Sutaria 1

Henal Sutaria
Jonathan Mundell
ENC 2135
17 March 2016
Where Does Your Morning Fuel Come From?

Have you ever wondered where your morning cupojoe comes from? Whether its from
deep within the robust, African forest or from a Brazilian mans backyard? Truth is, it isnt as
complicated as we perceive it to be. Coffee is cultivated on, well, coffee farms just the way other
foods are grown. The real question we want to ponder though is WHO makes all of this coffee?
If we think about it, there is SO much coffee being consumed every day, especially in the United
States alone. So who is putting in all that work into making our coffee to ensure we dont go one
morning feeling groggy? In this research paper, we will be excavating for answers on who makes
our coffee, how they are treated and what they are rewarded in return for their hard work.
The causes for child labor are related to poverty and when unemployment levels are high
(Child Labor Public Education Project (CLPEP)). Other causes include limited education, when
existing laws are already being violated, and when the laws are not enforced properly (like not
more strictly addressing the problem of kidnapping). These such reasons are the main causes for
the prevalent usage of child labor in agricultural production. For coffee, countries such as
Guatemala and Brazil have these kinds of statistics. About 36,000, sixty kilogram bags of both
Arabica and Robusta coffee beans were exported between October and January of the 2015-2016
year based on statistics from the International Coffee Organization. How is so much coffee
cultivated, produced, and exported to countries like the United States in such a small frame time?

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Who is so dedicated to work that much? The answer is those in need of work. In the beginning of
October of 2000, investigative reports were released regarding the mistreatment of laborers for
the chocolate and coffee industry (Nall). These reports entailed the findings of human trafficking
and child labor. The reports gave details that are astounding listing that children, ages 12 to 16
[and] some as young as 7 and 9 are smuggled from countries like Mali [and] Burkina Faso
(Nall). These kids are then sold to plantation owners that cultivate products most frequently like
cocoa beans. (The connection between coffee and cocoa is that usually both are grown on the
same farm (Nall). These kids are vulnerably captured on the pretenses of paid work (Nall). As
work is scarce, the area is prevalent with poor people ready to work for anyone and work any
odd job. Traffickers often prey upon children seeking to earn income for their desperate
families (Nall). Similarly, these children are promised a reward for their labor but ending up
with nothing. After these kids are sold to the plantation owners, they are put under brutal
conditions working many hours and with grueling manual labor (Nall). For those brave enough
to rebel or too slow to work, they are presented with a terrible situation. These kids are beaten
with branches and bicycle chains (Nall). Those that are brave enough to attempt escape from
this hell are bound with rope and beaten so that severe scars may remain (Nall). Along with
these reports, a documentary about the situation was released in 2010 called The Dark Side of
Chocolate by Miki Mistrati and U. Roberto Romano. Mistrati and Romano venture to the depths
of the problem of human trafficking, even secretly video taping people who are related to the
human trafficking and child labor business. They found men who personally smuggle children
across the border. They spoke to a village chief who tells of more than 100 children being
abducted by traffickers (Nall). Of course, plantation owners are directly involved, personally
pay[ing] [men] and others to take children across the border to work (Nall). Mistrati and

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Romano get the chance to go onto such a farm and film children ages 10 and up working under
such destitute conditions. I have personally watched this documentary and admit it shook me. It
presents raw evidence of a situation people like you and me would not fathom could actually be
happening and STILL keep happening even when it has become public knowledge. The coffee
industry is a culprit of these wicked ways as well. According to the report released by the U.S.
Department of Labors Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), child labor is enforced in
Colombia and Guatemala, both being leading exporters of coffee (Nall). Based on the report,
there was forced labor in addition to child labor being enforced in the Ivory Coast for coffee
production (Nall).
So how is this kind of labor treatment allowed or overlooked by countries like the United
States and even organizations like the United Nations? An article by Alex Liccione, Beyond the
Perks: The Overlooked Human Cost of Coffee, addresses this great problem of unfair labor
treatment for coffee production. The 1940s fair trade movement began focusing its resources
towards agricultural production or mainly coffee and tea in the 1980s with the creation of Fair
Trade International (FLO) and World Fair Trade Organization (WFLO) (Liccione). Now, these
organizations have set a model for fair trade. These organizations identify which products have
been produced based on the set standards of production by labeling products such as coffee, tea,
sugar, flowers, juice, and more with a Fair Trade label (Liccione). The set standards needed to
be approved by the organizations entail not using forced or child labor, maintaining good
working conditions, and paying fair wages to plantation workers (Liccione). The fair trade
movements ultimate goal with the Fair Trade model is to reduce poverty and better the
livelihoods of plantation workers worldwide (Liccione). The benefits for using this system have
been great, but one of the greatest benefits has been increased economic benefits and stability it

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provided to coffee producers (Liccione). An example of this benefit is in the case of Fair Trade
coffee producer Majomut of Mexico (Liccione). In addition to leading coffee producer benefits,
worldwide benefits have been observed. For example, India received an additional $3.3 million
as Fair Trade Premium than what they would have received within the standard market for
products such as rice, tea, cotton, spices and coffee (Liccione). Going forward, the Fair Trade
International and World Fair Trade Organization wish to help the indigenous peoples of
Guatemala as they have not been unleashed to the benefits of the Fair Trade model (Liccione).
It is good to see people coming together into organizations caring about the rights and
lives of others. But what about the people who support the child labor business? On the WORLD
magazine website (www.WORLDmag.com), Alex Tokarev writes about how he supports child
labor. Iardently support child labor says Tokarev, I support sweatshops and child labor as a
Christian as well as an economist (Tokarev). Tokarev explains that he supports all these things
that people are so opposed to. However, he brings up that years ago, most American children
worked longer hours at harder jobs than the children who make your shoes and shirts in
Bangladesh and Honduras (Tokarev). He further says that in Great Britain, more than a third of
the English boys ages 10 to 14 were gainfully employedfor more than 60 hours a week
during the mid-19th century (Tokarev). I believe that Alex Tokarev brings up valid points, but the
time frame is off. Back then, there were set boundaries of what men did, what women did, what
children did. If we examine the situation like that, then what we call child labor today is still
considered bad. When children worked back in the mid-19th century, they were fairly paid. It is
true that the conditions were still probably not very good either, but those children were not
kidnapped from their hometown, lured with the promise of a brighter future. Those kids were
also not beaten when they needed a break or refused to work. Children who worked back in the

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day were treated in a much more ethical manner than they are under the circumstances that we
are observing. Tokarev does not address the fact that children are treated differently when they
are taken away from their families to foreign plantations to do laborious manual work with no
fruitful gain.
If we broaden our perspective even more and look at all the industries, we see that child
labor plagues almost every industry. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs released a List of
Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor under the Protection Reauthorization Act of
2005. Goods just added to the TVPRA (Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act) List
in 2014 included garments, alcoholic beverages, meat, textiles, fish, timber, cotton sugarcane,
vanilla, electronics and palm oil. These goods were manufactured in a range of different
countries going from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia to Cambodia, Kenya, the Madagascar, and
Yemen (Bureau of International Labor Affairs). All countries produce their products using child
labor except Malaysia in their production of electronics. (They instill forced labor, which is not
even a better substitution.) The list gives other statistics regarding where child labor is used and
for what production. When categorized by production sector, child labor is used most in the
agriculture sector over manufacturing, mining/quarrying, and pornography (Bureau of
International Labor Affairs). In each sector, there is a greater implementation of child labor than
forced labor (Bureau of International Labor Affairs). What is alarming is that there is even a
sector for pornography where child labor is used. Based on this list, it seems as though child
labor is used for every possible thing you can think of or every thing you use.
What is the government doing about all the child labor issues around the world? The
United States has laws in place that say children the age of 14 can work at non hazardous places
and at 18 they are legally allowed to work at places considered hazardous (Child Labor Public

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Education Project). Regarding the agricultural sector, the United States allows child employment
beginning from age 10 with restrictions and parental consent (Child Labor Public Education
Project). Internationally, the minimum age to work in a hazardous place is eighteen (United
Nations). The age requirement can be lowered to sixteen but only under strict conditions (United
Nations). The United Nations website displays Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of
Child Labour, 1999 (United Nations). This UN Convention covers all children under the age of
eighteen and the proper way by which these children will be allowed to work, for example,
proper conditions. The Convention lists four actions as the worst forms of child labor. First, all
forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children is
outlawed to people under the age of eighteen (United Nations). Second, the use, procuring or
offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography is banned by the
Convention for all people under the age of eighteen (United Nations). Third, the use, procuring
or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs
is prohibited as defined in the relevant international treaties (United Nations). Last, work
which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health,
safety or morals of children is not allowed for people under the age of eighteen under this
Convention (United Nations). As listed above, internationally, laws have been placed to try to
combat the spread of child labor, however, the implementation of these laws are not being done
very well as child labor is still a major problem around the world.
This paper has looked at data and statistics from different sources, countries, and
timelines to evaluate the subject of child labor in production of industry goods. As we can see,
children all around the world are working so hard, kidnapped, beaten, and punished under these

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conditions. International awareness on the issue of child labor is the first step we can take to help
those kids.

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Works Cited

"10 Steps from Seed to Cup." 10 Steps from Seed to Cup. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Clark-Bennett, Robin, Carol Hodne, and Jennifer Sherer. "Causes of Child Labor." - The Child
Labor Education Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. This is a secondary source. This
source contains global restrictions and guidelines on child labor. This source relates to the
research topic because it gives the basic global guidelines of child labor. The source is
credible because the website ends in ".edu."
Liccione, Alex. "Beyond the Perks: The Overlooked Human Cost of Coffee." Beyond the Perks:
The Overlooked Human Cost of Coffee. N.p., May 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. This is a
secondary source. This source explains where coffee production occurs and the global
problem connected with child or forced labor and poverty. I will use this to support how
bad treatment of people is overlooked. This source is credible because of the ".org" at the
end of the website URL.
Nall, Jeffrey. "Combating Slavery in Coffee and Chocolate Production." Truthout. N.p., 15 Jan.
2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. This is a secondary source. This source explains a lot evidence
regarding chocolate production using child labor and also coffee production and child
labor. The source explains ways that people are trying to combat the child labor issue. I
will use this source to show how people are trying to fix the problem of child labor. This
source is credible because it has a ".org" at the end of the website URL.
Not Specified. "In Memoriam." The Musical Times 146.1890 (2005): 2-5. Department of Labor.
1 Dec. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. This is a secondary source. This source gives a list of
items that are manufactured using under child labor or forced labor. I will use this source

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to explain how many items are produced currently with the use of child labor and show
how large the amount of our common items are made by child labor. This source is
credible because it has a ".gov" at the end of the website URL.
Not Specified. "Trade Statistics Tables." International Coffee Organization -. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Mar. 2016. This is a secondary source. This source contains statistics of coffee trade from
all around the globe. This source relates to the research topic because it gives statistics
about how much coffee is imported/exported from different countries. It can help support
and direct where child labor might be present. This source is credible because the ending
is ".org."
Not Specified. "Where Coffee Grow." Where Coffee Grow. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. This is
a secondary source. This source describes almost everything there is know about coffee where it is grown, coffee and its relation to the bodily senses, the coffee production,
coffee preparation, nutritional information about coffee, and coffee's "role" in society. I
will use this source to give background about coffee. I will also use this source to explain
the rigorous workload for coffee production. I can use that to prove how children should
not be allowed to work and make coffee. This source is credible because it has a ".org" at
the end of the URL. It is also credible because at the bottom of the page it says that the
"information is intended for healthcare professional audiences."
Tokarev, Alex. "WORLD | In Support of Child Labor | Alex Tokarev | March 7, 2012." WORLD.
N.p., 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. This is a secondary source. This source explains
how there are people who are not against child labor and sweatshops. I will use this
source to explain how there are people who support the child labor business. This source
may not be completely credible.

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United Nations. "Resources for Speakers, Global Issues, Africa, Ageing, Agriculture, Aids,
Atomic Energy, Children, Climate Change, Culture, Decolonization, Demining,
Development, Disabilities, Disarmament, Environment, Food, Governance,
Humanitarian, Refugees, Women." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. This is
a secondary source. This source explains the international conventions of child labor. I
will use this source to support how child labor should not be allowed. This is a credible
source because it has ".org" at the end of the website URL.