the