Honesty and Fairness: a tale of two chocolate bars
AGE: Primary |
THEME: Honesty and Fairness: a tale of two chocolate bars |
AIM: |
| To reflect on issues of honesty and fairness as exemplified in two case studies concerning the manufacture and sale of chocolate. |
RESOURCES: |
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INTRODUCTION: |
| Depending on how soon after Christmas this act of worship takes place, you may wish to begin with a reference to the amount of chocolate that you failed /succeeded in consuming over the holiday period. Ask the children about their Christmas chocolate consumption before asking for five volunteers to help you finish off a packet of chocolate buttons. |
CHOCOLATE BUTTON GAME: |
| Inform the volunteers that you will give each one a single chocolate button that s/he must keep in their mouth until it has completely melted. The winner of the game is the person whose chocolate button takes the longest time to melt. Tell the volunteers that as you are unwilling to look inside their chocolate-filled mouths, they must be honest and raise their hand when the chocolate button has completely melted. Distribute the chocolate buttons. |
CHOCOLATE: TRUE OR FALSE?: |
| While the volunteers at the front are allowing their chocolate buttons to melt in their mouths, share the facts about chocolate with the rest of the children. They must raise their hands if they believe a fact to be true. Continue reading out the facts until the winner of the Chocolate Button Game is decided. |
THE CADBURY FAMILY: |
| Praise all the volunteers for their honesty and reward the winner with a bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Inform the children that, like the winner, the family who gave their name to this chocolate bar and, moreover, the world's biggest confectionary company, was also very honest. Cadbury's was started in 1831 in a small factory in Birmingham by John Cadbury. He was the youngest son of a well-known Quaker family in the city. Quakers are religious people who believe that the best way they can show their love for God is by helping to improve the lives of others. John Cadbury made and sold drinking chocolate because he believed that it was better for people to drink chocolate than to drink alcohol. Much of the money from his business he used to stop children being sent up chimneys and to prevent cruelty to animals. When John retired, his son George took over the business. He shared the same beliefs as his father and is famous for saying: 'We can do nothing of any value to God, except in acts of genuine helpfulness done to our fellow men.' As the company grew, George needed to find a new site for the Cadbury factory. He chose to build it not in the centre of the city but in what was then the countryside. But George didn't just build a factory. He also built good houses with gardens for his workers. He built a hospital, washrooms, reading rooms, a canteen, a dental surgery and a school where, even though he was their boss, he helped teach his workers how to read and write. Cadbury's workers enjoyed rights that other workers could only dream of: bank holidays, Saturday afternoons off, a pension scheme and sporting facilities. George Cadbury once said: 'I believe I can truly say that in all my business, the first thought is of the welfare of the people employed.' |
FAIRLY TRADED CHOCOLATE: |
| George Cadbury was also concerned about the workers in other countries who grew and harvested the beans from which the chocolate is made. He refused to buy cocoa beans from countries where slaves were made to do this work. Today many religious people support fair trade because they believe that all workers throughout the world should be treated well. Farmers who produce the cocoa beans in South America and Africa have been exploited by some - even many - Europeans. Show children the Fair Trade chocolate bar and explain that people are becoming more aware of the situation. Invite a volunteer to taste this chocolate. Close by reflecting on how, with fair trade, both workers and consumers can benefit. |
PRAYER: |
| Dear God, Help us to be fair and honest in everything that we do. May our first thought not be about ourselves, but let us be more concerned about the welfare of others. We pray that companies across the world would treat their workers well. We pray too for organisations that promote fair trade. May their efforts help to make your world a fairer place. Amen. |
HYMN / SONG: |
| 'Yours is the Kingdom' (Hopes and Dreams), No.92, Hunger for Justice, Kevin Mayhew, 2004, ISBN 1- 84417-172-8 'Tell out my soul', No.42, Hymns for Today's Church, Hodder and Stoughton, 1987, ISBN 0-340-41255-0. |