Kids carry conscience in a bag of goodies

Dressed in her vampire costume, 9-year-old Danielle Vitulli plans to have the usual fun when she goes trick-or-treating this year. But a dash of seriousness will be sprinkled into her Halloween celebration.

The Chipeta Elementary School fourth-grader is one of thousands of American children taking part in a "Reverse Trick-or-Treating" campaign, which was launched by human rights advocacy groups last year to raise awareness of child labor problems in cocoa fields.

As she collects candy in her Pinon Valley neighborhood Friday night, Danielle will hand neighbors a piece of fair-trade-certified chocolate in return, along with a postcard explaining why the treat is different.

"I wanted to do this because I couldn't imagine being my age and working in a field all day and not being able to play," she said.

Danielle's mom, Debbie Vitulli, said she signed her family up to participate because the concept fits with their efforts to live an environmentally conscious life.

For more than a decade, Vitulli and her husband have been members of Co-op America, a Washington, D.C.-based green economy organization and one of the event sponsors.

They appear to be the only local family involved in the campaign, according to Co-op America.

"We're not loud activists, but we try to do the right thing," Vitulli said. "I thought this would be a nice way to let others know about child labor because we're so far removed from where our food and clothing come from and how they're made."

The 250,000 pieces of fair-trade chocolate that kids across the nation will hand out on Halloween are guaranteed to have been produced according to international labor laws - which, among other things, prohibit illegalchild labor, ensure fair prices for goods and promote environmentally sustaining farming methods.

The U.S. State Department estimates 284,000 children work in intolerable conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, where a majority of cocoa is produced. In lieu of legislation, representatives from the chocolate industry in 2001 signed a protocol to end abusive child labor in cocoa production but missed this year's July 1 deadline to fulfill its agreements.

Fair-trade chocolate sells well locally, said Jeff Fuller, general manager at Mountain Mama Natural Foods, which sells several brands.

"Fair trade is awesome. It's the way to go," he said. "What's happening in countries like Ghana is if farmers don't get a fair price, it leads to bad environmental practices, child labor and poverty. It snowballs. So, fair trade is important and beneficial to all."

Besides, Danielle said, it tastes "just like regular chocolate" and "is a really good idea."