Global Voices Information Sheet

Chocolates bitter truth: fair trade and the cocoa supply chain

A farmer holds a basket of cocoa pods

Background Info Each year, consumers around the world spend more than $7 billion on chocolate, and eat about 3.5 kilograms per person. Chocolates main ingredient is cocoa, which grows on trees in hot, rainy environments near the equator. The largest cocoa producing countries are Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Typically, cocoa is grown on small family farms where income is very low. Since cocoa grows in poor countries, poverty and other conflicts like civil war worsen the problem of child labour because the cycle of poverty continues. Farmers employ children for cheap labour, or do not pay them any wages at all. Between 2007 and 2008 its estimated that 819,921 children were working on cocoa production in the Ivory Coast alone. By the time chocolate gets to the store, it has moved through a long and complex supply chain of farmers, traders, exporters, manufacturers and distributors. Chocolate companies, like Hershey, often dont purchase cocoa directly from farmers, and so tracing the cocoa back to its source is difficult. Fairtrade certification allows consumers to make ethical choices because they can buy chocolate with Fairtrade labels and know that child labour was not used.

Key terms Child labourwork that is done by children under the age of 15 (14 in some developing countries) which restricts or damages a child's physical, emotional, intellectual, social and/or spiritual growth. INTERPOLthe international police organization, an association of national police forces that investigate international crimes. Fairtradean official, international certification system that ensures farmers are paid fair wages, child labour is not used in production and certain environmental standards are met. Chocolate companies using Fairtrade cocoa have Fairtrade symbols on their chocolate bars. Fair Traderefers to the broader concept of fairness in the market place, or to other certification systems, including UTZ Certified, Rainforest Alliance and Certified Organic. Consumer demandpatterns of buying behavior that can affect decision-making in large companies.

Global Voices Secondary Educator Resources

Note to Educators:
The following activities are designed to stimulate a current events discussion. Generative in nature, these questions can be a launching point for additional assignments or research projects. Teachers are encouraged to adapt these activities to meet the contextual needs of their classroom. In some cases, reading the article with students may be appropriate, coupled with reviewing the information sheet to further explore the concepts and contexts being discussed. From here, teachers can select from the questions provided below. Activities are structured to introduce students to the issues, then allow them to explore and apply their learnings. Extension and conclusion activities are included to challenge students and finally, encourage them to reflect on the issues at hand. Since these activities are designed as discussions rather than formal lessons, assessment strategies are not included.

Themes and Course Connections

Themes: child labour, fair trade, and consumerism. Course Connections: Business Studies, Canadian and World Studies, English, Sciences and Humanities, and Technological Education.

Materials
Chart paper or blackboard Computers and internet Global Voices column

Specific Expectations and Learning Goals

Students will: Develop and express responses to issues and problems. Reassess their responses to issues on the basis of new information. Participate in active group work and class discussions. Communicate effectively in written and spoken language or other forms of expression. Demonstrate the ability to think critically. Develop, express, and defend a position on an issue and explain how to put the ideas into action.

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Fair Trade (estimated time: 30 minutes) a. Ask students to describe chocolate. Write all descriptive words on the board b. Watch the following video on the chocolate industry and child labour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y882AajKo1s c. After watching the video, ask children to describe chocolate again. Write descriptive words on the board. d. Explain to students that there are ways that they can be sure they are not purchasing chocolate at the cost of the health and safety of children overseas in places like the Ivory Coast and Ghana. e. Watch the following video to learn about fair trade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhQJrz-aDfI&feature=related 1 of 3

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After students have finished viewing the video, ask them the following suggested questions: i. What is fair trade? ii. Who does fair trade benefit? iii. What steps have to be taken to ensure that something is fair trade? iv. What can we do as consumers to support this fair trade initiative? g. Tell students that these are the issues they will be discussing today in this Global Voices lesson.

Thinking
1. Reading Comprehension: Global Voices Column (estimated time: 15 minutes) a. Pre reading steps: i. Introduce the topic and encourage students to discuss what they already know about the topic, making predictions around what the column is about. b. Reading steps: i. Read: students must read the text independently, highlighting important points throughout the column. ii. Ask: students must ask themselves what the story is about, recording five questions they are unsure of after reading the column. iii. Paraphrase: students must write point form notes in their own words around what the column is about. c. Post reading discussion: i. What are the main points of the column? ii. What emotions did this column evoke in you? iii. What problem is identified in the column? iv. What questions do you have about the column? 2. Media Literacy (estimated time: 10 minutes) a. Ask students to answer the following five key questions of Media Literacy: i. Who created this message? ii. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? iii. How might people understand this message differently? iv. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? v. Why is this message being sent?

Communication
1. Conscious Consumerism (estimated time: 45 minutes) a. In the Global Voices column it states that, the average chocolate-lover holds the power to increase consumer demand for Fair Trade. Ask students to explain what this statement means. b. Explain to students that Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance and Utz are all systems that verify whether cocoa and other ingredients meet certain ethical and environmental standards. c. Divide the class into three groups. d. Assign each group to one of the following systems: i. Fair Trade - http://www.fairtrade.net/ ii. Rainforest Alliance - http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/ iii. Utz - http://www.utzsnacks.com/ e. Ask groups to research their topic and organize the information they have collected into a two minute presentation to present to the class, answering the following questions: i. Is their organization a governmental initiative, or a private initiative?

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ii. What system has their organization put in place to evaluate whether a product meets ethical and environmental standards? iii. What specific ethical and environmental standards does a product have to meet in order to be granted the fair trade status? iv. How long does it take to evaluate a product? f. When groups have completed their work, bring the class back together and allow each group to present. g. Hold a discussion around students findings and fair trade, comparing the three systems to find out whether there are any similarities or differences in the way their operate.

Application
1. Fair Trade in my Community (estimated time: continuous project) a. Tell students that they are going to perform a fair trade investigation as a class. b. Explain to students that they have two days to explore their community (grocery stores, shops, coffee shops, etc.) to find as many places as they can that offer fair trade products. As they find these products students must record the name of the products along with where they found them. c. When the investigation is complete, the class will have a list of fair trade products that they can purchase in their neighbourhood.

Additional Resources
In addition to the above lesson plans, you may want to share some additional resources with your students. Listed below are some links to useful online resources: Me to We www.metowe.com/our-story/ Global Exchange - http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/smoresproject.html Fair Trade - http://www.fairtrade.net/ Rainforest Alliance - http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/ Utz - http://www.utzsnacks.com/

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