Reverse Trick-or-Treating

A recent article in Grist alerted me to the disturbing fact that about half of the chocolate eaten in the United States from from the Ivory Coast, where underage and forced child labor persists despite pressure on these big chocolate companies.

While there is no immediate solution to huge global issues like these, Equal Exchange and the human rights organization Global Exchange have teamed up in order to promote something called Reverse Trick-or-Treating in order to plant the seeds of change in American households.

Because a boycott could very well do more harm that good, these organizations are suggesting a different approach: Trick-or-Treat as usual but harness the power of public awareness by having our young trick-or-treaters exchange fair trade chocolates and informational fliers about the treatment of their peers worldwide. Read more in Claire Thompson's article and/or download the fliers here.