Tell Hershey to Stop Child Labor on the Editorial Pages

by Tim Newman · 2011-09-14 07:52:00 UTC
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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.

Monday, September 19 marks the ten year anniversary of an agreement Hershey signed to eliminate child and forced labor in its cocoa. However, hundreds of thousands of children in West Africa continue to work in hazardous conditions harvesting cocoa. As one of the largest chocolate companies in the US, it is unacceptable that the company has not instituted supply chain programs to certify that workers are not exploited in the production of popular treats like Reese's, Kit Kats and chocolate Kisses.

Over the past year, thousands of concerned consumers have signed the Change.org petition, collected letters in their communities, hosting screenings of The Dark Side of Chocolate, called Hershey headquarters, created their own Valentines to the company's CEO and more. Now it's time to take the message to your communities. As Halloween approaches, chocolate companies are watching chocolate purchases closely. It is a great time to send a letter to the editor of your local community asking your neighbors to join you in calling on Hershey to "raise the bar" for cocoa growing communities.

The International Labor Rights Forum has an easy online system for submitting letters to the editor of your local paper. Send yours now before the anniversary of Hershey's commitment to end child labor arrives.

Photo credit: Nestle

Tim Newman is a campaigns assistant at the International Labor Rights Forum. He also works on the Stop Firestone campaign.

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