Tonight The Girl and I are watching The Dark Side of Chocolate. The recommendation comes from One Hundred Dollars a Month reader, Kathryn. She wrote:
Mavis,
I enjoy your blog so very much. I notice that you often have coupons for chocolate and I would like to encourage you (in your busy life!) to take a look at Fair Trade chocolate. Here is a documentary about where our non-fair trade chocolate comes from. Thanks for taking a look (if you can, whenever you have time).
Thanks for the suggestion, Kathryn, I happen to have time today.
The documentary is FREE to watch.
Let me know what you think if you decide to watch it–or if you have already seen it. Did you love it? Hate it? Can’t wait to watch it over and over?
Looking for more movies?
Check out the full list of my Friday Night at the Movies Selections or click on over & look at all the movies on Amazon Instant Video. There are a ton of videos to choose from that will cost you absolutely nothing {nada, zilch, free-o} with Amazon Prime; like thousands of regular movies & TV shows & hundreds of documentaries {Wahoo!}. Get all the details HERE!
Peace out Girl Scouts & have yourself a great weekend,
~Mavis
Tabitha says
Whoa! I had heard about slaves being used to produce chocolate. Now, there are some faces to go with the statements. I’m still reeling that people in the chocolat industry would lie on camera that it’s not happening. Geez
Nancy D says
I am always humbled when I realize how little I know about the world and those who inhabit it. The man whose heart is broken as he sobs after telling a young girl who was nearly made a slave to go home says it all.
Aggie in Ohio says
Man’s inhumanity to man was portrayed again , undercover, as the cold hard truth is ignored by the rich and powerful. How sad to see poor children kidnapped and sold into slavery by their own people just as the slave trade of hundreds of years ago. Jesus said it would be better for a man to tie a millstone around his neck and drown rather than hurt one of the innocent children. What are we going to do about this now that we have been told? Evil occurs when good men do nothing. What can we do to help thechildren? What are we willing to do? Boycott chocolate, call or write to our government representatives,make viewing this film input schools and churches mandatory? Just how can we make a difference? But for the grace of God, we could be living in Africa and have our children be kidnapped!
Tabitha says
http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/ and fairtradeusa.org list slave free chocolate options. You could start by using those brands. Not sure what would be next except we’ve told everyone we can about child slavery and chocolate so they consider slave free chocolate options, too.
Pippa says
What can we do? Boycott non-fair trade chocolate to start. Definitely educate the children. My chocolate-loving eldest daughter learned about this in first grade (3 years ago). She has not eaten a bite of non-fair trade chocolate since. Neither has her younger siblings – she came home with quite a story that night and it left a lasting impression on them. They refuse to even pass out chocolate on Halloween. Aggie’s first sentence (Man’s inhumanity to man…) says it all. Despite all the horrors I read about, it still shocks me how cruel humans can be.
Laura says
I agree this is an important issue to discuss with children. But, 1st graders? At school? 1st graders are babies, usually still 6 years old, or even 5 (depending on when they start and state law)! I believe that is too young to put such a heavy load on their shoulders! I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for a 6 year old to be worrying about child slavery.
(Not to cause problems, and maybe this post will be removed, but how many of those who make sure to buy only fair trade chocolates, or anything, wear diamonds? I know some women who make excuses for that, trying to rationalize it, when really, that industry is causing untold, and told, suffering to children as well.)