*[Enwl-eng] Children are falling to their deaths - for our health food cravings

[ENWL]

                        The "black gold" of health food is deadly for child 
workers.









                        Children Are Dying to Fill Up Our Smoothie Bowls. 
Demand Protections for Açaí Harvesters!



                             Sign Now




                        Açaí berries are often touted as a miracle health 
food, brimming with antioxidants and, as a result, filling our smoothies. 
But what's healthy for you and me is hell for children in Brazilian 
families. Most of the world's açaí comes from Brazil, where an estimated 
120,000 families work the forest harvests to survive. Picking açaí is an 
exploitative, deadly job for underpaid families in the Amazon — one that's 
largely performed by children as young as 9 years old. The risks they face 
include falling from 70-foot trees and being crushed, paralyzed, or impaled 
by its branches, as well as fending off scorpions, snakes, spiders, and 
venomous bees. Countless children have fallen to their deaths during the 
day's work, or simply disappear, never to return home.



                        Açaí berries sit at the top of tall, thin trees 
that are too fragile for most adults to climb, because the trees won't bear 
their weight. Many parents are opposed to their children picking açaí, but 
families often have no other choice, and greedy middlemen take advantage of 
this by underpaying the families for their harvests. Some companies claim to 
only deliver "fair trade" açaí harvested without child labor, but experts 
reveal that's impossible: no such thing as "fair trade" açaí exists. Any 
berry that you or I eat most likely comes from an exploitative system.



                        Right now, the supply chain is simply too spread out 
to track any individual berry and know where it came from. On top of that, 
Brazilian law does not provide any labor protections that ensure a livable 
wage for açaí harvesters or sufficient regulations regarding child labor 
in the industry. Luckily, some government officials are determined to 
investigate these dangers and protect children. But we must urge them to do 
even more. Sign the petition to urge Brazilian authorities to create 
government regulations to protect açaí pickers — children and adults 
alike!




                 Thank you,

                        Miranda

                        Care2 Petitions Team



                        P.S. Açaí is known as "black gold" in Brazil, but 
the children and families enduring the dangerous harvests rarely see any of 
those profits. Sign the petition to end the abuses in this industry.

                             Sign Now









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Care2.com, Inc.
3141 Stevens Creek Blvd. #40394
San Jose, CA 95117
http://www.care2.com

 
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