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Wednesday 19 May 2010
I Love Fair Trade Chocolate Day

Yesterday, Hershey’s declared May 18th “I Love Reese’s Day,” which was basically an Internet promotion to get people to think about, talk about, and hopefully buy their chocolate and peanut butter confections. But a lot of people don’t love Reese’s, because Hershey’s sources its cocoa from plantations which use child and forced labor and have repeatedly refused to make a commitment to buying better cocoa. So that’s why I’m declaring today, May 19th, “I Love Fair Trade Chocolate Day.” Take that, Hershey’s!

Several organizations came together yesterday to proclaim why they don’t love Reese’s. They don’t love the fact that Hershey’s buys cocoa from areas where up to 15% of the children living there were forced into labor in 2009. They don’t love that Hershey’s has fallen well behind rivals like Cadbury in developing sustainable and fair sourcing policies. And they don’t love that when consumers bite into a Reese’s cup, they might be biting into slavery. And I’ve got to agree with them.

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