International Women's Day in ABQ

by Jasmine McBeath

2 giant chocolates, 11 volunteers, 167 signatures, and 250 bars of candy. Those are the key numbers from our action here in Albuquerque on International Women's Day. On March 8th, Oxfam chapters across the country recognized International Women's Day by highlighting gender inequality in the supply chains of Nestle, Mondelez, and Mars. While these companies control 40 percent of the chocolate market, they haven't done nearly enough to tackle the issues faced by women who grow cocoa. The narrator of the Oxfam clip The Truth about Women and Chocolate states, "For decades, the big chocolate companies have put women first in their ads, but when it comes to the women who grow their cocoa...the truth: hunger, inequality, unfair pay." 

So, we spent International Women's Day at UNM and Nob Hill telling people how chocolate is a $100 billion business but most cocoa farmers live on less than $2 a day. We distributed specially packaged Oreos from Mondelez, M&Ms from Mars, and Crunch Bars from Nestle. The candy had labels that mimicked the normal branding but with Oxfam messaging. The front had a catchy tagline and on the back the 'nutrition facts' became the 'not-so-sweet facts' with the chocolate company rankings according to 18 months of research by Oxfam. Out of ten, Mars and Mondelez scored 1 and 2 respectively, while Nestle received a 4. What's a chocolate lover to do? 

The answer was not obvious to most people. In fact, students kept asking why we were handing out candy from these companies if we hated their policies.  We told them how Oxfam knows that even big companies care what their consumers think. Rather than encourage boycotting, it's more powerful to speak out against injustice and encourage the companies to improve their standings. Just tell Mondelez that you love Oreos but equality for women farmers would make their cookies even sweeter.  Or tell all three companies by signing the petition here, by clicking on "take action" in the upper right corner.  

We reached over 250 people through our outreach in Albuquerque. More impressive is the combined effort. On March 8th alone over 10,000 people signed the Oxfam online petition.  Two weeks later, that number is almost 70,000.  The companies are already responding and have made commitments to improve their policies toward women.  According to Alison Woodhead, the campaign manager for Behind the Brands, “Mars, Mondelez and Nestle have the power and responsibility to make a difference for these women. All three companies have said they will do more to make their products more sustainable, now is their chance to keep that promise.” 

 

The work isn't over yet, and we're hitting the streets again this Friday, March 22nd. Our goal is 100 signatures at UNM from 12-2pm at the plaza in front of Zimmerman library. Please come say hi, sign your name, and if you have time stay to talk with us about the Behind the Brands Campaign and how you can help.
 





Much thanks to Aaron Gonzales and Carlos Navarro for the amazing photos!