Chocolate is harvested and processed under appalling conditions of child slavery, child labor and trafficked, underpaid adults. Think cotton plantations in the old South. So bad is the reputation of the industry that Sen. Tom Harkin and others have tried to curtail these practices in Africa with the U.S. Department of Labor and the International Labor Organization, which states that 1.5 million kids are involved in the gruesome work – which I have personally witnessed in Ghana. Even our Supreme Court has been involved over the conditions and secretive nature of the chocolate industry (Nestle).

Given the notoriety of the chocolate industry (just like coffee beans), one would expect editors at a reputable newspaper to at least look up data before lamenting the (minor) woes of chocolatiers in Maine (“Why hotter summers are causing headaches for Maine chocolatiers,” Aug. 25) adjusting their shipping practices to of all things – gasp! – climate change. Consumers likewise should seek environmentally and socially conscious supplies of their chocolates and bonbons. They exist.

Are the chocolatiers featured in “Hot Mess” certified child labor-free buyers of wholesale beans? Did the writer bother to check?

Barbara Skapa
Mt. Vernon