India’s handmade carpet industry has been exploiting people for decades, with no repercussions for the brazen use of child labor to produce the country’s number one export. So what’s being done to put a stop to these cruel and inhumane practices? 

Sugarcane, tobacco, cocoa, and clothing are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to industries in which children are being exploited for their labor. And although many of these sectors have been on the radar for quite some time, there may be one that surprises you. Those beautiful, handmade rugs from India that you’ve been pinning like crazy to your living room decor board have also been an unfortunate part of that list of tainted goods. With knowledge of such abuse dating as far back as the early 1990s, it has been difficult to reform largely in part because India is the world’s largest exporter of hand crafted rugs.

In case you’re not fully familiar with what child labor means or entails, the International Labor Organization defines it as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.” Furthermore, “in its most extreme forms, child labor involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.” Sadly, this has become the picture of the handmade carpet industry in India.

According to The Harvard Crimson, in 2014, a report deemed “the largest ever first-hand investigation into slavery and child labor in India’s handmade carpet sector” was released by Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. Its author, Siddarth Kara, who is an adjunct lecturer on public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a fellow with the FXB Center, sent out a team of anonymous researchers into suspected regions in order to uncover the abuse directly, thereby refuting various claims that child labor, including slavery and child abuse, had been resolved in this particular industry.  

In the report, the allegations were at once appalling and eye-opening. Over 3,200 cases of various forms of child abuse, child labor, and slavery were documented beyond the customary “Carpet Belt” and into nine other states across northern India. The researchers were also able to trace the tainted carpets from the point of manufacture to the point of sale in the United States.

Although this doesn’t begin to scratch the surface so much as it does to summarize it, the team uncovered the following conditions along the way:

• Workers started as young as 8-years-old.

• The average work day was found to be 10 to 12 hours, six to seven days a week.

• There were 1,406 cases of child labor found, with an estimated 20 percent industry prevalence.

• There were 2,010 cases of bonded labor (a pledge of labor in exchange for security of repayment of debt or other obligation), with an estimated 28 percent industry prevalence.

• Some 286 cases of human trafficking were uncovered, with an estimated 4 percent industry prevalence.

• As many as 2,675 cases were discovered in hand-knotted carpet production, and 540 cases in the hand-tufted sector.

• Not surprisingly, 80 percent of loans in bonded labor cases were taken for basic consumption.

• In addition to the above findings, a “New Carpet Belt” of child labor, human trafficking, and “numerous cases of children being bought and sold into outright slavery” were also uncovered.

Many times, the conditions in which these children are forced to work are so destitute, that they have been described as subhuman. Per The Harvard Crimson: “Factories and shacks were cramped, filthy, unbearably hot…filled with stagnant and dust-filled air, and contaminated with grime and mold. Some sites were so filthy, pungent, and dangerous that the researchers were afraid to enter due to the risk to their safety.” Desperate, alone, and afraid, these children are exposed time and time again to the deep, dark, depths of inhumanity with no hope in sight.

Aside from awareness, which Kara and his team have so excellently raised, what else can be done to remedy the atrocities from India’s the handmade rug industry?

Conscientiousness is of the utmost importance, and education on the issues from other resources is essential before potentially spending your money on an item that directly contributes to the abuse and exploitation of minors. GoodWeave, a nonprofit organization that aims to “stop child labor in the carpet industry and to replicate its market-based approach in other sectors” is a great place to start. It offers current statistics, ways to campaign, updates on progress, and resources on where to purchase GoodWeave certified rugs that are guaranteed to be child labor-free.

It will take more than just a village to really abolish such abuses. Every purchase counts, so remember make yours meaningful.

Share your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page.

Related on EcoSalon

Is Your Chocolate’s Main Ingredient Child Labor? Foodie Underground
Behind the Label: Investigating The Social Responsibility Claims Of Uniqlo
Can Fast Fashion Brand H&M Change the Textile Industry in Ethiopia for the Better?

Image of Children’s Hands via Shutterstock

The post Swept Under the Rug: Child Labor in India’s Handmade Carpet Industry appeared first on EcoSalon.

Column A new lawsuit charges three major companies with depending on child labor to produce their chocolate. 

If we want to, it is easy for us to have a direct relationship with many of the ingredients in our modern diet. You can commit to eating more locally and in season, engaging with the farmer who grew your carrots, potatoes, and squash. If you want to know how they were produced, you can ask.

But there are other components of our diets that are not so easy to get to the source, because the source is on the other side of the world. Products like coffee and chocolate have become such staples in most of our homes, that we rarely give them much thought. However, it’s the fact that they do originate from so far away that they deserve our attention.

Chocolate production, for example, is tainted with problems, and considering that Americans eat on average 11 pounds of it a year, what chocolate we choose to buy does in fact have an impact on the state of the industry.

Human trafficking and child labor are both things that the chocolate industry have been charged with before, but the latest dispute over chocolate companies’ abusive labor practices is playing out in California. Three class action lawsuits have been brought against the big chocolate players – Nestlé, Mars, and Hershey – for their use of child labor to produce some of the world’s best-selling chocolate brands. The case is actually brought on behalf of private consumers, who said they would not have purchased the chocolate had they known it had been produced using child labor.

The law firm representing the plaintiffs holds that the companies have broken Californian law by not disclosing that suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire depend on child labor to make their cocoa. The lawsuit alleges that in 2014 over 1.1 million children were involved in the most common worst forms of child labor (as defined by the standards of the International Labor Organization). Despite the fact that all of the companies have acknowledged that child labor is an issue that needs addressing, those levels are up 39 percent from 2008/2009, showing how meaningless those intentions can sometimes be.

While awareness for these issues have increased over the past few years, thanks to the work of organizations like Anti-Slavery, so has global demand for chocolate, only exacerbating the problem. In a report published earlier this year by Tulane University, there were 2.1 million child laborers working in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, an increase of 21 percent over five years. “Relative to the size of the challenge, the pace and scale of change is insufficient,” Nick Weatherill, executive director of International Cocoa Initiative, told  in response to the Tulane study.

There are many solutions to this complex problem, including providing better educational opportunities for children in these countries, as well as better pay for the adult workers. What can you as a consumer do? Just like you think about where those carrots, potatoes, and squash come from, think about where that chocolate comes from too.

There are many chocolate brands out there committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing practices, like Theo Chocolate, Dandelion Chocolate, and Green & Black’s. But as a consumer, when identifying what you should and shouldn’t by, it’s also important to know what labels mean and represent; labels like “organic” only address environmental and processing requirements, without calculating in social impacts.

So you have to start thinking about chocolate from a more all-around approach, one that includes sustainable environmental practices and sustainable social ones as well. Do your research, and know what brands are out there committing to ethical practices. The organization Slave Free Chocolate maintains a list of brands that are committed to sourcing slavery-free cocoa. At the store, look for the shortest supply chain possible – “bean to bar.” This chocolate will come at a price, but it’s a fair price.

Think $8 a chocolate bar is expensive? That’s because you are paying the true cost of chocolate. Those $1 chocolate bars? Full of externalized costs, including child labor. And that is not a sweet deal.

20 Chocolate Quotes to Inspire Your Sweet Tooth

Behind the Label: The Unsweet Side of the Dark Side of the Chocolate Industry

15 Things You Didn’t Know About Chocolate

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Christian Guthier

The post Is Your Chocolate’s Main Ingredient Child Labor? Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Column Chocolate is a guilty pleasure in more ways than one.

For most people, chocolate evokes positive associations: indulgence, childhood, Valentine’s Day. But in Western Africa, the connotations are far less positive. There, an estimated 1.8 million child laborers work tirelessly to produce the cocoa that goes into our Easter bunny chocolates.

The ills of the cocoa industry first entered the public eye in the early 2000s, after a BBC documentary called “Slavery: A Global Investigation” highlighted the child labor and slavery abuses occurring on West African cocoa farms. According to the International Labor Rights Forum, child workers in the cocoa industry typically “labor for long, punishing hours, using dangerous tools and facing frequent exposure to dangerous pesticides as they travel great distances in the grueling heat.” In addition, those working as slaves “suffer frequent beatings and other cruel treatment.”

The Good

The BBC documentary sparked a loud, though short-lived, public outcry. Soon after it was released, U.S. House Representative Eliot Engel and Senator Tom Harkin sponsored the Harkin-Engel Protocol, a public-private agreement to eliminate the “worst forms of child labor” (as defined by the International Labour Organization) in the growth and processing of cocoa in the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where nearly 75 percent of the world’s cocoa supply is grown. Signed in September 2001, the agreement, better known as the Cocoa Protocol, outlined six actions, each with specific deadlines.

• Public statement of the need for and terms of an action plan.
• Formation of multi-sectoral advisory groups. (By December 1, 2001)  
• Signed joint statement on child labor to be witnessed at the ILO. (By December 1, 2001)
• Memorandum of cooperation. (By May 1, 2002)
• Establish a joint foundation. (By July 1, 2002)
• Building toward credible standards. (By July 1, 2005)

The agreement was signed by multiple stakeholders, from the heads of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and World Cocoa Foundation, to the coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, to the presidents of the world’s top eight chocolate manufacturers at the time. It was a significant commitment to ending child labor in the cocoa industry, from the people in positions to effect that change.

The Bad

The Cocoa Protocol was first lauded as a success, but its long-term results have been less than impressive. By the first protocol deadline in 2005, the industry had still failed to implement an industry-wide certification program. An amendment gave the stakeholders three more years, but by 2008, the objectives were still not met. In 2010, the parties signed yet another document – commonly referred to as the 2010 Joint Declaration – that reaffirmed their commitment and added the goal of reducing the worst forms of child labor by 70 percent by 2020.

It’s evident that the Cocoa Protocol still has a long way to go. A 2011 report from the Tulane University Payson Center revealed that about 1.8 million children continue to work in cocoa agriculture in the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana alone. In the Côte d’Ivoire, about five percent work for pay, and in Ghana, about 10 percent do. In the 12 years since the Cocoa Protocol was signed, only about five percent of child laborers have been exposed to its related initiatives.

In early 2012, the issue was again brought to the public eye thanks to a CNN Freedom Project documentary called Chocolate’s Child Slaves. While exploring cocoa farms in the Côte d’Ivoire,  filmmakers found that not only were child labor and slavery still very prevalent, but many of the employers they encountered hadn’t even been informed of the need to change their practices.

So What Now?

Educate yourself further.

This column just scratches the surface of the abuses and ills of the cocoa industry. To learn more, I recommend watching Mika Mistrati and U. Roberto Romano’s 2010 documentary, “The Dark Side of Chocolate,” and checking out the “Chocolate’s Child Slaves” content from the CNN Freedom Project.

Sign the petition.

Oxfam recently launched a “Women and Chocolate” petition as part of its larger “Behind the Brands” campaign, which seeks to change the way big brands do business. The petition calls on the top three chocolate manufacturers — Nestle, Mars, and Mondelez International (formerly Kraft) — to reduce gender inequality in their industry. While a separate issue from child labor, it’s still an important one.

Indulge responsibly.

Relax — no one is asking you to boycott chocolate now that you know its darker side. But you might want to consider switching your loyalties to Fair Trade brands that work directly with certified slave-free cocoa producers. And beware of Fair Trade brands that are actually owned by troublesome corporations, like Green & Blacks, owned by Mondelez, or Dagoba, owned by Hershey. My personal Fair Trade favorites are Equal Exchange, Kopali Organics, and Divine Chocolate.

Images: Kirti Poddar, Peter DiCampo/Oxfam America, Clive Dara

The post Behind The Label: The Unsweet Dark Side of the Chocolate Industry appeared first on EcoSalon.

Kids are at once prime marketing targets, financial liabilities, and cheap labor.

The business sector seems to have children in its crosshairs. If they aren’t reporting child labor in their overseas supply chains, companies are aggressively marketing junk food to kids, denying them health care coverage and teaching them the benefits of dirty energy.

Leading Them Down the Garden Path

Scholastic is a brand that has long been synonymous with educational materials, and it won the hearts of millions by bringing the Harry Potter stories to the U.S. However, the company recently had to recall a fourth grade educational curriculum it developed in collaboration with the American Coal Foundation after a major public outcry.

Scholastic materials are used in 90 percent of American classrooms, and children, parents and teachers alike have come to trust them. But Scholastic has made questionable decisions about partnering with companies that many feel have compromised the quality and integrity of their materials. Are sponsored educational materials developed for learning, or are they just ads disguised as schoolwork?

The United States of Energy champions coal as an essential energy source, ignoring the issues that come with it, such as greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste, and mountaintop removal. This book discusses the different energy alternatives, but does not steer students to ask any questions about which one might be harmful, or consider any consequences due to production.

The materials went out to 66,000 fourth grade teachers and were used for three years until child advocacy groups kicked up a fuss and The New York Times criticized the sponsored materials. After expressing enthusiasm over the partnership and hoping to expand it to fifth grade materials, the CEO of Scholastic released a statement declaring they would no longer produce or distribute the title beginning May 2011.

This isn’t Scholastic’s only partnership misstep. Advocacy groups have also protested a previous campaign encouraging kids to drink SunnyD, a sugary, fruit-flavored drink, to earn free books. Scholastic, you’ve disappointed us so.

What Do You Mean You Use Child Labor?

Apple makes stunning products, even their packaging is elegant. However, they build many of their products overseas, requiring them to utilize foreign suppliers, and the computer giant has uncovered some very ugly practices in their supply chain. In addition to health and safety violations and negative environmental impact, Apple has found that their suppliers have employed child labor.

Apple’s Supplier Responsibility 2011 Progress Report showed that the company discovered 49 underage workers across nine facilities, and 42 underage workers in another facility. Apple has pledged to make “social responsibility a fundamental part of the way we do business, we insist that our suppliers take Apple’s code as seriously as we do,” but what is their responsibility regarding third-party contractors? As a condition of doing business can they compel them to meet certain criteria? It is a question that many companies that use third-party labor struggle with.

In this case, Apple split the baby. For the first nine facilities, the company mandated that the suppliers must support the underage workers’ return to school. They also demanded that those facilities change their recruitment practices and age-verification procedures. Since these suppliers have indicated that they would comply, Apple has chosen to continue to do business with them.

As for the remaining facility with 42 underage workers, Apple instituted the same requirements, but later decided the supplier was non-compliant. Apple has since voided its contract with this supplier.

But should Apple have terminated its business with all of these suppliers? Isn’t using child labor until being forced to stop indicative of a less-than-ethical supplier? This has been a recurring problem.

Sweets to the sweet

Food marketing is big business, but the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) limits the amount of time companies can market junk food to children on television. However, marketers have found a new avenue around that restriction – the web. Obesity experts are concerned since much of the food being marketed to kids is sugary, high-calorie snacks and drinks, and companies are finding multiple, innovative ways to attract kids.

Companies like General Mills (LuckyCharms.com), McDonald’s (HappyMeal.com and McWorld.com), and Kellogg’s (AppleJacks.com) have developed multimedia games, online quizzes and cell phone and tablet apps designed to lure young internet users. In the past, companies had to sell parents on their products. Now, they can largely bypass the parents and appeal directly to kids.

The Atlantic’s Marion Nestle quotes Advertising Age statistics that show that over half of parents surveyed believe their children should be able to go online on their own by age six, and can use a cell phone for games by age five. The New York Times says that hundreds of thousands of visitors are hitting these sites each month, and about half are under the age of twelve.

Many say it’s the parents’ job to run interference, but it’s difficult when the messages are coming from all directions. The obesity problem in the U.S. has reached epidemic proportions, and experts trace much of the issue back to childhood eating habits. With children influencing household spending while inundated with images and games of sugary foods, parents are losing the battle.

Federal agencies have decided to step in. The Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control, and United States Dairy Association all partnered to propose new nutritional standards for food marketed to children ages 2-17. Foods either had to contain certain nutritional elements (no sugary drinks or fatty food allowed), or they could not be marketed. So, companies could choose to continue to produce fattening food with limited avenues of marketing, or produce more nutritional food that falls within the guidelines of marketing to that all-important age group.

To date, those guidelines have not been passed, leading to speculation that the companies are fighting these regulations behind the scenes. A decision should be made in the next few months. Just as they forced Joe Camel into retirement, will the Keebler Elves and their brethren receive their marching papers, or will they find themselves promoting healthier fare?

Don’t Come to Us for Help

The redesign of America’s healthcare system has caused so much anger and distress that politicians are literally at each others throats, health care lobbyists are working overtime, and the public doesn’t know what will come next or how it will impact them.

In early 2010, President Obama signed into law health care reform legislation. One of the major provisions of the bill was that insurance carriers must offer insurance to children with pre-existing conditions. In response, several major U.S. insurance carriers announced that they were dropping individual child-only insurance plans just days before parts of the health care law were to go into effect. WellPoint, CoventryOne and Aetna, Inc., among others, announced their intention to discontinue offering the plans in several states.

Insurance companies began to fall like dominoes, and within a few months there was hardly a child-only plan to be found anywhere. Insurance companies claimed that the new legislation allowed families to avoid paying insurance premiums for their children until they were sick, and then signing them up for insurance, potentially costing insurance companies millions.

Other scenarios include parents who work for companies that don’t cover dependents and need insurance just for their children, or parents who are out of work and decide to just cover their children because they can’t afford a more expensive family plan. Children with or without pre-existing conditions were still covered under a family plan that includes an adult, and children with existing child-only plans were not immediately affected.

In early 2011, states started to fight back, passing their own legislation that levied harsh punishments on insurance companies who refused to offer child-only plans. Many companies, realizing they would lose more revenue due to the state sanctions, grudgingly reinstated the plans.  Others instituted enrollment at certain times of the year. What’s up in the air is how much premiums will cost families.

Child-only plans represent a small percentage of insurance business, yet many children in the U.S. still aren’t covered. Taking this step to make it that much more difficult to insure children left many insurance critics with a sour taste in their mouths.

A Better Future?

The good news is that many of these companies are voluntarily making changes, some due to public pressure, some due to company conscience, but changes nonetheless. In some cases government or governing agencies are stepping in and mandating compliance. Are children disproportionately targeted by businesses to increase profits or minimize financial risks? Children are a booming market so the temptation will always be there, but it’s up to the public to keep it from being a dog-eat-puppy world.

image: thejbird

The post Targeting Tiny appeared first on EcoSalon.