West African cocoa farmers supply 75% of America’s cocoa, but have never tasted one of its sweetest byproducts, chocolate, in their lives. They can’t afford it. Most West African cocoa farmers live in primitive conditions and abject poverty - mud huts with grass roofing, dirt floors, no plumbing or electricity, no access to anti-malarial drugs or modern healthcare facilities. Even the $10 rubber boots that would protect them from stinging ants or dangerous snakes in the cocoa fields is beyond most workers' reach. Many of the village children work in the cocoa fields and their parents cannot afford to send them to school, and in some cocoa-producing areas, children work as slaves, beaten and kept locked up at night.
"The gross disparity between the suffering of the West African cocoa farmers, their children, and the current chocolate trading practices should give consumers pause for reflection,” says Tom Neuhaus, founder of Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, Inc., one of a handful of certified Organic and Fair Trade chocolate companies in the US. The company's motto is Do No Harm to the earth or the farmers that supply their product & they offer a 100% guarantee that no unfair treatment of labor or harmful chemicals was used in the production of
the cacao used in Sweet Earth chocolate. A portion of Sweet Earth Chocolate Bar sales is donated to Project Hope and Fairness, which Neuhaus founded to assist West African cocoa farmers and advocate for Fair Trade practices in cocoa producing nations. “We need to fight indifference and ignorance and get people on board with conscientious purchasing. Project Hope and Fairness raises awareness of the disparities and advocates for Fair Trade practices.”
To help further raise awareness, Neuhaus - a food science professor at
Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California - is organzing a trip from August 8-25, 2007 for 10 unique, adventurous travelers. The group will visit five cocoa farming villages in both
Ghana and Ivory Coast, learning about cocoa farming & the history of chocolate, Fair Trade, and helping to better the lives of the impoverished farmers. In past years, proceeds donated from the sale of Sweet Earth chocolate bars and Project Hope and Fairness have helped replace rusted or broken tools, provided farmers with rubber boots to protect their feet from the elements & snakes, and the purchase of new scales that put the villagers in a position of power over middlemen who supply scales that often cheat on weight of product and thus payment to the farmers. This year, each trip member is being asked to contribute $1000 to support the building of water closets (toilets); many villagers currently use the side of the road at night or the forest during the day, always wary of encounters with snakes or ants. Neuhaus has already kick-started the process by donating $1700 for the sister villages of Depa and Zereguhe where the water closets are now under construction. Plans are underway for water closets in the villages of Pezoan, Broguhe and Batteguedea.
.- The Travel Snob
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