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| Photo by Lucy Toner |
Did you ever wonder if anything we do even matters? We sign petitions, we talk to our friends and family, we boycott products/businesses. But do we make a dent?
While it's easy to get discouraged, it's important that we don't give up. That's why I wanted to share a story of success... of how our voices were heard.
For months, there was a push for Hershey to stop using child labor and to achieve Fair Trade certification. This involved individuals, like you and me, bombarding Hershey with petitions, emails, phone calls, social media messages, etc. demanding that the company cut ties with child labor.
Several protests took place in front of Hershey headquarters, which attracted quite a bit of media attention. The Green Business Network managed to get over 40 food co-ops involved by having them pledge not to carry Hershey products.But when it came to Whole Foods, there was resistance. As a matter of fact, they refused to pull the products from their shelves.
Thousands of emails to Whole Foods managers from members of the Green Business Network finally tipped the scale and after only 8 days, Whole Foods removed Hershey's Scharffen Berger line from their stores.
Within a week of the announcement from Whole Foods, Hershey buckled and pledged to certify 100% of its cocoa by the year 2020. That's a bit slow for my liking, but hey, it's success. And that, my friends, is something to be thankful for.
Thankful for all of you who put action behind their words,
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