VERO BEACH — The community-wide, nondenominational Social Justice Film Series continues its fifth year on Sunday, February 13, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, with The Dark Side of Chocolate. The film is free; no tickets or reservations are required. The film is being shown in connection with Green America, which is organizing a second National Week of Action for Dark Side of Chocolate Screenings from February 4-14, 2011.
The Dark Side of Chocolate is a documentary by award-winning Danish journalist Miki Mistrati and U. Robin Romano about the dark connection in the cocoa industry between cocoa, child labor and human trafficking in many countries of West Africa, where more than 70% of cocoa beans originate. In order to raise awareness of the abuse, Green America has produced this documentary and begun a campaign to pressure The Hershey Company in particular to shift to Fair Trade cocoa.
Ten years ago, the National Confectioners Association (NCA) developed a policy to ensure that cocoa is grown in a responsible, sustainable manner. It states its position that no child should be harmed in the growing or harvesting of cocoa. Yet despite the publication of its Harkin-Engel Cocoa Protocol in September 2001, this film gives evidence that the abuse continues. Young boys whose ages range from 12 to 16 have been sold into slave labor and are forced to work in cocoa farms in order to harvest the beans from which chocolate is made, under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse.
The UUFVB Fair Trade Committee will share ideas on how to bring pressure to bear on Hershey as well as a taste of fair trade chocolate from Equal Exchange. The Fair Trade Corner will be open one-half hour before and after the film.
The UUFVB is handicapped-accessible and is located on the southeast corner of 27th Avenue and 16th Street.
Information: Call 772-778-5880.
