This Easter and Passover, Raise the Bar, Hershey!

Spring is upon us and with Easter and Passover around the corner, Hershey's chocolates are everywhere you turn. More than nine years ago, chocolate companies committed to ending child labor, forced labor, and trafficking in their cocoa supply chains. These  labor-rights abuses continue — and Hershey is still lagging behind.

Many chocolate companies have taken steps to trace their cocoa purchasing, implement labor-rights standards among their suppliers, and introduce some fair-trade-certified product lines. But Hershey — which surely can afford to move forward in this area — has no policies in place to trace its cocoa and protect workers. The company is still declining to take steps to curb human-rights abuses in its supply chain.

Easter and Passover mark a time for new beginnings, the renewal of right relationships, and commemorating marginalized people's struggles for freedom. These holidays call on people of faith to gather our courage and speak truth to power. Just as the Easter story of resurrection is a call to spiritual renewal, we must renew our commitment to the liberation of those whose labor is exploited in the production of cocoa. Just as the Passover Seder reflects on the story of the Jews as slaves in Egypt, we must reflect on today's slaves in West Africa, where child and forced labor are prevalent in the cocoa fields.

Easter and Passover call us to live in accordance with our values of justice and integrity and to shed light on situations where there are violations of human rights. In accordance with this spirit, and with our work on fair trade and ethical eating, UUSC is continuing to support the "Raise the Bar, Hershey!" campaign, spearheaded by our allies Global Exchange, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Green America, and Oasis USA. You can support the campaign with these simple steps:

• Learn more about the campaign and its specific demands of Hershey.
• Collect signatures and send petitions to Hershey.
• Tell Hershey's CEO that "Every-bunny Loves Fair Trade" (kids can send the message, too! ) to let the nation's biggest chocolate company know that we support better livelihoods for cocoa farmers and must bring an end to child labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry.
• Organize a screening of The Dark Side of Chocolate, a documentary that exposes the truth about child labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry.
• If you celebrate Passover, incorporate a discussion and activity on fair trade in the cocoa industry into your Seder.  
• Buy fairly traded chocolate for your Easter and Passover treats: 
  • Equal Exchange: Purchases through Equal Exchange's Interfaith Store count toward contributions to UUSC's Small Farmer Fund to support small farmer and producer cooperatives that promote human rights. 
  • Divine Chocolate
  • Global Exchange
  • Sjaack's
  • Sweet Earth