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EnglishWhat Lawsuit Against Cargill Over Child Labor Is Mentioned on Slave Free Chocolate?
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Slave Free Chocolate reports that on December 20, 2023, a case was brought against Cargill in Washington D.C. Superior Court alleging the company uses exploitative child labor on cocoa farms in Ghana. The site identifies International Rights Advocates as the organization that brought the case on behalf of child plaintiffs in Ghana.
The case at a glance
| Detail | What the site reports |
|---|---|
| Defendant | Cargill, described as a chocolate industry giant |
| Court | Washington D.C. Superior Court |
| Date reported | December 20, 2023 |
| Allegation | Use of exploitative child labor |
| Location of alleged labor | Cocoa farms in Ghana |
| Plaintiffs | Child plaintiffs in Ghana |
| Legal representation | International Rights Advocates |
What the site says about the investigation
According to Slave Free Chocolate, a CBS News investigation followed up on the allegations and found children as young as 5 years old who appeared to be working in the cocoa industry. The site also references an NPR segment in which host Deepa Fernandes speaks with Terry Collingsworth, director and lead counsel at International Rights Advocates, as well as with a ten-year-old named Daniel, described as one of the children alleging to work on a cocoa farm, and Bright Deborah, who leads a nonprofit working to end child labor in Ghana.
Why this case fits the site's broader argument
Slave Free Chocolate frames the lawsuit within a longer timeline of industry promises. It notes that the U.S. Department of Labor announced in December 2020 that 1.6 million children were working illegally, with a percentage of them trafficked and held as slaves. The site states that candy companies—including Mars, Nestlé, Hershey, Cargill, Cadbury, Mondelēz and Barry Callebaut—have admitted accountability and promised to remedy the situation, yet 20 years after that agreement the numbers of exploited children have only increased.
The site's position is that the companies profiting from these children are the ones that have to fix the problem, and that they can start by paying much more for the beans they buy. It argues that when a farmer is making less than $2.00, they cannot afford to hire adult labor.
What the site offers beyond the lawsuit
Slave Free Chocolate also maintains an Ethical List of chocolate companies it considers to be going further than others on farmer and child welfare, and promotes Reverse Trick-or-Treating as a way to attach a small note to each piece of candy given out so people can educate themselves on the issue.