February 18, 2010 Business Wire
	Ben & Jerry’s Goes Globally Nuts for Fair Trade -- Ben & Jerry’s announces its commitment to go fully Fair Trade across its entire global flavor portfolio. From Cherry Garcia to Chocolate Fudge Brownie, all of the flavors in all of the countries where Ben & Jerry’s is sold will be converted to Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients by the end of 2013.
February 08, 2010 Minute Man Media
	Bitter Chocolate -- The sweets you buy your sweetheart this Valentine's Day could be tainted with child slavery. But there’s a way to give the perfect Valentine’s Day chocolates without perpetuating child abuse. The solution lies in fair-trade certification.
August 03, 2009 INTERPOL
	Scores of children rescued from organized slave labour in INTERPOL-led operation conducted by Côte d'Ivoire police -- INTERPOL's first ever police operation targeting child trafficking in West Africa has resulted in the rescue of more than 50 child workers and the arrest of eight people in connection with the illegal recruitment of children.
June 27, 2008 CommonDreams.org
	Tainted Love? -- Even though the chocolate industry committed to ending the worst forms of child labor in cocoa production by today — July 1, 2008 — the slave-free label is still missing from lots of chocolate boxes…and chocolate bars and ice cream and syrup and other products made with cocoa.
June 10, 2008 The Guardian
	Small Is Bountiful -- Peasant farmers offer the best chance of feeding the world. So why do we treat them with such contempt?
May 27, 2008 OneWorld U.S.
	Fair Trade: Spreading the Wealth -- Before the advent of the Fair Trade system some 60 years ago, an average farmer in Ecuador could expect to receive only a few cents per pound for his crops -- barely enough to sustain himself, his family, and his farm.
February 08, 2008 petergreenberg.com
	The Sweetest Chocolate Tours: Good for the Body and Soul -- Through Global Exchange, you can participate in their National Valentine’s Day of Action by contacting at least five teachers in hopes of generating more awareness about Fair Trade initiatives among our nation’s youth.
April 02, 2006 The Patriot-News
	'Transparency' sought about cocoa suppliers -- The Hershey Trust Co., a nonprofit dedicated to housing and educating disadvantaged children, will be asked this month to act on a proposal that proponents think can help protect vulnerable children working on cocoa farms. The trust company is being put in that position because it has a controlling interest in The Hershey Co. A human-rights group wants The Hershey Co. to issue a public report on its African cocoa suppliers.
November 02, 2005 E Magazine
	Chocolate’s Dark Side -- What do coffee and chocolate have in common besides caffeine, some reputed health benefits and a desirable flavor? They are both popular in developed countries but grown largely in the developing world.
October 31, 2005 Brown Daily Herald
	My Fair Chocolate -- Trevor Stutz '07, Jenn Baumstein '08 and Hope Turner '08 indulge in fair trade chocolate products Sunday night in the Hourglass Café as part of an Oxfam effort to raise campus awareness about fair trade. In return for free chocolate, the organization asked students to sign a petition asking Nestle to use chocolate produced under fair trade conditions.
October 31, 2005 Dissident Voice
	Chocolate, Unchained -- In the new film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka -- played by a sleek Johnny Depp -- is a factory boss in search of exotic sweets, able to pluck plants or animals from other lands at whim... A skim of on-line film reviews indicates little interest, let alone dismay, in the message that living “exotics” -- including humans -- are mere corporate resources. Likewise, few people notice that today's wealthiest chocolatiers rely on slavery to keep them in the lifestyle to which they're accustomed.
October 28, 2005 WireTap
	The Dark Side of Chocolate -- This Halloween, know where your chocolate comes from. Here's your guide to ensuring that your treats weren't produced by enslaved children.
October 24, 2005 Atlanta Journal Constitution
	Taste for chocolate is gone -- I love chocolate as much as anyone. In moderation, chocolate is good for your body and soul. But I have a nightmare that this Halloween one of my daughters is going to pull a piece of chocolate out of her candy bag and ask, "Daddy, is it true that child slaves made this chocolate?"
July 20, 2005 Glendale News Press
	Labor group sues Nestle -- Nestlé U.S.A. is one of three cocoa industry companies being sued by labor rights groups on behalf of former child laborers, who allege that the companies knowingly abetted in the torture and forced labor of children as young as 14.
July 20, 2005 The Villager
	The dark story behind ‘Wonka;’ child labor and the cocoa industry -- On Fri., July 15, the remake of “Willie Wonka” opened in theaters around town. “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory” was the perfect opportunity for East Village activist Ilene Richman to call attention to the plight of child labor.
July 16, 2005 Reuters
	U.S. companies sued in Calif. over child labor claims -- A human rights group has sued three U.S. companies in federal court in Los Angeles to force them to step up efforts to end child labor on African farms that supply cocoa beans used to make chocolate products.
July 16, 2005 Reuters
	U.S. companies sued in Calif. over child labor claims -- A human rights group has sued three U.S. companies in federal court in Los Angeles to force them to step up efforts to end child labor on African farms that supply cocoa beans used to make chocolate products.
July 14, 2005 International Labor Rights Fund
	HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHDOG SUES NESTLE, ADM, CARGILL FOR USING FORCED CHILD LABOR -- A leading human rights organization sued the Nestle, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill companies today in Federal District Court in Los Angeles for involvement in the trafficking, torture, and forced labor of children who cultivate and harvest cocoa beans which the companies import from Africa. The suit was brought under two federal statutes, the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act
July 04, 2005 Voice of America
	Ivory Coast's Child Workers Suffer Despite US Legislation -- In 2001, two American congressmen set up legislation pushing for a cocoa certification program designed to protect the thousands of children working in the sector. Four-years later, little has changed for the working children of Ivory Coast. Joe Bavier visited a plantation near Agboville in southeast Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa exporter and has this report for VOA.
June 30, 2005 Op-Ed News
	Did Child Slaves Harvest Your Latest Chocolate Treat? -- Slavery has a long history in Africa, but tragically, it also has a present. Five years ago, the BBC documented child slavery on Cote d’Ivoire cocoa farms, causing a public relations nightmare for the chocolate industry. Cote d’Ivoire farms produce nearly half the world’s cocoa, most of which is used by major corporations like Hershey, M&M/Mars, and Nestle.
February 14, 2005 LA Times
	Taking Child Slavery Out of Valentine's Day -- On Valentine's Day, there will be no chocolate gifts for young Aly Diabate. "I don't know what chocolate is," said Aly, who was forced into slavery at age 11 to harvest cocoa beans in Ivory Coast. Aly's ignorance of chocolate is forgivable. Like tens of thousands of other child slaves on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast, he subsists on a diet of corn paste and bananas.
June 08, 2004 Chicago Tribune
	Youths taste protest at candy trade show -- A rally, organized by Global Exchange, recently took place in Chicago to alert M&M/Mars about the conditions of child labor on West African cocoa plantations. Global Exchange's campaign for Fair Trade chocolate is attempting to build on the group's success in convincing Starbucks to sell Fair Trade coffee. Jason Mark of Global Exchange predicts that chocolate companies will eventually come around and start selling Fair Trade certified products as well.
May 12, 2004 Patriot News
	Boycott of Hershey Foods to continue, ministers say -- After a yearlong boycott of Hershey Foods Corp., representatives of a local black ministers' group and several national civil rights organizations met yesterday with Richard H. Lenny, Hershey's chairman and CEO. [Their] agenda includes increasing minority hiring and contracting practices at Harrisburg International Airport and Hershey Foods and opposition to the Harrisburg incinerator and West African child slavery in the cocoa trade, according to the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable. Fauntroy, who attended the meeting and was scheduled to speak at a community rally last night at St. Paul Baptist Church in Harrisburg, said the boycott will continue until the issues are resolved.
April 07, 2004 The Toronto Star
	Conscientious chocolate -- As Canadian kids hunt for chocolate Easter eggs this weekend, West African children will spray pesticides and wield machetes to harvest cocoa beans used to produce chocolate for the world.
March 29, 2004 The Journal News
	Students organize candy boycott over child slavery issue -- Fourth-graders at Mamaroneck Avenue School are doing their part to fight against child slavery in West Africa in the republic of the Ivory Coast. Led by teachers Lisa Goldstein and Brett Sussman, the students are spearheading a boycott against chocolate manufactured by Mars Inc., which has been producing chocolate candy since the early 1900s. "Apparently, chocolate companies have been purchasing cocoa beans from distributors that purchase it from farmers at low cost. As a result, many farmers use enslaved children to pick the beans," said Sussman, a fourth-grade teacher. According to its Web site, Global Exchange, an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting political, social and environmental justice globally since 1988, said cocoa farms are home to widespread child labor and even child slavery, especially in West Africa. The organization is telling Mars officials to start selling fair trade certified chocolate.
February 13, 2004 Democracy Now
	The Dark Side of Valentine's Day -- Well Saturday is Valentines Day - one of the busiest days for sale of roses and chocolate. This year Global Exchange is working to raise awareness about part of the dark side of Valentines Day - the state of the world's cocoa producers who make chocolate. According to Global Exchange cocoa farms are home to widespread child labor and even child slavery especially in West Africa. Global Exchange is calling on the world's biggest chocolate company M&M/Mars to start selling fair trade certified chocolate. Interview with Melissa Schweisguth, Global Exchange Fair Trade coordinator Listen here
February 13, 2004 OneWorld US
	Activists Target Chocolate, Gold on Valentine's Day -- WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 13 (OneWorld) -- Global justice advocates are urging U.S.-based companies that profit from chocolate and gold sales on Valentine's Day to do more to help the people and the environment where the key ingredients for their goods are originally produced. A coalition of human rights and development groups, led by California-based Global Exchange, is [visiting] the company's headquarters near Washington, D.C. to ask them to start selling Fair Trade-certified chocolate--so that West African cocoa farmers won't need to use abusive child labor to make an adequate living. "We are representing the voices M&M/Mars has ignored for too long, and demand a concrete plan for immediately purchasing Fair Trade Certified cocoa." In the face of consumer pressure and the threat of Congressional action, North American and European manufacturers agreed to launch the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) to address the problem of child labor by working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local governments on programs to monitor and enforce international bans on child and forced labor in West Africa. While the move was hailed as a major breakthrough by the International Labor Organization and several NGOs, the coalition led by Global Exchange concluded that the ICI does not go far enough. They are convinced that the key to tackling the child labor in West African cocoa fields lies as much, or more, with ensuring that farmers are paid a fair price for their cocoa. The answer, in their view, lies with persuading the big companies to buy Fair Trade cocoa.
February 11, 2004 New York State United Teacher
	Some not-so-sweets for your sweet -- For Valentine's Day, M&Ms/Mars makes a really cute pink cane filled with, naturally, M&Ms. Kids love them, although the candy might not taste so sweet if we thought about where the chocolate came from. While American children are gobbling up green and yellow and red and blue M&Ms, hundreds of thousands of African children are being forced by economic hardship to pick the cocoa leaves to make the chocolate that goes inside. Even worse, more than 12,000 of those children are actual slaves, separated from their families, denied basic human rights and needs, and destined to live lives devoid of any freedom. The international human rights organization Global Exchange is urging consumers to urge companies like Mars, Inc., to sell only Fair Trade chocolate, which ensures farmers receive a fair price for their cocoa and removes the economic incentive to force children to work. Commercials for M&Ms say it's the candy that "melts in your mouth, not in your hand." This year, we should all be pushing Mars, Inc., to melt their hearts a little and stop relying on child labor for their cocoa. On Valentine's Day, remember to only buy Fair Trade chocolate. It'll taste a lot sweeter.
February 10, 2004 New York Newsday
	Chocolate, a Love That's Bittersweet -- cocoa used in roughly a quarter of what is sold under the Dagoba label, headquartered in Central Point, Ore., is bought from international cooperatives that do not profit from forced child labor and, as proof, bear a trademark from the nonprofit TransFair USA. Today, 70 percent of cocoa secured for making chocolate comes from areas of West Africa where trafficking of child slaves has been documented by, among others, the U.S. government. Among those exploited children are ones toiling in the cocoa fields. There are few chocolatiers who are picky about the sort of chocolate they sell, few who are as focused on the politics of chocolate as on the flavor. Into that small pool, TransFair also has certified an upstate company, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, as the first in the United States where 100 percent of product is "fair trade" chocolate - which also means a farmer gets a fairer price than if the farmer's cocoa were being processed for use in an uncertified company's chocolates. "One aspect of this, of course, is the idea of tasting something yummy and smooth and delicious. And when you chew fair trade, that psychological effect is heightened by the idea of knowing that you may be allowing a cocoa farmer's family a better life," said Erika Fowler-Decatur, an art historian and owner of the Ithaca firm, which launched in November 2002. Her company's Art Bars are made by a Swiss chocolatier and sold with cards bearing reproductions of fine art.
February 06, 2004 Organic Products Retailer Magazine
	Sweet Sales: Candy is dandy but the category requires forethought -- Before enjoying the sweet success of candy sales, retailers have a lot of planning to do, since organic candy straddles the grocery side and the bulk merchandise side. In addition, the type of organic candy sold, especially organic chocolate, which accounts for the majority of organic candy items, will warrant a little chin rubbing. As with coffee and tea comes the added choice for organic candy makers to offer organic and Fair Trade certified cocoa, the only three commodities that can presently be certified Fair Trade. The consumer decision to buy organic/Fair Trade certified chocolate or organic chocolate sourced by Fair Trade measures is a thought-provoking question for retailers when deciding what to stock. The consumer choice is likened to buying conflict diamonds-they're just as beautiful as any other diamond, but is the price of social responsibility too high? "I think it's just that serious," said Lindsey Browning, deli manager, Whole Earth Center, Princeton, NJ, on carrying Fair Trade chocolate. "I think sometimes people are looking to get a better deal in business more so than worry about how the farmers are treated." According to TransFair USA's director of marketing and communications, Haven Bourque, the 15-year-old logo is "a [consumer] guarantee backed by a double-blind audit trail," of the Fair Trade standards. Standards are reflected by the Fair Trade logo found on the front of the product label. What separates one company from another is the certification logo. TransFair's Bourque questioned the absence of a certifying logo. "The crux of the matter is do we always trust businesses to monitor themselves? We can look at organics and see that people trust the organic certification label because it's an independent third party evaluation." "Consumers recognize the logo so we decided to use it. This way consumers can rest assured that we actually paid what we said we paid," said Frederick Schilling, founding alchemist, Dagoba. "We are working toward 100 percent integration, but it will take time to get our other cooperatives into the FLO registry." Schilling said the marketing partnership developed with TransFair also makes logo use attractive. "When we get calls from a retailer about Fair Trade we sit down and explain the concept. However, TransFair's marketing materials do a great job at educating retailers about the benefits," said Schilling.