Chocolate DBQ Essay

Many people love chocolate, they go to the store and it's easy for them to just buy a chocolate bar. Brands like Hershey, M&M, and KitKat rely on cocoa farms to provide them cocoa, the main ingredient for chocolate. But many don't stop to think about where the chocolate they love came from and the process it goes through. Chocolate originally started as a drink. The ancient Aztecs of Mexico would brew cocoa beans to make a chocolaty delicious drink, but chocolate as we know today didn't start till the early 1800's. By the end of the 19th century, chocolate was in high demand in Europe. They started cocoa farms to provide more cocoa. France was in control of the Ivory Coast but Ivorian's wanted independence. They had a civil war which destroyed

In document E, it says that children as young as five are being put into child labor on cocoa farms. They have to climb very tall trees, use chainsaws, and very sharp tools. Some children are even being sold into working on cocoa farms. They have to drag bags full of cocoa pods that can weigh up to 100 pounds all the way through the forest.This shows that chocolate is harmful to Côte d’Ivoire because they are using children at a young age to do hardcore

In document C it shows the parts of a chocolate bar and where the money goes to. Only 5% of it goes to the farmers/growers. But they do 100% of the work for only 5% back. If a chocolate bar costs $1 they only get $0.05 back. But 35% of the money goes to the retailer when they don't do any of the work to grow the chocolate. Document B shows that 31% of the Ivory Coast's exports is cocoa. The average person takes home $1,546 per year. While compared to The United States of America the average person takes home $54,630 per year. Now yes the U.S.A is a much bigger country but the U.S.A provides all kinds of things. The Ivory Coast provides mainly one thing that doesn't make a lot of money. Also, in document F it says that low prices paid to farmers result in low productivity and poverty in farming communities. Farmers use out-dated farming methods and lack resources to invest in fertilizers or in replacing ageing trees past their peak productivity. It also says that cocoa farmers are often illiterate and that they use outdated methods to farm cocoa trees, so they might be putting more work on themselves. As seen by the evidence, growing cocoa is bad for Côte d’Ivoire because they only get 5% back of each chocolate bar that is bought, but they do 100% of the work. The manufactures get 40% and the retailers get 35%