The Dark Side of Chocolate
The Dark Side of Chocolate is a documentary that was produced in 2010 by a journalist named Miki Mistrati. Who investigates the use of trafficked children to be used for child labor in the harvesting of cocoa beans for the production of chocolate. According to the documentary 3 million tons of chocolate are consumed every year, half in Europe. But the success of chocolate is partly due to the fact that child labor is used to harvest cocoa beans on cocoa plantations in Africa.
The filming started in Cologne, Germany, where he asked vendors where their chocolate comes from and if they know whether or not child labor is used in the production of their chocolate. After the chocolate companies deny that child labor or trafficking exist. Mistrati goes undercover and most of the film is recorded using a hidden video camera. He travels to Mali where children are rumored to be taken and transported to the Ivory Coast. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world with little to no export. Mistrati discovered that children around the ages of 10-15 were being taken daily from Mali and transported to the Ivory Coast. A child can be bought for as little as 230 Euros with out haggling. The majority of the children that are taken are never paid any wages at all and are beaten if they work to slow or try to refuse to work. The Ivory Coast is where 42% of all cocoa beans come from. Mistrati then travels to the Ivory Coast to visit the cocoa plantations where he finds several children working on these plantations. In 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association signed a document called the Harkin-Engel Protocol that was suppose to eliminate child trafficking and the use of all child labor by 2008. Child labor and trafficking are illegal according to the Harkin-Engel Protocol.
The film ends in Switzerland where both the International Labor Organization and the Nestle headquarters are located.
When confronted with this issue, the corporate representatives of some of these
The filming started in Cologne, Germany, where he asked vendors where their chocolate comes from and if they know whether or not child labor is used in the production of their chocolate. After the chocolate companies deny that child labor or trafficking exist. Mistrati goes undercover and most of the film is recorded using a hidden video camera. He travels to Mali where children are rumored to be taken and transported to the Ivory Coast. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world with little to no export. Mistrati discovered that children around the ages of 10-15 were being taken daily from Mali and transported to the Ivory Coast. A child can be bought for as little as 230 Euros with out haggling. The majority of the children that are taken are never paid any wages at all and are beaten if they work to slow or try to refuse to work. The Ivory Coast is where 42% of all cocoa beans come from. Mistrati then travels to the Ivory Coast to visit the cocoa plantations where he finds several children working on these plantations. In 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association signed a document called the Harkin-Engel Protocol that was suppose to eliminate child trafficking and the use of all child labor by 2008. Child labor and trafficking are illegal according to the Harkin-Engel Protocol.
The film ends in Switzerland where both the International Labor Organization and the Nestle headquarters are located.
When confronted with this issue, the corporate representatives of some of these