culture & entertainment

George Clooney 'saddened' over Nespresso link to child labor in Guatemala

 Upper- advanced
2020/08/20 17:41

Today's Vocabulary

1.carried out (phr.v)
to do or complete something, especially  that you have said you would do or that you have been told to do

2. allegedly (adv)
to state that something bad is a fact without giving proof

3. headquartered (v)
to have the main offices of an organization in a particular place

4. schemes (n)
an organized plan for doing something, especially something dishonest or illegal that will bring a good result for you

5. certification (n)
the process of earning an official document, or the act of providing an official document, as proof that something has happened or been done

George Clooney 'saddened' over Nespresso link to child labor in Guatemala

Oscar-winning actor George Clooney has said that he is “surprised and saddened” after an investigation revealed child labor at Guatemalan coffee farms linked to the Nespresso coffee he advertises.

The investigation carried out by Britain’s Channel 4 News shows children working on six farms in Guatemala, the largest coffee producer in Central America.

The farms allegedly supply Nestle-owned coffee giant Nespresso where Clooney is brand ambassador.

“Clearly this board and this company still have work to do. And that work will be done,” Clooney said in a statement.

Clooney, who worked on his family’s tobacco farm in Kentucky during summer holidays as a child, said he was “uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labor.”

Nespresso, headquartered in Switzerland, says it sources all its coffee beans ethically and said in a statement it was investigating the allegations.

“We have immediately stopped purchases of coffee from all farms in the region and we will not resume purchases until we are able to investigate and be assured that child labor is not being used,” said Nespresso chief executive Guillaume Le Cunff.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation in December found that coffee produced by forced labor in Brazil was stamped slavery-free by top certification schemes and sold at a premium to major brands like Nespresso.

Resource: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-slavery-coffee/george-clooney-saddened-over-nespresso-link-to-child-labor-in-guatemala

Discussion
  1. In how many plantations did the TV company find child labour?
  2. What is the name of the TV company that conducted an investigation?
  3. What role does George Clooney play in the Nespresso company?

“Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.”

Grace Abbott

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