I'm from Ghana. Its going to be very hard to stop it which is very heartbreaking. Most of the cocoa farmers do not get enough money for the cocoa they produce so instead of employing adults to help work on the farm, they use their own kids.
Same with crops in the US, and all around the world. Many agricultural farmers use their children to help, because it's too expensive to pay adult farmhands. It's not some type of new evil thing western societies started. That's how farming family have always been.
I thought of this. My dads family had a very small farm but it was a family affair and they all worked the farm no matter how old they were. Sometimes I wonder if they would be worse off If they weren't working the family farms.
Maybe you are just jealous because the kids you know are not doing anything. Don't know but these African kids are helping to put smiles on those who enjoy a treat for many kids and adults.
Pay adults more? Where is the money going to come from? Are you, original poster going to pay them? Such an ignorant comment...reminds me of Marie "they don't have bread? Let them eat cake then"
This is why fair trade is so important. Protest these brands and write to these companies demanding fair prices and labor practices abroad via fair trade certification. Buy products that do have these measures in place like Tony’s chocolate 🍫.
That child coughing just breaks my heart. I'll never buy anything from mars again. This is so sad. I'm sure the CEO and owners r making billions each year.
Not populair not even worldwide 😂😂😂 these kids will continue because the parents do not get paid enough.besides schools they should be able to afford food for their children.
Until the farmers are paid more, not much will change. It's a cultural norm for kids to help out on the farms. I grew up partially in Ghana, and we used to help my grandfather on his farm to harvest corn. There are other issues, such as the lack of schools close by or the lack of educators in some of these remote villages, so kids are unable to attend school. There needs to be a collaborative effort between the Ghanaian government and the Mars company
I didn't know this was happening. People would boycott the companies, it would be a start. People all around the world didn't know this was going on. If people stop buying their products until they do right They will lose money
True. But if this family only produces 1 bag of cocoa for the whole year worth $150, its unrealistic to be expecting either the parents or Mars to be funding a child's education when they are such small suppliers
Capitalism is based on paying the producers of labor as little as possible. Do you really think that Mars Company, a capitalist business, is going to follow your suggestion?
I live in Ghana and will say this…. The Government allows much of this to happen HOWEVER, culturally, children worldwide help the family make money. I’m not saying that because I think it’s right… it’s just that Americans view of child labor differs greatly than that of other cultures. Having said that, companies from America know better and knows full well when they send scouts to their suppliers that they see these children.
The Caribbean also.Check the children who grow up on farms in America.Don't they help their parents? What do they do for summer jobs?And that's not considered as child labour.
WE WILL DESTROY MARS BY BOYCOTTING THIS BRAND!!!! I understand that in those cultures the families are just trying to function - we take for granted here - in the U.S.
And it wouldn't cost mars alot to do this, a small building equipped with table and chairs and a good paying teacher's to help these kids. Stop working for them if they don't, and then they will
Just wait until everyone hears about blood batteries and the children that are forced to mine lithium for y'alls evs. Not saying child labor is okay, but the problem is far greater than just chocolate. Their "investigation" could have a whole series about all aspects of our products that begin with child labor and endangerment. How about those billionaires actually start paying fair wages to all their workers and stop taking the biggest portion of the companies earnings for doing the smallest amount of work.
We help our parents in the farm after school and on weekends. In junior high school, I was solely harvesting the cocoa from my grandpa's farm with one young man from the village who plucks and I pick and break the pods open before carrying it home. I still made time for studies. Today, I'm a Physician Assistant right here in Ghana. Let's not over dramatised some of this things. The children are aware they have to help their parents in the farm which is part of our upbringing I guess. How is it possible for a child not attending school in rural Ghana to be able to communicate fluently in the English language when being interviewed?
I agree with you.Children in my country did the same thing and turned out to be upstanding, law-abiding professionals who made valuable contributions to society.
I respect your input - such a beautiful story of determination! And if your family generated a realistic profit from their farming - it would make sense! I will NEVER EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE SUPPORT MARS - I WILL BOYCOTT THIS BRAND! It’s de-humanizing to take advantage of a well meaning Ghana 🇬🇭 & the wonderful families that call it their home! 💕 😡 💕
Did you not here the girls story? I grew up in Nigeria, let’s not pretend like we were both not really lucky and saved by His grace. The head of the family should be able to make enough for the ENTIRE family. They shouldn’t be put up to this. No one should
I worked for them, and the experience was like the beginnings of a Jordan Peele film 🥴Very glad I "got out" of there, and now, to find out this 😳 There were always ALWAYS meetings about...anything really, but especially about sustainability. They never discussed this kind of environmental impact -- or about ending their part in modern-day slavery. Go figure.
Before the Mars company itself can do something, the Ghana government itself has to advocate for that change. But the government itself don't care because they get their percentage from the company and that's it. We have stupid leaders leading great countries all across Africa, that's our problem 😢
I want to say how awful this is, it’s awful. But I worry what happens when these children don’t bring in income or cocoa for the family. Mars should pay for all these kids to go to school and subsidize their families.
The USA has known this about 20 years- we teach it to our children in public schools in reading stories. We taught this unless Ron DeSantis has hidden it from us.
I don’t see anything wrong with putting your kids to work on the farm that helps sustain the family even if it’s not making a lot of money. Mars should put school facilities and infrastructure improvements in these villages to help these children though.
@@melanieperry8314 it is a contract. A nation is responsible for it's own infrastructure. And Countries get assistance from other countries if desired.
Yes! I actually believe this about families everywhere regarding the family business, including North America, as long as the conditions are appropriate and safe.
Funny thing is that you'll probably see a flood of people saying to boycott Mars and not buy their products because of this, when in reality a good majority of the USA's luxuries and neccities come from stuff like this. Should they boycott just about everything else they own too, then?
Unfortunately not new news. They've been doing this for decades and never made any of the goals they said they would. Glad you're bringing this to light again. Keep your focus on it, please. They will never stop. Profit trumps children.
Most if not all corporations are built to thrive. I get frustrated with some of the things corporations dictate. But they are there with the desire to grow and build wealth.
Newsflash - schools in most of Africa are not free. School fees are too expensive for many families. How about Mars funds tuition -free schools? Then we can take on the other industries standing on the shoulders of African children - cobalt? Tech companies?
I wish mars wrigley will check there percentages on there chocolate and other candys if theres contain a lot of toxins or not I really want there foods to be safe to eat
My whole problem though if we take this work from the starving kids how will there familys eat im worried that sometimes these kids are the only way their familys survive. We dont agree and its against our ways but thats what their culture, and others knows. Just hope the kids and their family can eat now. Mars should help them b4 ditching them.
The second largest producer of cocoa in the world is Ghana, yet very little money from this multi billion dollar industry goes to the people who work the hardest in this whole chain. The western corporations want to spend as little as possible in the cocoa in order to further enrich themselves. Nothing can change the culture of children working on farms here in Africa. You can't grow up in an African home and live like a princess. Every child is expected to help out with farm work. I never missed a day of school, but never missed farm work either. Even at school we used to grow soy, maize and beans. It wasn't child abuse, it was "holistic education." Training the hand and the mind. What's unfortunate for some of these kids is that they can't go to school because their parents can't afford to let them. They are earning peanuts and that really has to change.
PLEASE, I COME FROM GHANA AND IT'S NOT A MATTER OF CHILD LABOUR FOR KIDS TO WORK WITH PARENTS IN THE FARM, IT'S OUR CULTURE AND TRAINING, OTHERS ENCOURAGE THEIR KIDS TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES, AND OTHERS, SO LET'S NOT OVERLY SENSATIONALISE THIS ISSUE.
🍫🌰 I just started making my own 4 ingredient sugar free/dairy free chocolate using cocoa butter, monk fruit sugar, salt & carob/cocoa powder last month. TH-cam chocolate recipes. I also add walnuts or coconut flakes if I feel like it... You can also add dried fruit but I can't eat fructose. Raspberry or strawberry extract works well although you have to add it at the very end, stirring it in when you put it in the mould or glass dish before you put it in the freezer. Now I fear the cocoa butter & carob/cocoa powder is coming from the same places.... I'm trying.....
Got dang it Mars! This makes me angry as hell! Instead of pandering to woke social justice warriors with your green and brown M&M characters and women's only M&M packages how about you help solve real world problems and put a stop to this form of modern day slavery! This child labor is so messed up! My favorite chocolate candies were Snickers and M&Ms but my family and I will no longer be your customers!
Well I could have told anyone this years ago...a huge dump truck sized vehicle of cocoa pods for 50$....and nobody who picks cocoa pods makes enough to buy chocolate. Reach out if you want an interview I know Ghanaians who can tell you a ton.
I'd like to give minors the freedom to work in the US. Many high schoolers who don't have much going for them in school would benefit from working. Include Jr. High kids that would benefit. It's hilarious people think a company should be held to a higher standard than parents.
Why don’t you do a segment on how much rent went up in NY now and how school programs had to be cut because of the immigration crisis which in all left families homeless??? That’s real news!
Very feel good yourself reporting. 1st of all there are no commercial cocoa plantations in gh cocoa farms are own by families or substantial farmers and everybody in that family/village participates . Just like every family owned business/industry. If you should go to a family farm in Iowa or the farming communities in the USA , the story is the same. You said this kids don’t go to school but the little girl told you her aspirations to become a medical doctor in a perfect English. The last time I checked, English is not the mother language in gh. We learn it from school. To me, everything about the report,footage was staged. Why didn’t her consult the elders in the village? What were they weeding? In Ghana, no one will call that a clearing of bushes. The last time I checked, education up to senior high Schools/secondary schools are free and just that you know it’s the government who buys the cocoa beans from the farmers.
She said she is sad because there is no money for school. I see where you are coming from, but the main point is that Mars is not paying these people a fair price for their cocoa. And they would not be interviewed. The CEO of Mars is not living in a dirt floored building, clearly. Those families deserve better.
So then the narrative should focus more on how MARS can provide better facilities for the farming community which I don’t actually know where because except for the northern part of GH, the whole country participates in this type of farming. These child labor tag should be re think and the producing countries determine the price of their products just like the oil producing countries (opec) Again, education is free up to shs in GH so I buy I can’t afford to go to school story line
Sorry but that’s the truth. You go to the farming communities in the usa and you will see 9 or so yrs kids operating tractors ploughing the land and I guess that’s okay here
@@mikeampofo2583I agree with you, I feel the reporting is made through the eyes of the American viewer, show this to a Ghanaian and they won't have this perspective that Americans do.
We went to the farm at 5 years old because our parent worked the hell and could not make ends meet. Can not buy school books not to talk of the one new dress each year at Christmas. As for me, I went to the farm to reduce the pains in my mother's eyes. These companies buy the cocoa beans at peanut prices and sell the chocolate as gold. All these parent wants the best for their kids but cannot afford it. They either die early or ends up very sick due to hard labour throughout their lives. This so called campaign has been going on for far too long. Yet our 4 farms of cocoa tree still gives us peanut cash till date. #AFRICA
This is no different than many years ago it was discovered that Godiva employed children to make chocolate at assembly plants. Im not surprised by this article.
Don't forget the non-chocolate Mars products, like pet foods and just read they acquired Kevin's Paleo foods...sad day 😢 I won't be buying anymore Kevin's...
The battery in all of our phones has been mined by kids, cobalt. Google it. Gonna stop using your phone? I doubt it. This is a global mess and yes, it's been going on for ages and it's getting worse the longer we go on.
No more M&Ms or Kind (how ironic) bars for me, I'm boycotting Mars. Start paying adults a liveable wage so their children may attend school instead of being forced to work. 😢
Blame Ghana government and chocolate factories for not helping to elevate poverty from cocoa farmers. This farmers don’t have road access to town, walk long distances to school, no amenities and standard of living is very poor.The scholarship the government established for farmers they don’t get it and it is cocoa marketing board and the government who are robbing this poor farmers.
This makes me ill: it's why I don't diamonds, palm oil, and wish there was a replacement for lithium. We need to divest from companies that bleed people.
If a child wants to help the family on the farm I don’t get the insinuation. Now if they are forced or paid to work rather than go to school then I see the problem. Mars is a profit making company who will always seek to maximize profits and not necessarily engage in child labor
I would gladly pay double for chocolate if they didn't use child labor. If gets too expensive, good...most of us shouldn't be eating that many sweets anyway.
I am NEVER going to eat ANY foods from this company again. And KIND is and always has been my go to but never again! I pray to God that a legal counsel will sue this company on behalf of these children. 💯
Wait a minute. Let's talk about the real truth about slavery and how they were sold and enslavened by their own countrymen. Look, it is just part of the natural world. Unpleasant and pleasant.
I will be vigilant to what chocolate I buy from now on. And I will try and do everything I can not to buy Mars Chocolate, American we need to take a stand for these Children, they deserve an education, just like all the other Children😢😢
I'm from Ghana.
Its going to be very hard to stop it which is very heartbreaking.
Most of the cocoa farmers do not get enough money for the cocoa they produce so instead of employing adults to help work on the farm, they use their own kids.
Same with crops in the US, and all around the world. Many agricultural farmers use their children to help, because it's too expensive to pay adult farmhands. It's not some type of new evil thing western societies started. That's how farming family have always been.
Money is money
That’s despicable!! It really is heartbreaking
I thought of this. My dads family had a very small farm but it was a family affair and they all worked the farm no matter how old they were. Sometimes I wonder if they would be worse off If they weren't working the family farms.
This is all normal. You are not going to change it. Cheap labor is necessary.
Yes, pay adults more so their kids aren't forced to work for survival of the family. That's the solution.
No problem, u better keep buying chocolate when its $20 a bar or they will all lose their jobs n starve. Higher wages for all isnt always the answer
Maybe you are just jealous because the kids you know are not doing anything. Don't know but these African kids are helping to put smiles on those who enjoy a treat for many kids and adults.
Pay adults more? Where is the money going to come from? Are you, original poster going to pay them?
Such an ignorant comment...reminds me of Marie "they don't have bread? Let them eat cake then"
This is why fair trade is so important. Protest these brands and write to these companies demanding fair prices and labor practices abroad via fair trade certification. Buy products that do have these measures in place like Tony’s chocolate 🍫.
Never heard of it. Does it have worldwide distribution? I don’t think I’ve seen it in any grocery stores ever.
You can look up where to find Tony's Chocolate on their website. I sometimes find it at organic grocery stores.
@@SalyLuz-hc6he They are my favorite. I buy tons of it.
That child coughing just breaks my heart. I'll never buy anything from mars again. This is so sad. I'm sure the CEO and owners r making billions each year.
Not populair not even worldwide 😂😂😂 these kids will continue because the parents do not get paid enough.besides schools they should be able to afford food for their children.
Until the farmers are paid more, not much will change. It's a cultural norm for kids to help out on the farms. I grew up partially in Ghana, and we used to help my grandfather on his farm to harvest corn. There are other issues, such as the lack of schools close by or the lack of educators in some of these remote villages, so kids are unable to attend school. There needs to be a collaborative effort between the Ghanaian government and the Mars company
I didn't know this was happening.
People would boycott the companies, it would be a start.
People all around the world didn't know this was going on.
If people stop buying their products until they do right
They will lose money
True. But if this family only produces 1 bag of cocoa for the whole year worth $150, its unrealistic to be expecting either the parents or Mars to be funding a child's education when they are such small suppliers
Anything for ratings. They know it won't go anywhere.
Capitalism is based on paying the producers of labor as little as possible. Do you really think that Mars Company, a capitalist business, is going to follow your suggestion?
@@mlynettepinky595I have been boycotting the chocolate industry for about a year because I found out that they use child slavery.
I live in Ghana and will say this…. The Government allows much of this to happen HOWEVER, culturally, children worldwide help the family make money. I’m not saying that because I think it’s right… it’s just that Americans view of child labor differs greatly than that of other cultures. Having said that, companies from America know better and knows full well when they send scouts to their suppliers that they see these children.
I was thinking the same.
The same government that's homophobic?
Like Ghana some countries in South America it is the culturally accepted for children to help their parents earn money.
The Caribbean also.Check the children who grow up on farms in America.Don't they help their parents? What do they do for summer jobs?And that's not considered as child labour.
WE WILL DESTROY MARS BY BOYCOTTING THIS BRAND!!!! I understand that in those cultures the families are just trying to function - we take for granted here - in the U.S.
What can you do?
Buy chocolate from companies that don’t use child labor!
Please the farms are family owned not company owned
They all use child labor if you actually look at true sources
@@akosua8288 thank you. It is a family affair.
I doubt it's only Mars.. where does the cocoa come from for our Lattes and mocha drinks.
Not buying Mars candy anymore 😮
What a shame
This is absurd, wow. Mars should build a school. I'd love to see their sustainability reports. Unreal. My heart goes out to the children. ❤
Why?
And it wouldn't cost mars alot to do this, a small building equipped with table and chairs and a good paying teacher's to help these kids. Stop working for them if they don't, and then they will
Just wait until everyone hears about blood batteries and the children that are forced to mine lithium for y'alls evs. Not saying child labor is okay, but the problem is far greater than just chocolate. Their "investigation" could have a whole series about all aspects of our products that begin with child labor and endangerment. How about those billionaires actually start paying fair wages to all their workers and stop taking the biggest portion of the companies earnings for doing the smallest amount of work.
It is a harsh world for all at times.
We help our parents in the farm after school and on weekends. In junior high school, I was solely harvesting the cocoa from my grandpa's farm with one young man from the village who plucks and I pick and break the pods open before carrying it home. I still made time for studies. Today, I'm a Physician Assistant right here in Ghana. Let's not over dramatised some of this things. The children are aware they have to help their parents in the farm which is part of our upbringing I guess. How is it possible for a child not attending school in rural Ghana to be able to communicate fluently in the English language when being interviewed?
I agree with you.Children in my country did the same thing and turned out to be upstanding, law-abiding professionals who made valuable contributions to society.
I respect your input - such a beautiful story of determination! And if your family generated a realistic profit from their farming - it would make sense! I will NEVER EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE SUPPORT MARS - I WILL BOYCOTT THIS BRAND! It’s de-humanizing to take advantage of a well meaning Ghana 🇬🇭 & the wonderful families that call it their home! 💕 😡 💕
Exactly my thoughts
Right, leave the family be. They all help out on the farm.
Did you not here the girls story? I grew up in Nigeria, let’s not pretend like we were both not really lucky and saved by His grace. The head of the family should be able to make enough for the ENTIRE family. They shouldn’t be put up to this. No one should
Those kids have more work experience then most teenagers here in the states!
Maybe a story like this will show people some appreciation when they are enjoying their candies.
Agreed.
I worked for them, and the experience was like the beginnings of a Jordan Peele film 🥴Very glad I "got out" of there, and now, to find out this 😳 There were always ALWAYS meetings about...anything really, but especially about sustainability. They never discussed this kind of environmental impact -- or about ending their part in modern-day slavery. Go figure.
Before the Mars company itself can do something, the Ghana government itself has to advocate for that change. But the government itself don't care because they get their percentage from the company and that's it. We have stupid leaders leading great countries all across Africa, that's our problem 😢
Government interference you wish for?
Yes! I am curious about the age that education is compulsory.
Absolutely disgusting!!! This is just one example of corporate American greed at its worst!!!
How is eating a piece of candy greed?
I want to say how awful this is, it’s awful. But I worry what happens when these children don’t bring in income or cocoa for the family. Mars should pay for all these kids to go to school and subsidize their families.
Get real. Come on.
The USA has known this about 20 years- we teach it to our children in public schools in reading stories. We taught this unless Ron DeSantis has hidden it from us.
Go out and enjoy Mars candy.
They are getting rich in America and those children are working hard for them. What a shame🥺😢
Gail, what can we do? For once, don't buy Mars until they fix the problem (with proof).
I won't think twice if I decide to buy candy. I usually do not even look at the manufacturer unless it is right on the wrapper.
Not to mention how expensive are mars candies in my country. Now I am glad my money dont go to mars
Nobody knows what your country is because you don't say what it is
Pay them not to work, pay them to get an education
Pay poor children to choose education over culture
You want them to lose their culture over being indoctrinated by western gender studies?
Pls have you asked why they are not in school
How about pay them to work and get an education
@@WildlifeWarrior-cr1kk you do realise that it's not the farm owners that bring the kids but mostly parents that bring their kids along to help them
@@akosua8288 sure
Ban all the items that MARS sells. Money talks!
I stopped eating and buying candy like this many years ago. It always made me sick.
Yeah sure you did
I don't eat as many sweets as I used to but I like an almond joy from time to time.
I don’t see anything wrong with putting your kids to work on the farm that helps sustain the family even if it’s not making a lot of money. Mars should put school facilities and infrastructure improvements in these villages to help these children though.
I'm totally with you on this.
@@ceceliagunness1641 why should Mars do it though?
@@rickmerritt128 because they're the employer!
@@melanieperry8314 it is a contract. A nation is responsible for it's own infrastructure. And Countries get assistance from other countries if desired.
Yes! I actually believe this about families everywhere regarding the family business, including North America, as long as the conditions are appropriate and safe.
This has been common knowledge for decades.
Funny thing is that you'll probably see a flood of people saying to boycott Mars and not buy their products because of this, when in reality a good majority of the USA's luxuries and neccities come from stuff like this. Should they boycott just about everything else they own too, then?
Poor little babies, they are so beautiful
Wake up. Look at how you may be exploited. We all are. Just a fact of life.
Unfortunately not new news. They've been doing this for decades and never made any of the goals they said they would. Glad you're bringing this to light again. Keep your focus on it, please. They will never stop. Profit trumps children.
Horrible. I won't buy anything of theirs from today on and I will make sure every person I come in contact with knows about this situation.
I will by Mars only now. Because of all the short sighted comments.
Wow corporations are evil who would have thunk,, never let slavery or crimes against children stop the profit.
Uh. Yes and no.
I guess picking Coco stands between the family starving to death and having something to eat
System built on the backs of the people with the least.
It is just a layer not something built on one layers back. Who grows it? And what allows it to be grown?
Also it's not just Mars. It's all Nestlé and Hershey.
Most if not all corporations are built to thrive. I get frustrated with some of the things corporations dictate. But they are there with the desire to grow and build wealth.
It makes you think twicee about a Hershey bar or bag of M & Ms, or Reese's. They are all Mars.
Hershey and Reese’s are Hershey, not Mars. But I bet Hershey is the same with getting their chocolate.
Who plants it?
Big jail time for the CEOs of these companies. Big big big time😮
People with lots and lots of money rarely go to jail
No crime though. You gonna put em in jail?
How and what we spend are earnings on is the only voice these big companies are willing to hear. Supply & demand is created by we the consumers.
This topic can go on and on and on. This story is only a grain in the sand.
Newsflash - schools in most of Africa are not free. School fees are too expensive for many families. How about Mars funds tuition -free schools? Then we can take on the other industries standing on the shoulders of African children - cobalt? Tech companies?
Africa is the next great frontier.
Thank you for this Insde Look!!
That is like saying I will look into your mouth and tell you that you have cavities or not. It is very shallow reporting for the masses for ratings.
Slavery still exists in America abroad. Sad.
Huh? Yea, but it is probably a crime.
I wish mars wrigley will check there percentages on there chocolate and other candys if theres contain a lot of toxins or not I really want there foods to be safe to eat
WOW - NEVER BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS EVER AGAIN! AND I’M SHARING THIS WITH EVERYONE I KNOW! 😡😡😡
What a shame. You are going to pull the rug out from under those families wanting to make a living.
@@rickmerritt128 AWE - YES! YOU ARE A WEALTH OF WISDOM! MARS EXECUTIVE IS MY GUESS! 👊🥲
My whole problem though if we take this work from the starving kids how will there familys eat im worried that sometimes these kids are the only way their familys survive. We dont agree and its against our ways but thats what their culture, and others knows. Just hope the kids and their family can eat now. Mars should help them b4 ditching them.
The second largest producer of cocoa in the world is Ghana, yet very little money from this multi billion dollar industry goes to the people who work the hardest in this whole chain. The western corporations want to spend as little as possible in the cocoa in order to further enrich themselves.
Nothing can change the culture of children working on farms here in Africa. You can't grow up in an African home and live like a princess. Every child is expected to help out with farm work. I never missed a day of school, but never missed farm work either. Even at school we used to grow soy, maize and beans. It wasn't child abuse, it was "holistic education." Training the hand and the mind. What's unfortunate for some of these kids is that they can't go to school because their parents can't afford to let them. They are earning peanuts and that really has to change.
Training the hand and the mind.You said it all...
I guess we will just put them out of work and set up plantations here in the states then.
@@rickmerritt128go right on ahead
@@rickmerritt128cacao only grows 20 degrees north or south of the equator.
@@toroverde9329 I am pretty sure they can produce it elsewhere if forced to.
PLEASE, I COME FROM GHANA AND IT'S NOT A MATTER OF CHILD LABOUR FOR KIDS TO WORK WITH PARENTS IN THE FARM, IT'S OUR CULTURE AND TRAINING, OTHERS ENCOURAGE THEIR KIDS TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES, AND OTHERS, SO LET'S NOT OVERLY SENSATIONALISE THIS ISSUE.
🍫🌰 I just started making my own 4 ingredient sugar free/dairy free chocolate using cocoa butter, monk fruit sugar, salt & carob/cocoa powder last month. TH-cam chocolate recipes.
I also add walnuts or coconut flakes if I feel like it... You can also add dried fruit but I can't eat fructose. Raspberry or strawberry extract works well although you have to add it at the very end, stirring it in when you put it in the mould or glass dish before you put it in the freezer.
Now I fear the cocoa butter & carob/cocoa powder is coming from the same places....
I'm trying.....
Okay, where does the cocoa powder come from. We don't know how everything is supplied.
Got dang it Mars! This makes me angry as hell! Instead of pandering to woke social justice warriors with your green and brown M&M characters and women's only M&M packages how about you help solve real world problems and put a stop to this form of modern day slavery! This child labor is so messed up! My favorite chocolate candies were Snickers and M&Ms but my family and I will no longer be your customers!
You are out in left field.
Well I could have told anyone this years ago...a huge dump truck sized vehicle of cocoa pods for 50$....and nobody who picks cocoa pods makes enough to buy chocolate. Reach out if you want an interview I know Ghanaians who can tell you a ton.
Corporations are the death of the world
Partly
You mean paraffin wax that taste like chocolate😂
This is nothing new lets stop acting like we cant google this decades ago on Cnn etc
Solid reporting Deborah!
Ding bat
i had no idea
Still don't
Good kids work
I'm in love with the Cocoa?
A poor family that needs money desperately and you want to let them starve. Ignorance is ramped in America
I guess I have some boycotting to do.
What's that?
This is extremely upsetting. I hope the boycott is huge.
I will not boycott Mars. I will boycott rappers selling cereal to kids though.
I'd like to give minors the freedom to work in the US. Many high schoolers who don't have much going for them in school would benefit from working. Include Jr. High kids that would benefit.
It's hilarious people think a company should be held to a higher standard than parents.
Guess I'm not giving Mars any of my $$$ going forward
Easier said than done.
And so what the all fuss about it....??!! They ain't do these things for free, right?
The sad thing is that most of these kids and adults have never even tasted chocolate.
Why don’t you do a segment on how much rent went up in NY now and how school programs had to be cut because of the immigration crisis which in all left families homeless??? That’s real news!
Deflecting
Very feel good yourself reporting. 1st of all there are no commercial cocoa plantations in gh cocoa farms are own by families or substantial farmers and everybody in that family/village participates . Just like every family owned business/industry. If you should go to a family farm in Iowa or the farming communities in the USA , the story is the same. You said this kids don’t go to school but the little girl told you her aspirations to become a medical doctor in a perfect English. The last time I checked, English is not the mother language in gh. We learn it from school. To me, everything about the report,footage was staged. Why didn’t her consult the elders in the village? What were they weeding? In Ghana, no one will call that a clearing of bushes. The last time I checked, education up to senior high Schools/secondary schools are free and just that you know it’s the government who buys the cocoa beans from the farmers.
She said she is sad because there is no money for school. I see where you are coming from, but the main point is that Mars is not paying these people a fair price for their cocoa. And they would not be interviewed. The CEO of Mars is not living in a dirt floored building, clearly. Those families deserve better.
So then the narrative should focus more on how MARS can provide better facilities for the farming community which I don’t actually know where because except for the northern part of GH, the whole country participates in this type of farming. These child labor tag should be re think and the producing countries determine the price of their products just like the oil producing countries (opec)
Again, education is free up to shs in GH so I buy I can’t afford to go to school story line
You made the story sound worse than what the journalist reported.
SMH
Sorry but that’s the truth. You go to the farming communities in the usa and you will see 9 or so yrs kids operating tractors ploughing the land and I guess that’s okay here
@@mikeampofo2583I agree with you, I feel the reporting is made through the eyes of the American viewer, show this to a Ghanaian and they won't have this perspective that Americans do.
We went to the farm at 5 years old because our parent worked the hell and could not make ends meet. Can not buy school books not to talk of the one new dress each year at Christmas. As for me, I went to the farm to reduce the pains in my mother's eyes.
These companies buy the cocoa beans at peanut prices and sell the chocolate as gold.
All these parent wants the best for their kids but cannot afford it. They either die early or ends up very sick due to hard labour throughout their lives.
This so called campaign has been going on for far too long. Yet our 4 farms of cocoa tree still gives us peanut cash till date. #AFRICA
So where are the adults or parents of all these children?
Working too.
Ghana government is fully aware.
This is no different than many years ago it was discovered that Godiva employed children to make chocolate at assembly plants. Im not surprised by this article.
These kids are been force to do childs labory on my favorite chocolate how very upset.I hope these children will be more protect.😢
MARS should cover school for all of their children and pat Farmers a good living. F’ers making millions can definitely do this!!!
Literally just got back from Ethel M's in Las Vegas, historic home of Mars founder. Yikes.
Awesome
Also the foam in the cell phone is made is pulled by small children in Ghana.
Africa has everything natural….
Don't forget the non-chocolate Mars products, like pet foods and just read they acquired Kevin's Paleo foods...sad day 😢 I won't be buying anymore Kevin's...
You are a riot.
The battery in all of our phones has been mined by kids, cobalt. Google it.
Gonna stop using your phone? I doubt it.
This is a global mess and yes, it's been going on for ages and it's getting worse the longer we go on.
No more M&Ms or Kind (how ironic) bars for me, I'm boycotting Mars. Start paying adults a liveable wage so their children may attend school instead of being forced to work. 😢
Important journalism
Thank you!
Support Fair Trade (if not better).
Bs
@@rickmerritt128 Sure, Rick. 😆👍
Blame Ghana government and chocolate factories for not helping to elevate poverty from cocoa farmers. This farmers don’t have road access to town, walk long distances to school, no amenities and standard of living is very poor.The scholarship the government established for farmers they don’t get it and it is cocoa marketing board and the government who are robbing this poor farmers.
This makes me ill: it's why I don't diamonds, palm oil, and wish there was a replacement for lithium. We need to divest from companies that bleed people.
This would have been good to know before Halloween.
😔 😟 sad news,
If a child wants to help the family on the farm I don’t get the insinuation. Now if they are forced or paid to work rather than go to school then I see the problem. Mars is a profit making company who will always seek to maximize profits and not necessarily engage in child labor
I would gladly pay double for chocolate if they didn't use child labor. If gets too expensive, good...most of us shouldn't be eating that many sweets anyway.
And Jacqueline Mars is the 4th richest lady in the world and has over 38 billion
MARS doesn’t care they are private companies
I’m so disappointed in this company.
I think it is great.
Lol
Find out if Hershey is doing the same thing.
As a Ghanaian, this is hard to watch.
I agree some things are best left alone. Shame on this report.
A 5-year-old can work as long as you're getting paid for it
I am NEVER going to eat ANY foods from this company again. And KIND is and always has been my go to but never again! I pray to God that a legal counsel will sue this company on behalf of these children. 💯
Hershey has their own real life version of oompa loompa. 😢
This is despicable
Bugs bunny or daffy duck said that.
This is so sad 😢
Oh gosh this is so disturbing!!!
We must find a way to help!
This is why I have stopped buying chocolate.
I’m angry and speechless! Whoever is running the company and letting this happen is a (or are a bunch of) shady, greedy, racist, lowlife devil(s)!😡
Wait a minute. Let's talk about the real truth about slavery and how they were sold and enslavened by their own countrymen. Look, it is just part of the natural world. Unpleasant and pleasant.
Well here it is right out in the open!!! You reported it!!! Now lead the way to do something about it!!!
The unintendid consequences of capitalism. Or maybe intended.
Despicable, Greed at it's worst!! They should compensate all of those children and their families big bucks.
They don't have to do it. They can find somebody else most likely.
The heiress to the Mars fortune lives in Pennsylvania but remains silent.
I will be vigilant to what chocolate I buy from now on. And I will try and do everything I can not to buy Mars Chocolate, American we need to take a stand for these Children, they deserve an education, just like all the other Children😢😢
Are u gone to boycott these companies? Then y show it
Nope
And this is surprising to who?
As a big chocolate eater, this will make me avoid contributing to this tragedy . We need to know.