Chocolate! Almost everyone adores it the world over, and it’s easy to see why. Chocolate has the ability to put a smile on people’s faces. It has the power to delight and to tempt and to tantalize. But the story of chocolate is not a sweet one.

As the world’s demand for chocolate increases by the day, there are a number of things that are being done to satisfy that voracious need. This has led to a number of disastrous and debilitating consequences. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that over 250 million child laborers are working to produce our coffee and cocoa. Child laborers are employed in farms and factories — which is in itself a tragedy — and they are not paid a decent living wage. Often child laborers who do the same work as an adult will earn less than the adult. The demand for cocoa has also sped up deforestation; entire rainforests have been lost to farming. Worst of all, revenue from the cocoa trade has helped fuel years of conflict that has destroyed families and cost many lives.

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