#21 Terry Collingsworth - Child Slavery and the True Costs of Our Cheap Commodities

<p>On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we interview human rights lawyer, <a href='https://twitter.com/tpcollingsworth'>Terry Collingsworth</a>. Terry has worked for decades as an advocate for people all around the world who have suffered human rights abuses by corporations, and is the Executive Director for <a href='http://iradvocates.org'>International Rights Advocates</a>, an organization that promotes human rights and corporate accountability through legal advocacy. Terry and his organization have worked tirelessly to hold cocoa companies accountable for the child labor and slavery that is occurring in Côte d'Ivoire, as well as other human rights violations such as the flagrant disregard for human life in cobalt mines. We talk about the economic structures that reinforce a system of slavery, and how ultimately consolidating wealth for corporations is the driving force behind these atrocious working conditions throughout the developing world. We discuss how the true costs of our technologies and commodities, such as coffee and chocolate, are never paid by us, the consumers. Terry recently spoke at the <a href='https://www.unfoodsystems.org/index.php'>UN Food Systems Pre-Summit</a> about the crimes against humanity being committed by Nestle, Cargill, Mars, Hershey, and others, and we discuss the elite corporatism that has infiltrated what is meant to be a democratic conversation that includes all voices.</p> <p>This episode is devastating and illuminating. We are honored to have been given the opportunity to have this conversation with Terry. Please read this <a href='https://www.justsecurity.org/73959/nestle-cargill-v-doe-series-meet-the-john-does-the-children-enslaved-in-nestle-cargills-supply-chain/'>article</a> which describes the cases of Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I and Cargill Inc. v. Doe I, a case representing plaintiffs who were kidnapped and trafficked from Mali and enslaved in Côte d'Ivoire.</p> <p>IRAdvocates posted an <a href='http://iradvocates.org/press-release/nestle/nestle-cargill-mars-hers