Chocolate Justice Resources
Film:
“Terry Collingsworth has dedicated his life to the elimination of child slavery. If he wins the case against Nestle and the children receive damages, it will have massive consequences for the entire chocolate industry as well as other parts of the food industry in which children are made to work without pay or access to education” (from the film’s Amazon page).
“The Chocolate Case follows the incredible journey of three Dutch journalists, who tried to persuade large corporations to end the use of child labor in the chocolate industry, but when rebuffed, decide to take matters into their own hands by creating the world’s first slave-free chocolate bar. Their epic 10-year journey, resulting in the creation of Tony’s Chocolonely, now one of Holland’s leading brands, is beautifully pieced together using archive footage, combined with new material, resulting in an up-tempo, funny, sometimes moving, but overall inspiring film” (from the film’s DCEFF page).
“In 2001, the lucrative chocolate industry, due to pressure from NGOs, committed itself to putting an end to child labor in cacao plantations before 2006. 18 years later, has that promise been kept? Why are there still child slaves, working in plantations, their incomes often seized by traffickers?” (from the film’s Amazon page).
Book:
Bitter Chocolate: Anatomy of an Industry, by Carol Off
“This shocking expose of the corruption and exploitation at the heart of the multibillion-dollar cocoa industry is ‘an astounding eye-opener that takes no prisoners” (Quill & Quire, starred review)
“Bitter Chocolate is less a book about chocolate than it is a study of racism, imperialism and oppression as told through the lens of a single commodity.” –The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Organization:
Check out the cocoa page of the organization Mighty Earth for reports and action items on chocolate as an environmental and human rights issue.
In the comments section below, feel free to share reactions to these resources, and/or add your own suggestions for resources that spread awareness about chocolate as a social justice issue. Thanks!
