Send Sec. Vilsack a Valentine for the Children of West Africa
For 3.6 million children in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, Valentine's Day will be just another desolate day of harvesting cocoa under inexcusable conditions. Over half of the world's supply of cocoa comes from these two West African countries, at the cost of children's futures. Nearly a quarter of the working children in Côte d'Ivoire have never been to school, 58% of children in the cocoa producing region work in cocoa production. Children must climb trees with machetes to cut down cocoa pods; they handle and apply dangerous pesticides; they burn brush; and they carry back-breaking loads. The American Federation of Teachers is organizing a Valentine's Day of Action to stop the importation of child-harvested cocoa beans or chocolate made from them.
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
For many American children, chocolate is a delightful treat that adds to the joy of Valentine's Day. But for children in West Africa, Valentine's Day chocolate is not a heart-shaped message of love and affection - it is just more hazardous labor under heart-breaking conditions. On February 14, think of the children of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, who perform dangerous and painful tasks for hours a day to harvest cocoa.
Because U.S. chocolate manufacturers have largely outsourced control over their supply chains, it is up to agencies of the U.S. government like the Department of Agriculture to help end the dire practice of child labor. The Department of Labor has already put cocoa from Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire on the list of goods produced with child or forced labor. It is time for the Department of Agriculture's Consultative Group to issue guidelines that would reduce the worst forms of child labor in cocoa and other products imported into the United States.
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Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
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