The Harry Potter Alliance

By Lisa

February 12, 2009

Conscious Consuming in Tough Times

Hey there all you crazy social activists, dreamers and HP fans! My name is Lisa Valdez and I’d like to tell you a bit about a project I’m going to be starting with the HPA. I’m a 21 (22 on Thursday, woohoo!) year old girl from Rhode Island, long time HP fan and, more recently, social activist. I currently live in Boston and I’m a worker-owner of a Fair Trade coffee, tea, and cocoa cooperative just south of the city called Equal Exchange. In my work I get to see first hand how the products we purchase in the US affect the lives of producers all over the world. You may have heard people saying that “the world has gotten smaller” and I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely true. Walk down the aisle of a grocery store and pick up any product you like. The ingredients listed will come from all over the world, from palm oil in Africa to sugar from the Dominican Republic. I get to see how our conventional system of trade marginalizes producers and benefits a very wealthy few in the global West, but also how Fair Trade can hugely benefit producers all over the world. I’ve learned that everything in this world is connected, and I’m here to talk trade and Harry Potter, two of my favorite topics that might not seem too closely related at first glance.

By now I think many of us are starting to get uncomfortably tired about hearing of our failing economy. Any time we go online, turn on the radio, or open a newspaper we are greeted with more horrible news about job losses and foreclosures. It’s sad and frightening that these headlines have become part of our routine. When we hear that powerful titans such as our governments and the transnational corporations that make the products we use in our lives every day have aided this economic collapse and are now struggling to reverse it, it might seem like there is very little that we can do as citizens to defend ourselves and our economy.

In their No New Stuff campaign, Matt and Paul have already begun the dialogue about the issues of hyper-consumerism that have contributed to our current economic state. Their project demonstrates that we really don’t need to shop constantly to be happy, and thank goodness for that! The line of trade that gets a product from its origin to your shopping bag has become immensely long and complicated. Think about your cell phone or ipod. How many different parts is it made of? Where did the metal come from? Would you be surprised to hear that the popularity of cell phones has led to the occupation of the Congo? Cell phones, and many other electronics, contain a metal called coltan. The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in coltan mines, which are currently controlled by foreign rebel forces and militias. A side effect of this occupation is the rape and torture of literally tens of thousands of women. Sadly, these convoluted supply chains are the norm and not the exception. There is no way to know as a consumer in a shopping mall that the purchase of such and such a product didn’t lead to another person’s heartache somewhere half way around the globe.

So what can we, as consumers and global citizens, do about this? Quite a lot, as it turns out. I would like to propose to you the idea of conscious consuming; that is, knowing exactly where your products came from, who they were made by, and what went into them. It takes some work, but it’s well worth the effort. Luckily there are already movements in place to help you purchase the most ethically and sustainably produced products you can. Look for products that are certified “Fair Trade.” Fair Trade is an alternative business model that promotes producer empowerment and sustainability. There is a guaranteed minimum price paid to producers for their goods that is at least market price, though usually higher, and environmental and social standards that must be followed before a product is certified (which is done by an independant third party organization, NOT the company manufacturing the product!) as Fair Trade.

As consumers, we hold the reigns. Companies spend unthinkable sums to try and market their products just for us, they exist only because we give them our money. By purchasing from organizations that are sustainable, ethical, and transparent we encourage other businesses to enact similar practices while keeping those businesses we already support open and successful.

So what does this have to do with Harry Potter? As you probably know, there are some delicious HP confections being sold out there. Many of them, such as Cockroach Clusters,  Fudge Flies, and (my personal favorite) Chocolate Frogs are made with cocoa.

Oh cocoa. Allow me a moment to lament, if you please. Such an innocent and delicious treat hides such depths of depravity that you may wish to send the kids out of the room before reading what I’m about to tell you.

Chocolate manufacturers are benefitting from forced child labor.

Here’s a bit of background, paraphrased from an article written by a coworker of mine. West Africa produces 70% of the world’s cocoa. In the period 1900-1907, the world’s then leading chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury’s, was caught up in a scandal over their reliance on West African slave plantations for their cocoa. A century later, in 2000 and 2001, chocolate lovers around the world were again jolted when British and American journalists documented the enslavement of adolescent and teenage boys on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast.

Most of the children come from Mali, Ivory Coast’s poorer northern neighbor. Traffickers rely on the economic desperation of Malian families and entice naïve adolescents and teenagers with the promise of good jobs in Ivory Coast. Later, once over the border and separated from their community or others who speak their language, the children are sold to cocoa farmers. Some farmers will pay the children a small sum at the end of the cocoa season. Some will not. But more importantly, some farmers will exploit the children’s vulnerability, forcing them to perform long, hard and dangerous work, while providing only minimal food and shelter. Some will beat and threaten those who try to escape, and at night lock the children in sheds or huts. It is these children, held captive and forced to work against their will, that are the focus of this ongoing crisis.

Since Ivory Coast alone produces 40% of the world’s cocoa, its beans are mixed into almost every brand of mass-produced chocolate. Further, a handful of western corporations control approximately 85% of Ivorian cocoa exports. Therefore, the large corporations have both the responsibility and the opportunity to use their unmatched power in the cocoa industry to tackle this unacceptable situation.

In 2001, after six months of public and government pressure, representatives of the largest corporations in the cocoa and chocolate industry signed the Harkin-Engel Protocol, championed by Sen. Tom Harkin (IA), and Rep. Elliot Engel (NY), wherein the companies promised to work “wholeheartedly” to “eliminate the worst forms of child labor” and to create by June 2005 a certification system to verify that this was being accomplished.

The protocol gave the industry years of relief from pressure or scrutiny as they repeatedly assured the public that they were dedicated to solving the problem. Unfortunately, little has actually been accomplished in the last seven years. Even Sen. Harking and Rep. Engel had to publicly admit this when the industry missed the protocol’s original July 2005 deadline.

Subsequently, Sen. Harkin and Rep. Engel granted the cocoa/chocolate industry another three years – until July 2008 – to tackle the problem. However, as part of those negotiations with industry the demand for eliminating forced child labor was dropped. Instead there is only to be a monitoring operation. And that is intended to cover only half the cocoa grown in two countries: Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Needless to say, this deadline has come and gone, and child slaves are still producing the cocoa that feeds our own children. And finally, here is where our friend Harry comes in. I’m going to be starting an investigation into Cap Candies, producer of fine HP confections and subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., famed toy manufacturer. I can’t stomach the thought of child labor in the production of candies created in the name of HP and I doubt any of you can either. Join me in this blog  as I embark on a quest to find out exactly where Cap Candies gets their cocoa. You’ll hear about many long calls filled with terrible hold music, the horror of trying to get a straight answer out of underpaid customer service representatives, and the fiendish mire of legalese I expect to get from someone’s manager about how the secrets of Cap’s cocoa purchasing practices are strictly confidential.  Let’s find out just  how far the rabbit hole goes and tell those corporate execs that we’ve got our eyes on them by demanding ethical sourcing for candies produced in the name of HP! Phew. My next posts will be shorter, I promise! 

Stay tuned friends.