Tara Sullivan is an author and activist born in Calcutta, India. In her lifetime, she’s been all around the world, and written two books about subjects she cares deeply about. Golden Boy describes life for an albino boy in Tanzania where they poach albino people for their believed magic. The Bitter Side of Sweet is about the child trafficking and slavery present in the chocolate industry. Sullivan hosted an event at the Reading Public Library about The Bitter Side of Sweet only a few weeks ago. Unexpectedly, many middle and high schoolers went to the event because their class read her book. It was a lively event: fair trade chocolate was served alongside popcorn, with the chance to meet the author, get a signed copy of her book, or just take a picture with her accompanying the food.
Tara Sullivan told aspiring writers in the audience “If you’re going to write- write about something that makes you really happy, or makes you really upset.” Sullivan just radiates passion when she speaks about her work. She’s loud, she’s forceful, and she’s energetic when talking about something they believe is wrong. She cares about what she publishes, and she cares about all the people she writes about who don’t have a voice themselves.
Her story takes place on the Ivory Coast, which 37.1% of the world’s cocoa comes from. However, often big chocolate companies will give only 6-7% of the money that you spend on that supermarket Hershey’s bar, which causes issues with the money. Cocoa plants that don’t make more than the money they put out often go to a cheap, easy solution- child workers. Children in these areas are promised money, which many will take the offer for in order to help their families. However, they’re then smuggled into the Ivory Coast, and forced to work for little to no money in horrible, unsanitary conditions, with only two ways out- rescue or death.
They are not often rescued.
Two hundred thousand children in the Ivory Coast alone are forced to work at these plantations each year, and though it continues to be an ongoing problem, we still purchase carelessly from Nestlé, Hershey, Mars, and more. Though it is obvious chocolate will never go away, it’s all too easy to think, “Nothing’s going to change so why bother.” Wrong. Change happens because we want it to, not because we sit back and we wait. Buy chocolate from fair trade companies- they’re really good! Write complaints to big-name brands about why they should source their cocoa somewhere else. Spread the word, get your friends to know- anything that promotes and fights the child trafficking that’s happening even today.
The children need us.
