ELIZA JOHNSON, of Baptist World Aid Australia, says that as we celebrate the “greatest act of love the world has ever seen” this Easter, let’s reflect that love in our choice of Easter eggs…
Just two weeks out from Easter and the rush was on.
From behind the glass window I watched as the well-oiled process unfolded on the factory floor: temper, mould, wrap; temper, mould, wrap.
Repeated, over and over.
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TAKE A STAND: Baptist World Aid Australia has joined with Stop The Traffik in asking people to consider those working in the production of Easter eggs before making purchases this Easter. “It is estimated that a staggering 1.8 million children are currently working in West Africa’s cocoa industry; 1.8 million children who are an integral part of the process of making so many of our chocolate bars, chocolate blocks, and chocolate eggs.” |
It wasn’t what I was expecting to see on a chocolate factory tour. Maybe I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one to many times as a child, but I was expecting to see something much less mechanical and a lot more magical (thanks Roald Dahl!).
After all, consider the end result! Some of the most magnificent creations I’d ever tasted. Mountains of edible Easter bunnies, hollow eggs and chocolate delights in the shape of tiny carrots.
But the more I reflected on the chocolate-making process (right from harvesting the cocoa to the “temper, mould, wrap” stage) the more I was reminded of how very un-magical it really is. And as I stood watching it unfold through that glass window I remembered: the deeper you look in the supply chain, the less magical it becomes.
All of a sudden I wasn’t looking at the factory floor anymore.
I pictured myself looking through that glass window at the farms which grow the majority of the world’s cocoa.
I saw children labouring to harvest our cocoa. They were wielding machetes almost as big as they were. And before I could look away, I saw a young boy brutally punished for attempting to escape the farm.
Around 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa comes from the West African nations of Ivory Coast and Ghana. The rising demand for cheap cocoa, driven by global chocolate companies, is forcing farmers in these nations to find ways of keeping their production costs down. Too often, this involves using cheap labour. And sadly labour doesn’t come much cheaper than children, particularly if they are slaves.
On Cocoa farms in rural parts of the Ivory Coast, children as young as eight are being trafficked to perform the hazardous work of cocoa harvesting. They are exposed to harmful pesticides, forced to carry heavy loads, and required to use machetes without the proper protective clothing. Instead of attending school, child labourers typically work for over 12 hours a day.
This is about as un-magical as it gets.
It is estimated that a staggering 1.8 million children are currently working in West Africa’s cocoa industry; 1.8 million children who are an integral part of the process of making so many of our chocolate bars, chocolate blocks, and chocolate eggs.
This is a sobering thought: that child labour may have been used in the making of our Easter eggs. It’s terrible to think that at Easter – a time when we remember God’s greatest act of love, generosity, and compassion – we’re often choosing to consume products which might have been produced by acts of exploitation and abuse.
Throughout the Scriptures God calls His people to seek justice; defend the vulnerable; speak up for the oppressed. In Isaiah 58 God actively calls His people to stop exploiting their workers and instead “loose the chains of injustice, and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke”. The exploitation of men, women, and children is something that breaks God’s heart. And should break ours.
So what does that mean for us this Easter?
Be fair: consume ethically
Thankfully, not all chocolate is tainted with child labour. More and more chocolate companies are choosing to source their cocoa from farms which are certified against the use of forced labour, child labour, and other forms of exploitation.
One way that we can reflect God’s heart for justice this Easter is by choosing to purchase from companies that engage with this certification process. When shopping for Easter eggs, look for the UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, and Fairtrade labels. They indicate the product has been monitored and found to have systems in place to ensure their workers are treated well and paid fairly.
To help the hunt for ethical eggs, Stop the Traffik Australia has put together the 2016 Good Egg Guide. This fantastic resource not only empowers and equips us to consume ethically this Easter, but also provides us with a tool for advocacy.
Be vocal: advocate
This Easter, join with us in thanking Aldi and Haigh’s for exclusively stocking ethically certified Easter products, and in calling on Woolworths and Wesfarmers to make a timetabled commitment to ensuring 100 per cent of Easter products are ethically certified by 2020.
To help you do this, Stop the Traffik (working with Baptist World Aid Australia) has designed two postcards to hand over to store managers. Both can be ordered from the Baptist World Aid website.
The chocolate-making process is far from magical. But it doesn’t have to be harmful.
Towards the end of the tour my guide explained the specific process behind the chocolate products made at the factory I was visiting, including what happens before the “temper, mould, wrap” stage: “Our chocolate is all fair trade certified…part of that means that everyone in the supply chain – from the workers on the cocoa farm to the workers in the factory – are being treated fairly.”
And the scene changed again.
I saw kids in school uniforms heading off for a day of learning while adults worked the field for a fair wage.
This Easter, as we celebrate the greatest act of love the world has ever seen, let’s seek to act in ways that reflect that love by choosing to be vocal and be fair.
Eliza Johnson is advocacy coordinator at Baptist World Aid Australia.
