The Dark Side of Chocolate

1734 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of chocolate

Chocolate. A treat that practically everyone enjoys and loves to taste. A product that brings in over 80 billion dollars a year. (BBC Chocolate: Bitter Truth) With that dollar amount to show, who doesn’t love chocolate? The reality, however, is that chocolate also has a different, darker side. The chocolate industry is causing children to work, not go to school, starve, and endure tremendous pain. “How is this happening without the chocolate companies doing anything about it?” you may ask. That is precisely the question many have today.
Approximately 70% of all cocoa in the world begins in West Africa. The Ivory Coast and Ghana are the two main producers of cocoa beans. West Africa is an excellent place to have cocoa plantations because of the heat and low rainfall that is critical for the cocoa tree to survive. These cocoa plantations often cover hundreds of miles with thick, lush trees. (BBC Chocolate: Bitter Truth) The bean, originally called ‘cocao’, is grown on a tree that ranges from 13-26 feet high. The bean pod is 4-15 inches long, and it takes 4-5 months to grow. When these pods have ripened, they are opened up and the contents inside are taken out. Inside the pod are many cocoa beans covered in pulp; a gooey substance that surrounds the beans. After removing these, they are dried in the sun for 3-9 days. The pulp is then taken off the beans, and the beans are spread out in the sun to dry completely. Continuing this procedure, the beans are bagged and sent off on a ship to the factories that turn them into delicious chocolate bars.(Dunn, Elton. Page 1)
Chocolate companies have been producing chocolate this way for decades, and planned to do so in the future. However, in 2001, evidence was shown that chocolate companies li...

... middle of paper ...

...y Footprint, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. .
Nerenberg, Jenara. "Hershey Gets a Not So Sweet Kiss for Fair Trade Month." Fast Company. 5 Oct. 2010. Mansueto Ventures. 11 Nov. 2013 .
Robbins, John. "Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?" The Huffington Post. 24 Sept. 2010. TheHuffingtonPost.com. 11 Nov. 2013 .
"Slavery In The Chocolate Industry." Food Is Power. Food Empowerment Project. 11 Nov. 2013 .
"What Is Child Labour?" International Labour Organization. 11 Nov. 2013 .
"Why Cocoa?" Raise The Bar Hershey. Green America. 11 Nov. 2013 .

Show More
Related

  • The Chocolate Sector of Côte d’Ivoire

    1989 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Who consumes the most chocolate?." The CNN Freedom Project Ending Modern Day Slavery RSS. 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • How Did Milton S. Hershey Impact The World

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    “His decision to focus on the production of the Hershey milk chocolate bar is now hailed as one of the most important decisions in the history of American business” (Milton Hershey 1). Certain aspects of Milton Hershey’s life are impossible to not take notice of. A simple chocolate bar completely changed the world of business, Milton S. Hershey impacted the world in a huge way.

    Read More

  • Fiji Water And Chocolate

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    The videos provided for this subject builds a great understanding on what happens behind the scenes and how the production cycle of chocolates turns deadly for few. The chocolate industry is being accused having legit involvement in human trafficking. The dark side of chocolate is all about big industries getting their coco from South America and Africa industries. However, it is an indirect involvement of Hersheys and all other gigantic brands in trafficking (Child Slavery and the Chocolate Factory, 2007).

    Read More

  • Essay On The Columbian Exchange

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    2nd ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2007. Print. Boynton, Sandra. Chocolate, the consuming passion.

    Read More

  • Case Study Of Claire's Chocolates

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Market research and information about the industry is very important to the organization because it will allow the organization to position itself well in terms of sourcing chocolate raw materials and in identifying the market for its products. For example, understanding that some chocolate product purchases are seasonal, e.g., at Christmas; around Mother’s Day; and, on Valentine’s Day, allows the organization to have more product on hand and to create displays, in store, that will increase purchases and attract more customers when existing customers tell their friends about the availability of high end products, at reasonable prices, in their store.

    Read More

  • City and Rural Slaves

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Food of a Slave.” Think Quest. Oracle Foundation. n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Hershey Impact

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before Milton Hershey had a world wide known chocolate business, he had a small, not so well known caramel business. Milton Hershey began his chocolate making business in 1893, when his father and him traveled to Chicago to attend a big job fair (Tarshis 14), but it wasn’t until 1900 when Hershey succeed in making the first milk chocolate candy bar (The Hershey Company). Hershey attended an exhibit hall of new and amazing inventions around the world at the fair in Chicago. As Hershey walked into the exhibit hall, he was struck by a delectable smell (Tarshis 14). “Hershey was already a leading candy maker. He had created the largest caramel factory in the country, but he became convinced that the future of his business would be chocolate. At the fair in Chicago, Hershey Bought chocolate-making equipment. He had it shipped back to his caramel factory in Pennsylvania. Then he hired two chocolate makers. Soon the company was churning out chocolate candies in more than 100 shapes” (Tarshis 15).

    Read More

  • The Columbian Exchange: Chocolate

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chocolate or cacao was first discovered by the Europeans as a New World plant, as the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In Latin, Theobroma literally means: “food of the Gods” (Bugbee, Cacao and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use). Originally found and cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America, its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water” (Grivetti; Howard-Yana, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage). It was also a beverage in Mayan tradition that served a function as a ceremonial item. The cacao plant is g...

    Read More

  • The Chemical and Psychological Effects of Chocolate

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    Semenak, Susan. "Chocolate in History." The Gazette [Montreal] 11 Feb. 2012, Final ed., Weekend Life sec.: H4. Print.

    Read More

  • The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Necklace”, narrated by Guy de Maupassant in 3rd person omniscient, focuses the story around Mathilde Loisel who is middle class, and her dreams of fame and fortune. The story is set in 19th century France. One day, Mathilde’s husband brings home an invitation to a fancy ball for Mathilde; to his surprise Mathilde throws a fit because she doesn’t have a dress or jewelry to wear to the ball. M. Loisel gets her the beautifully expensive dress she desires and Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from Mme. Forestier, a rich acquaintance of Mathilde. Mathilde goes to the ball and has a night she’s dreamed of, until she gets home from the ball at 4 A.M. to find

    Read More

  • Informative Speech: Chocolate

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fryer, Peter, and Kerstin Pinschower. "The Material Science of Chocolate." Mrs Bulletin December 2000: 1-5.

    Read More

  • Differences And Themes In The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between misplacing priorities and self-absorption Mathilde Loisel is created in the story, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Mathilde has just about everything a woman could want: remarkable beauty, a loving husband, and a comfortable lifestyle. Material riches are the only category in which she believes she is inadequate to other women. This one factor sets up the conflict present in the story. Throughout the turmoil she must endure, due to her egotistical ways, one would think she would have a change in heart and mindset. Mathilde has a dissatisfied disposition that does not evolve even as her situation does; she is disgruntled being in the middle class, as well as attending a first class event, and ultimately being in the working class.

    Read More

  • Plan for Targeting and Segmenting New Liquor Filled Chocolates

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    The market can be further divided according to gender because both men and women have different tastes (chocolate shapes, packaging, and type of liquor). It is known that women are already consuming chocolate. In fact, the numbers of women that consume chocolate far outnumber the numbers of men that consume chocolate. It follows that there is a ready market for the commodity in question. Nonetheless, the reality that introducing alcohol to make liquor-filled chocolates increases the market.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Necklace And Guy De Maupassant's The Jewel

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Furthermore, the lifestyle both women want ends up in disaster however, one ends in death while the other in hard labor. In "The Necklace", the wife ends up losing her friend’s expensive necklace which causes her to work hard to earn enough money to pay of a new one. Due to all the work she loses her beauty. In contrast, whereas in "The Jewels" the constant attendance of the opera house during the winter causes her to die of inflammation which resulted a deep sorrow towards the husband. Both wife’s lived life differently. Both tries to find the best way to fulfill their desire for the good

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Guy De Maupassant's The Necklace

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Janwillem Van De Wetering says, “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace” tells of Mrs. Mathilde Loisel’s longings for the finer things in life. Her desires are so intense she risks her husband’s affections, the friendship of an old chum, and even her mediocre lifestyle to pursue these cravings. One small decision based on an ill-placed desire causes a slow drawn out death of the spirit, body and relationships.

    Read More

More about The Dark Side of Chocolate

Open Document