The chocolate war

An unusual concept of foreign exchange

By Culinate staff

September 7, 2011

In one of the weirder food-politics stories of the summer, the Hershey chocolate company has been accused of exploiting foreign-exchange students as cheap factory labor. The students — mostly graduate students from China, Turkey, and Eastern Europe — came to the States expecting fun summer jobs and the chance to explore America, not grueling shifts packing Kit-Kat candy bars and the threat of deportation if they complained.

As the New York Times noted, “Their cultural exchange has been an unlikely connection with the American labor movement.” The students have organized protests and walked out, and Change.org has organized a petition on their behalf, asking that Hershey’s stop hiring foreign students under false pretenses, refund the students’ travel fees, and hire local American workers instead.