NEWSFAIR TRADE

More than 17,000 people have joined an explosive campaign on Change.org calling on Starbucks to sell at least one brewed fair trade coffee option in each U.S. store every day, and to make that commitment during October, which is National Fair Trade Month.

Greenblatt, a former Starbucks barista and coffee enthusiast, launched the online petition campaign on Change.org after learning that European Starbucks stores offer 100% fair trade-certified coffee and espresso to customers.

“When I worked as a barista for Starbucks, I admired the company’s commitment to treat employees and customers with fairness and respect,” said Greenblatt, who worked at a Starbucks store in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006 and 2007. “It’s time for Starbucks to expand that commitment to the farmers who grow Starbucks coffee by offering at least one daily brewed fair trade coffee option in their U.S. stores.”

News of the campaign’s success is likely to increase pressure on Starbucks. In just a few days, thousands of people have joined the campaign, and Greenblatt says he hopes the thousands of signatures from Starbucks customers in the U.S. will prove to the company that Americans want the fair trade-certified choices European customers have.

“Sam has done an impressive job organizing thousands of supporters around an issue he cares deeply about,” said Amanda Kloer, Director of Organizing for Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. “As a former Starbucks barista, he’s in a unique position to call for change within the company. Change.org is about empowering people to fight for the issues that matter to them, and it’s been incredible watching Sam’s campaign take off.”

More than 40,000 consumers have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on Hershey to commit to buying cocoa produced without child labor, forced labor, or trafficked labor in time for Halloween.

Raise the Bar, Hershey!, a coalition of organizations fighting ongoing labor abuses such as child slavery and child labor in the cocoa industry, is leading the campaign on Change.org following what they say is Hershey’s continued refusal to commit to purchasing Fair Trade cocoa for its chocolate candies.

“A decade ago, Hershey signed an agreement to help fight child slavery and other abuses in the cocoa industry,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, a member of the Raise the Bar, Hershey! coalition. “Yet it has done far less than other chocolate companies to address these abuses. This Halloween, thousands of consumers are telling Hershey they’re fed up with cocoa tainted by the abuse of children.”

News of the online petition campaign’s success is likely to increase pressure on Hershey. In addition to the petition, Raise the Bar, Hershey! is planning a call-in day, a Fair Trade Halloween costume contest, and rallies at Hershey stores in New York, Chicago, and Niagara Falls. The coalition has also produced a mock-commercial in an attempt to reveal the labor exploitation behind the Hershey chocolate many trick-or-treaters will receive this Halloween.

“What the consumers and activists of Raise the Bar, Hershey! have accomplished is remarkable,” said Amanda Kloer, Director of Organizing for Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. “With limited resources but strategic planning and execution, they’ve recruited more than 30,000 supporters, developed a hard-hitting video, and launched a social media campaign. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been incredible to watch this timely campaign take off.”

The petition campaign has been covered by major news outlets across the country, including CNN, New York Daily News, and PC World. Raise the Bar, Hershey! says they are hoping to get a response from the company before Halloween.

Photo credit: Jelene

This week, Mars (the chocolate company behind popular favorites like M&M's) announced a major new commitment to support Fairtrade certified cocoa. Mars said that it would certify its Maltesers chocolate candy as Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland in 2012. While it may just be one product for now, Mars and Fairtrade International note that Maltesers are "the third biggest confectionery brand in the UK, and its switch will  represent more than a 10% increase in total UK Fairtrade sales," and most importantly, the commitment will lead to an excess of $1 million in additional funds as part of the Fairtrade Premium to cocoa farmers to invest in their communities. The announcement from Mars puts Hershey even further out of the mainstream by failing to commit to responsibly source its cocoa.

In 2009, Mars stepped forward as a leader among major chocolate companies in committing to certified cocoa when it announced that it would certify its entire cocoa supply as sustainably produced by 2020. This new announcement shows Mars' specific support for Fairtrade certification. Additionally, the company noted that it plans to "explore how best to scale up its purchases of Fairtrade cocoa, and will support Fairtrade’s continued efforts to develop measures that would allow more confectionery companies to increase their commitments to purchase more Fairtrade cocoa with the aim of impacting the lives of more cocoa farmers than ever before."

Amid growing scrutiny of Hershey's labor rights abuses, from its cocoa beans to its packing facility in Pennsylvania, the company has hired additional lobbyists to deflect attention from its exploitation of workers. Hershey recently hired the services of Bank Rome Government Relations to advocate for the company on "government affairs issues related to labor practices." Unfortunately for Hershey, no amount of money thrown to lobbyists will end its connection the abuse of student guestworkers or child, forced and trafficked labor in its cocoa supply chain -- only changing its policies will solve these problems.

Last month, it was revealed that student guestworkers who came to the US on J-1 visas found themselves working long hours in poor conditions for paltry wages in a Hershey packing facility in Pennsylvania. The students staged a walk out, organized massive protests in Hershey and took their message across the country, even receiving support from labor rights advocates around the world. Almost 70,000 Change.org readers have joined the campaign calling for justice for guestworkers and for living wage jobs for Pennsylvania residents. Meanwhile, Hershey has hidden behind multiple layers of subcontractors and remained silent about its connection to the exploitation of these students.

On Milton Hershey's birthday, the Raise the Bar Campaign released a new report analyzing how the company he founded has lagged behind in addressing child labor, forced labor and trafficking in the production of its primary ingredient. While Hershey is known for supporting children in communities in the US, the company has not done as much as other major chocolate companies to ensure that its cocoa is not tainted by egregious labor rights abuses.

A year after the release of the Raise the Bar Campaign's first report analyzing Hershey's cocoa purchasing policies, they have found that Hershey still does not measure up to other companies in using cocoa that has been certified to comply with international labor rights standards. Hershey has funded various programs in the world's largest cocoa growing region, West Africa, but it has not instituted policies to trace its cocoa and ensure that the cocoa it uses is not linked to the exploitation of cocoa.

It's National S'mores Day! Yes, you are forgiven if you haven't been counting down to this obscure holiday for months. Clearly, this manufactured holiday mainly exists to drive consumers to the candy aisle, but it's still a great time to celebrate this favorite summer treat. Wouldn't your s'mores taste better if they were made using chocolate that didn't exploit children and workers who harvest cocoa? You can take action in just a few minutes to tell Hershey that you want more from your s'mores.

Earlier in the summer, Hershey launched a s'mores photo contest on its Facebook page that will culminate today. However, as we reported last month, the company censored contest submissions that asked Hershey to stop child labor, forced labor and trafficking in its chocolate s'mores. While Hershey committed to ending these abuses in its chocolate ten years ago, the company is lagging behind its competitors in using cocoa that has been independently certified to comply with international labor rights standards. That is why the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign has been organizing a summer action called "We Want More from our S'mores" throughout the summer to call on Hershey to "raise the bar" for responsible cocoa sourcing.

Next time you are at your local supermarket it's time to call for a clean up in the candy aisle. It has been almost a decade since major chocolate companies like Hershey committed to ending child labor, forced labor and trafficking in their cocoa supply chains, and yet these abuses continue on West African cocoa farms today. This summer, consumers across the country are standing up and informing their fellow shoppers about Hershey's tainted chocolate. Here's how you can join them.

As part of the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign's summer action, "We Want More from our S'mores," concerned consumers across the country are placing "consumer alert" flyers in s'mores displays featuring Hershey chocolate. S'mores are Hershey's major public relations push during the summer and many supermarkets have displays that feature Hershey chocolate along with graham crackers and marshmallows. While s'mores are supposed to represent fun and freedom, when our summer treats are tainted by abusive working conditions, they become much more bitter. The new supermarket action is the newest way for consumers to ask Hershey to "raise the bar" for responsible cocoa sourcing by shifting to Fair Trade Certified cocoa.

For much of last week, fans of the restaurant chain Cosi took over the company's Facebook page asking for Fair Trade chocolate from the restaurant they love. With child labor, forced labor and trafficking continuing to be widespread in West Africa's cocoa sector, consumers want Cosi to use Fair Trade Certified cocoa for its popular tableside s'more treats. While Cosi is incredibly responsive to customer comments about various menu items and their dining experiences, the company has remained silent about its efforts to stop severe exploitation in its chocolate.

Last week, we called on Cosi fans to tell the company that "life should be delicious" for cocoa farmers who currently live in poverty. So many people joined in that Fair Trade supporters completely flooded Cosi's Facebook wall. A common theme in all the posts was that while customers love many Cosi products, they want to know that their favorite lunch spot is doing the right thing to

Cosi, a sandwich and salad-centric restaurant chain, serves a special summer treat: a table-sized s'mores kit that includes a bar of Hershey's chocolate. But the rampant abuse in the cocoa industry has ethical chocolate activists writing on the restaurant's Facebook wall today, asking them to switch to a Fair Trade certified chocolate brand. You can join them in asking Cosi for ethical s'mores.

Cocoa farmers typically live in poverty, and, as a result, instances of forced labor, human trafficking and the worst forms of child labor are found too often on cocoa farms in West Africa. Major chocolate companies committed to end these abuses in their supply chains almost ten years ago, but the exploitation continues. And of the major chocolate companies, Hershey has lagged far behind in fighting these abuses.  Now, after four and a half years of independent research on West African cocoa farms, a research team from Tulane University has published a report recommending that companies commit to using certified cocoa for chocolate products, particularly for the U.S. market, as a way to address labor rights abuses in their supply chains.

Cosi's motto is "Life Should be Delicious." If you believe that life should be delicious for the farmers and workers who labor to make our chocolate treats, as well as the children of Africa, take action on Facebook. Here's how: