AMHERST - When Tim and Liam Felton go trick-or-treating tonight, they’ll
give as well as get.
Tim, 9, and Liam, 6, will accept their treats and then turn the tables by
giving their neighbors chocolate, along with a message. They are part of a
nationwide campaign to draw attention to abusive conditions for children
working on cocoa farms in West Africa.
It’s called ‘reverse trick-or-treating.’
The bite-size chocolate Tim and Liam will hand out is ‘Fair Trade
Certified,’ meaning that the farmers who grew it reject illegal child labor,
get a stable price and use sustainable agriculture. Global Exchange, a San
Francisco-based human rights group, claims that children in more than 300
cities and towns will participate tonight.
‘I like chocolate, and I really think it’s unfair that people in different
places get paid really small amounts of money. That’s really wrong,’ said
Tim.
Tim and Liam and their friends will give each neighbor a flier that is
affixed to the chocolate. It reads, ‘Like Halloween, chocolate should be a
source of joy for all children, including those in countries where cocoa is
grown. Unfortunately, that is not the case today.’
The flier encourages people to buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate products
for Halloween next year. ‘There is a solution, and all you have to do is eat
chocolate,’ it reads.
Christine Felton, Tim’s and Liam’s mother, will accompany them tonight. The
brothers became aware of Amherst’s Fair Trade campaign when the family
visited a table set up as part of the downtown Arts Walk on Oct. 4.
‘They had good questions,’ she said. ‘They tried to get a grasp of what it
means. They seem to have an understanding about when you make a purchase,
you ask about the people who made it. It’s a concept that’s now in their
minds, which is exciting to me.’
Some other families are coming over for dinner tonight before the group goes
trick-or-treating. Besides spreading a useful message, the experience will
be beneficial to the children, Felton said.
‘If they can start thinking at this age about the effects their actions have
on another person somewhere in the world, that’s a huge advantage,’ she
said. ‘I hope they will in their lives think about that and do something
about it.’
U.S. consumers eat 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate annually, about half the
world’s total, according to Global Exchange. About 284,000 children work
under exploitive conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, two-thirds of
them under 14, according to the group.
The Ivory Coast, which produces 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, is
particularly known for bad working conditions and forced child labor,
according to Global Exchange. The goal of the Halloween campaign is to raise
the profile of Fair Trade chocolate and put pressure on large chocolate
companies.
More people are aware of Fair Trade coffee than chocolate, said Yuri Friman
of Amherst, who has sponsored a Town Meeting article that seeks to promote
the campaign.
‘I don’t want to make people feel guilty, I just want people to be aware,’
he said. ‘If they’re aware, they’ll make more conscious choices.’
Christine Felton said that most people want to do right by other people.
‘I am really feeling frustrated when I purchase something and the industry
has shaped my choices in such a way that I feel bad when make my choices,’
she said. ‘I feel really good when I buy a piece of chocolate and the people
who produce it can support their families on what they make.’