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Fair Trade Company

P.s. I know this is late but i honestly forgot about this I’m sorryyy. Better late than never😩

Rishi Tea and Botanicals

Rishi Tea and Botanicals is a tea company grown in China on a mountain range with some of the oldest tea gardens in the world. It is harvested organically and their fair trade practices have resulted in a college scholarship program for children in middle school. Their fair trade also brings hospital and roads to the remote area helping the community.

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History of a Hershey’s Kiss 💋

What are the ingredients?

Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Milk, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Lactose, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin, and Vanillin [Artificial Flavor]).

Where do they come from?

They source their cocoa from various growing regions around the world and have committed to use 100% certified cocoa by 2020. Most of the cocoa comes from West Africa. The milk is farm fresh from dairy farms within 100 miles of the factories. The sugar comes from sugar plantations across the southern US and around the world. The vanilla flavor is all natural and can come from various parts of the world like Madagascar. Lecithin comes from soy beans and is used to balance out the milk and cocoa butter and give it a better consistency.

What are the working and living conditions of the people who produce the cocoa?

With the majority of the global cocoa supply coming from Africa, the need for workers on plantations is always there, this has brought about the thriving business of child labor, slavery, and human trafficking across African borders. Many cocoa farms do not own the cocoa plantation and pay the land owner 50‐66 percent of each year’s crop. To keep costs low, farmers use their own family members as a source of labor. Hazardous conditions include applying pesticides, working with sharp objects like knives and machetes, working without safety equipment, and environments full of snakes, insects, and other dangerous animals. Although governments and corporations are aware of this problem, no accurate information, aside from estimates, exists regarding the true number of children working on cocoa plantations. The amount workers are paid is typically not efficient to live off of despite efforts to change conditions and labor laws. In 2011, over 400 foreign students working for Hershey went on strike after Excel, one of the company’s sub‐contractors, mislead and underpaid them. OSHA later fined the sub‐contractor $283,000 for health and safety violations.

Are child laborers involved?

Children who work on cocoa plantations are usually somewhere between 12 and 15 years old but some are as young as 5 years old. The issues of child labor, human trafficking, and forced labor in West Africa have drawn the attention of many organizations, especially those who work directly with them. There are many different initiatives, laws, and other precautionary measures in order to reduce the use of children for cocoa farming in terms of manual labor. In Africa individuals under the age of 14 are not allowed by law to work within the business sector, which does not include family farms. This law does almost nothing when considering the large amounts of family cocoa farms and the ease of hiding non‐family laborers.

How is it produced?

Cocoa pods are harvested from trees. The cocoa pods are collected in large baskets, which workers carry on their heads to curing areas. At the curing area farmers remove the cocoa beans from their pods and they are fermented and dried. The dry cured cocoa beans are then packed into sacks for transport. The cocoa beans are transported in trucks by road to the Ghanaian port, where they are packed into containers. The Cocoa products are transported in trucks by road back to the port of Singapore.

How does the cocoa get to the market?

The Cocoa products are transported in trucks by road back to the port of Singapore. A container ship transports the Cocoa products by sea to the port of Melbourne. Truck’s transport the cocoa Products by road from the port of Melbourne to a manufacturing factory. Manufacturers use the Cocoa products as ingredients. These products are loaded onto palettes and into trucks. Trucks transport the products by road to a warehouse where orders are assembled. These orders are then loaded on to pallets and into trucks. They are then transported by Road to super markets and real outlets.

How are prices set?

Supply drivers tend to be the stronger influencer of chocolate’s price volatility. With cocoa being a main ingredient this is what price typically fluctuates on. Africa – primarily the Ivory Coast and Ghana – is the largest global producer of cocoa. Supply fluctuations are a result of a number of factors, from political and civil unrest to labor issues and the effect of weather, diseases and pests on crop yields. For example, long periods of dry weather are not conducive to cocoa bean growth, resulting in supply shortages. Others ingredients such as sugar, dairy products, nuts, corn sweeteners and energy (natural gas and fuel oil) are also necessary to produce chocolate products. The prices of these commodities are driven, for the most part, by the commodities market, which sets the price based on supply and demand levels and can result in varying levels of volatility on commodity prices.

What international corporations dominate the chocolate Trade?

The dominating chocolate trade corporations are Mars Inc., Mondelez International, Nestlé, Ferrero Group, Meiji Co., Hershey Co., Lindt & Sprugli, and Perfetti Van Melle.

Who regulates it?

TransFairUSA is what many companies use to regulate the trade of cocoa to make them seen as a better factory. Others trade through one of the two world exchanges, either the NYSE Euronext or the Intercontinental Exchange.

Where did I buy it?

I bought it at Target

How much profit does a store owner make on chocolate?

They can make between 30 and 48 percent profit.

How is chocolate marketed?

Chocolate is marketed in many ways through ads like posters, commercials on tv and youtube, amusement parks etc...

Are there hidden costs that are not included in the price you paid? (Consider underpayment of labor; environmental impact; government subsidies that are direct [to the company] and indirect [infrastructure such as roads, ports, bridges, and water systems]; and the healthcare costs created by the harvesting, transporting, processing, and eating of this food.)

Yes, there are many hidden costs included in the price the people who produce the cocoa don’t get paid nearly half the amount the chocolate costs and don’t get any benefits either including healthcare or insurance. Also the way the cocoa is transported and how much the transporters get paid is not sufficient. The cocoa is transported back and forth before it even makes it to the chocolate factories. Incorporating the price of shipping like that guarantees more hidden fees.

Now that you’ve gathered some information about the components of this chocolate bar, write its biography. Tell the story of its life from the farming of its ingredients to the production and consumption.

The process of a Hershey kiss begins with the production of the main ingredients cocoa, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Production of the cocoa spans several countries and companies. The cocoa is supplied 70 percent from Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon).The harvest process is labor intensive and starts when the seeds (cocoa beans) are extracted by splitting the pod with a machete. After the beans have been extracted, they are laid out to dry in the sun for several days in order to acquire the flavor needed for chocolate. The beans are then packed into bags and sent out for shipment where it is changed to cocoa butter then gone through another phase to get to the factory. The vanilla is harvested mostly in Madagascar under better conditions but still not the best conditions. The sugar is brought from southern US mostly and the milk is harvested about 100 miles from the actual factory by cows that, Hershey says, are treated humanely. Once everything is shipped and produced to the fullest it is then shipped to the Hershey factory to come together as the famous chocolate. The Hershey kiss has a specific shape so it goes through the proper machinery to get to that shape. They then ship the chocolate off to stores like Walmart and advertise the chocolate through commercials on tv and posters in store which make the chocolate look deletable, often times referring to the name and having actors use the chocolate kiss as a way to get more customers. People then go and buy the chocolate and eat it.

Sources:

https://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu/pdf/Hershey%20Case.pdf

https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/profit-margin-expected-chocolate-24385.html

https://www.hersheys.com/en_us/our-story/our-ingredients.html

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/071615/what-drives-price-chocolate.asp

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Social class and inequality

Self-made: having become successful or rich by one's own efforts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/entertainment-arts-47468641

This article on Kylie Jenner becoming the youngest self-made billionaire is an example of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory. This specifically covers his Ideas on social reproduction through his theory. Bourdieu believed that structural constraints and unequal access to resources are based on class, gender, and race. In this article Kylie speaks in how she is self-made because she didn’t inherit money from her parents. Nonetheless, she had a major platform and had all the resources she needed to build her business solely because of the status of her family.

Many people were saying that the title is false and that she isn’t self-made. When she was almost introduced to the title the news blew up a lot of the higher class individuals were quick to jump in and donate money to help her in reaching exactly 1 billion. This is an example of social reproduction because Kylie comes from high class individuals and therefore had many connections to more high class individuals. Kylie was making all of this money off of makeup despite her starting out later than most brands and her product not being as high quality. Her habitus allowed her to get as far as she did in the business because she only knew money all her life and she is used to the limelight so when she plumped her lips it was a big deal and she made money off of it by making expensive lip kits and that’s essentially how her brand blew up it was a mixture of her social class, her social reproduction coming from a rich background, and habitus because she developed new expensive skills/ habits because she had money to do so and decided to make more money off of it.

Kylie’s brand was able to expand so far because of her connections as well. No matter where she went she would make money off of her brand just because of her family and that ties into social mobility a little bit. If you think about it a lower class 21 year old girl in a low class neighborhood, a high school education, no experience in the makeup industry, and a kid would most likely not have the same story as Kylie and it’s simply because their backgrounds are different. They have different social classes and live in different areas, but have the same LEVEL of education (on paper,) same interest but no real experience in the makeup industry, and a child. It’s just amazing how that works because typically people would call the other girl ghetto or just a mess but Kylie is a whole billionaire for it... let’s just say the inequality is real.

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Kinship

Not going to lie this fieldwork was a little difficult because my family is difficult but I am the ego and my parents had me, my two sisters, and my brother. My dad has 3 sisters(my aunties) and only one is married and has one child (my cousin’s father died and my current uncle is not her father). They have a lot of step children. My other aunts don’t have husbands and I’m not sure who my cross cousins’ fathers are but I know my aunts had them and they are my cross cousins. My mother has 2 half brother and a half sister with a lot of step sisters and her 1/2 siblings all have kids. The ones who are married are both deceased but their partners are still living and I have 1/2 parallel and 1/2 cross cousins.

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Gender

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/09/rap-gender-gap-why-are-female-mcs-still-not-being-heard

This talks about how it’s harder for female rappers to have a successful rap career

https://www.stripes.com/news/army-uniform-designed-for-women-now-for-all-1.191106

The army has come to terms that not everyone is the same and have adjusted the uniforms so girls aren’t obligated to wear skirts

https://www.cleveland.com/shatter/2018/06/who_mows_the_lawn_at_your_hous.html

https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/welcoming/ways/bathrooms

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5784910/

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/06/17/619557786/stay-at-home-dads-still-struggle-with-diapers-drool-stigma-and-isolation

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/may/08/caitlyn-jenner-bruce-transitioning-kardashians-reality-tv-star

This is how Bruce Jenner transition and how it was very hard for him after having many accomplishments as Bruce.

https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/01/20/personal-pronouns-are-changing-fast

https://www.singlecare.com/blog/the-future-of-male-birth-control/

https://nypost.com/2018/04/19/male-victims-of-sex-abuse-feel-left-behind-by-metoo-parade/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2019/01/28/terry-crews-celebs-mocked-his-sexual-assault-metoo-movement-dl-hughley-50-cent/2699273002/

https://www.brides.com/story/why-women-should-propose

https://lonewolfmag.com/who-are-women-dressing-for/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/us/girl-boy-scouts-scli-intl/index.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607678097/boy-scouts-changing-name-to-scouts-bsa-as-girls-welcomed-into-program

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-study-shows-gender-is-biological-unchangeable

https://snappening.com/blog/8-tips-planning-perfect-gender-neutral-baby-shower/

No more pink and blue this article suggests that gender neutral baby showers are a hit.

https://www.bolde.com/many-smart-gorgeous-women-single-almost-epidemic/

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Ethnicity and Nationalism

The ethnic differences in Rwanda

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Thomas theorem examples

1.) Hitler made an allegation saying the Jews were to blame for what was going on in their country and eventually everyone believed it. The consequences resulted in the holocaust where Jews were profiled based off of looks and bloodline and were eventually killed.

2.) Bleaching is a major problem in many places like Africa and Jamaica. The lighter you are the more appealing and desirable you are. This epidemic doesn’t get better because the culture and the music that is mainstream praises the lighter skin and it’s evident. This makes many dark people think that’s the right way to be. It’s thought of as normal and even in America rappers typically talk about lighter skin girls and “exotic”girls and use them as video vixens.

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Fieldwork #5

Wheelchairs are examples of cultural adaptations. Before wheelchairs people who are wheelchair accessible wouldn’t be able to really experience life by going outside and getting around in general(they were literally using people’s backs to get around if they could). As a result, they would have a shorter life span than most. Wheelchairs have come a long way from the first one ever made. One of the first wheelchairs ever made was in 1783 by John Dawson and were only made available for rent to people who were sick so they could take water to pump rooms or to bathe in public facilities. This of course was a breakthrough for the disabled community and it was a start for the wheelchairs we know and appreciate today. In the late 1800s people began complaining that the wheel chairs were simply uncomfortable and in 1869 a better, more comfortable wheelchair with rear push wheels and small front tires was revealed. It wasn’t until 1932 when Harry Jennings made the collapsible wheelchair. This was a major breakthrough for the disabled community ensuring an easier way of transporting wheelchairs and getting around. Finally in 1956 electric/motorized wheelchairs were made by George Klein and this is the most modern way for disabled people to get around. It doesn’t require them to use their arms to push off on the wheels and it’s easy to maneuver and get around in. It also helps them move faster to get where they need to go. Disabled people have come a long way and now have an innovative means of getting around in any way we have sport wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, regular wheelchairs and more. It doesn’t limit the disabled individual though and that’s what’s important. They can now play tennis, play basketball, go racing, and so much more!

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Gender: “Some bwoy cyan please me

Dem jus na ready

Na know fi flag me

If u sturdy

Check me!”

Lady saw is talking to the boys who want her saying some are able to please her but they aren’t actually ready for her because they can’t get her so if you’re a stable man in all aspects shoot your shot 😉

Power: “Me love man, big sturdy and strong give de gyal

Blackout fi plow down me lawn

I like it rawww”

Lady saw is explaining what she wants in a man. She wants him to take lead, be strong, and have a big cockyyy so he can lay it down and put her to sleep at anytime 😂.

Dialect: “Baby are you up for dis

Give me all dat slammin

So dat i can turn and twist

Me na with a no long talkin”

Lady saw is asking if if her man is ready for her because she’s ready for him and she’s ready for him to get her to show off what she can do. She wants all action, no talking.

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Fieldwork #4

For this fieldwork assignment I observed my English 112 class simply because my instructor likes to use use modern day issues as examples to teach the class therefore there is a good amount of input and output from students of both genders. My class is fairly small and consists of 6 boys, 7 including the teacher, and 5 girls. It was pretty easy to tell who spoke the most and who dominated the discussions the most. we start the class off with a “news and views” segment for the first five minutes and had a leader lead the discussion. I used to lead discussions but recently a very outspoken male in my class has taken over the role. When I get to class he’s already in the front chair choosing what to talk about. (Yes I’m a lor salty 🧂) lol anywayy two of the males in my class are student-athletes on the Morgan State University football team. They typically wear their Morgan football paraphernalia to class and the teacher always notices, so of course many of the references and examples the teacher gives pertain to all things football. This encourages not only the student athletes to pitch ideas to discussions but also every other male since they’re all educated in the topic. The professor usually apologizes to the females at the end of class for always using football references but he says “the majority understand”. Don’t get me wrong after the boys explain the references it does make sense and gives the class a better understanding of the main topic, but it is annoying that initially I, and all the other female, don’t understand them all because we aren’t as into the sport as the males are. As far as body language the girls speak with more hand motion and they use more words to get their point across or stop midway and say “y’all get what I’m saying” males, on the other hand talk with more aggression and have more passion in their voice as they speak, partially because they enjoy the topics more. They sometimes speak with one finger up and say things like “actually...” and “I think” in this specific class the males speak way more than the females but use less word. Males average about 20 words every time they’re called on while females average about 30-35. I am the only outspoken female in the class and I try and put my two cents in any discussion we have. It works for a little bit but the males usually take over because they know more about football. The teacher actually calls on male and female to answer whether their hand is up or not, but by the end the males are ending the discussion usually. I compare this English class experience with my English class last semester with the same professor. We never really spoke about football because it was a bigger class, no one was on the football team and the instructor found other things to base discussions on. No one spoke over anyone because they were all topics we could have opinions on. I feel our class discussions usually are explained through football because there are more males in the class, we have two football players, it’s a smaller class, the girls are more quiet, and because the teacher is a male.

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Fieldwork assignment-3

The location I chose was Build-A-Bear Workshop in Towson mall and I went on Friday and staurday. I chose Build-A-Bear because I am a currently a sales associate there and since I am there so often, I never really experienced what the store is like when I’m not working (lol I never visit my store when I go to the mall on an off day). I’m really good at my job and I am the top bear builder. I always have fun working, but I’m always so busy. between hosting parties, tending to all the guests, and making everyone happy and I never got the chance to really take in where I work and see why our guests leave so happy. While sitting in my store for an hour, and actually building a bear, I learned that our store is so unique and that the experience the kids and grownups feel when they come there is like no other.

The first thing I noticed was the outside of the store I never looked at our window display but when I did, I realized it’s very luring with the set-up of the friends we have out there. Some of them are dressed in eye catching colors or outfits or look so new it makes a guest think “I have to have ittt”. I noticed that the big sign saying “Buy one friend get another for only $10” was a way to lure people into the store thinking a friend is just 10 dollars. Because the sign had $10 in bold and it was the biggest thing on the sign, many people came in thinking they would get a bear for 10 dollars until the front-of-the store lead explained to them the actual deal. I would have to say about 95% of the guests remained in the store and bought two bears after finding out it was buy one get one $10. Another thing I realized is that the cheapest bears are at the end of the wall, so guests have to pass all the expensive ones to get to the cheaper ones. That was a really good marketing tactic as far as luring guests to aim for the expensive friends. I noticed that the stores sequence is a circle so the way to build a bear and go through the whole process makes you go around the whole store just to end up back at the front for checkout. This forces guests to look at everything before checking out and getting the most expensive clothes before heading up front and realizing we have a clearance rack, behind the registers of course. I of course noticed the rare kids to adult ratio in the store which was pretty even because of valentines day. I think when kids are out of school they gravitate toward the store even more and when holidays approach the ratio is pretty even. Lastly, I noticed that a majority of our sales come from the pay your age birthday bear, and because the adult doesn’t need proof of the child’s birthday many come in and ask for that bear specifically.

There wasn’t much absent in the business the only thing I really noticed was no one was carrying around our skating friends like I usually would. When I carry them around parents ask how much it costs or are inclined to spend more money on their child. I thought that was a big absence because they were just in the corner behind the register not doing any good. Another absence was the bearmy mascot. I feel like the mascot would incline more people to come to the store. From experience when I was the mascot so many people asked to take pictures and ended up purchasing something.

I’ve learned a lot from this experience and hope to use what I witnessed from another perspective to please the guests even more!

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Snipet of Tuesday’s classwork: Mexican phenomenon

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field work #2

While completing this assignment I’ve discovered that I have a lot of things I don’t necessarily need. I’ve also realized that I’ve spent a lot of money on things and I could have so much money if I spent it on more useful thing or just saved my coins all together. when it came to how much of the items I had it really opened my eyes because the amount was unnecessary. All the shoes and clothes I have and I somehow find it in my heart to buy more because “I don’t have anything”. This was a wake up call because Aleisha needs to do better smhhh.

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Greek Life is an example of consumerism because many people, especially black people, join to gain a higher status and to be considered as “more desireable” on campus; despite college already being expensive they pay monthly dues and buy into Greek life. An example is all of the divine 9’s (AKA, Delta, Iota, Kappa, Zeta, etc...)

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What is it?

This is my citizen watch. The Citizen watch company is a Japanese and Swiss Electronics company known for its wide range of watches. It’s the parent of the American watch company, Bulova and was founded 102 years ago (1918).

Who makes it and where is it made?

Citizen watches are made in a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo. They have about 20,000 employees (majority Japanese). Watches are assembled by humans and robots and the factory is really a lab.

In 2011, 1,100 workers from one department went on strike in attempt to have an agreement with the company. The agreement called for payment for a 40 minute break during overtime shifts, the provision of overdue pension and housing funds, and compensation for working in a high temperature environment. It took 10 days for Citizen to agree to the deal and for workers to return back to the job. Workers complained of no pay overtime, no toilet breaks, and frequent punitive fines because of strict management. after the agreement made with the company many of the employees stayed and say it’s better.

History of Citizen

Citizen company was founded by Japanese and Swiss investors. The first regulation was in Switzerland by Schmid in 1918. The first plants that opened were in Yamaha in 1912. Set aside relied on technology transfer from Switzerland up until World War II.

How it impacts my life/ environment?

My citizen watch helps me out on a daily basis. When I’m at school I don’t always have my phone in hand, so I use my easily accessible watch to see if I’m on schedule. I also use my watch at work, since I’m not allowed to have my phone on the floor, I use it to know when my breaks are or to see if I’m running overtime on a party.

Citizen watches are environmentally sound. In 1995 the company launched its Eco– Drive watches which are powered by light. The watches also eliminate the disposal of 10 million batteries in North America alone and they are looking to expand this product further. Citizen eliminated the use of chlorinated organic compounds and hydro-chlorofluorocarbons completely in 2008.

Now that working conditions are much better for the factory workers of Citizen. It just makes me think of what life would be like for they had they not protested. I’m happy working conditions got better before they got worse and I’m happy Citizen made the agreement as soon as they did. It just saddens me that they saw no issue with their policy in the beginning. That was a form of internal globalization because it was within their own country that workers are being treated unfairly. Unfortunately there were not many articles on the lives of factory workers before the protest because the factory was very tight-lipped about everything, even how they made their watches, so no one really knew what was happening behind the scene.

Sources:

https://www.citizen.co.jp/global/csr/environment/

https://gearpatrol.com/2016/05/31/citizen-watches-factory-tour/

#fieldwork assignment 1