Groan.
(Boston Herald) — Halloween isn’t so much of a treat for some youngsters.
From Brookline to Roslindale, a small throng of parents are forcing their children to hand out “fair trade” candy when they go door-to-door, in addition to receiving the Hershey’s, M&Ms and Junior Mints given to them.
This “Reverse Trick-or-Treating” campaign is part of a national effort to raise awareness that most brand-name chocolates are derived from third-world countries with poor working conditions that can include slavery and child labor.
“They were a little shy about it at first,” Brookline mom Tina Manuel said of her two kids, ages 8 and 10, who went door-to-door providing fair trade candy in their costumes last year and are planning to do it again this Halloween.
Her kids started fighting over who would hand out an informational card and the fair trade candy, most of which is distributed by the West Bridgewater company Equal Exchange, because they were having so much fun, Manuel said.