7 Ways to Fight Slavery at the Grocery Store
Published August 02, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
I am a bit of a foodie (and more than a bit of a nerd), so grocery shopping for me is a fun, relaxing activity. Handling the fruit, smelling the cheese counter, ogling the wine section- it can be quite a nice outing. But when you're trying to pay attention to what you buy, sometimes grocery shopping can feel overwhelming! To make things a little easier, here are seven items at a grocery store to pay special attention to if you're looking to shop slavery-free.
1. Coffee: Coffee might be the most famous food product for having a high incidence of slavery involved in its production. Luckily, most grocery stores carry Fair Trade and ethically-produced brands of coffee which are a better choice for workers.
2. Chocolate: As more and more chocolate companies begin to introduce greater responsibility into their production, finding slave-free chocolate is getting easier. However, the candy isle at the grocery store is still covered with chocolate from companies like Hershey and Nestle who have no supply chain transparency.
3. Seafood: Fishing industries, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa, are growing as destinations for trafficked children. Don't think Thai seafood will make it to your supermarket in the U.S.? Think again. Always check where in the world your seafood comes from and how it is produced.
4. Strawberries: Strawberries are a valuable crop which is difficult to harvest, making migrant workers in the strawberry industry extremely vulnerable to exploitation and slavery. When strawberries are in season, you may be able to find them picked near you. It doesn't guarantee a slave-free berry, but it avoids feeding the industry in California and Central America where much of the trafficking has been found.
5. Tea: Like coffee, the tea industry has seen a lot of slavery. And because tea is the most popular beverage in the world, the profits from exploiting tea growers and harvesters are high. Many teas now are coming out with better labels indicating how they were produced.
6. Poultry: Processing poultry is a gross and dirty job, which means it is often left to undocumented workers. And lack of oversight of poultry factories puts these workers at risk of trafficking. There was even a recent case of disabled workers being enslaved in a turkey processing plant for years.
7. Sugar:The slavery on sugar cane plantations in the Caribbean never quite went away. Slaves grow and harvest sugar in Caribbean, Africa, and Central America. Some grocery stores may carry Fair Trade or ethically-sourced sugar, but you might have to seek out a specialty store in some areas.
Remember. slavery can be found in any industry, but these are a few of the common offenders. Knowing where to look for slavery is the first step toward being a conscious consumer of slave-free goods.
Image from prevention.com
Share this Post
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
EmailRelated Posts
-
Publix Secretly Films Labor Protesters to Avoid Paying Farmworkers
-
David Batsone and Manpower, Inc. Team Up To Fight Trafficking
-
Beef Tacos and Forced Prostitution
Comments (16)
Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Author
-
Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.
Thanks Amanda for one of the most useful & concise articles on ethical grocery shopping that I've ever read!
I will definitely be sharing this info on my various social media profiles.
All the Best, debbie :)
Posted by Debbie Kreuser on 08/02/2009 @ 09:27AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hey this is a great blog and people do need to keep all of this in mind when shopping. A good thing to look for is a Fairtrade label on the packaging; this means the company Transfair has certified these goods as fairly traded. However, not all companies go the route of a fairtrade certified. For example, Endangered Species Chocolate is what we call "ethically traded." We have chosen this instead of Tansfair's Fairtrade so that we can take a more active role in improving the living conditions for our cocoa farmers. We accomplish this by installing water pumps and filtration systems as well as donating school and medical supplies to the villages near our cocoa farms. All of our cocoa is purchased from small family-owned farms in Africa and South America; this ensures that we not only get the highest quality cocoa bean, but the workers (who are usually family members) are humanly treated and receive fair wages. Thank you all for supporting fair trade products, we must remember that we are voting with every purchase we make. For more information about ESC's mission or our premium chocolate bars visit us at www.chocolatebar.com or email us at community@chocolatebar.com And as always...Savor Chocolate. Save Our Planet.
Kyle
Endangered Species Chocolate
Posted by Endangered Species Chocolate on 08/03/2009 @ 10:26AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I do appreciate this article. It helps to spotlight these things as we're so concerned about our cost - we still don't want to cause the human cost of these products to hurt other people.
Posted by Kristen S on 08/03/2009 @ 11:20AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I tried looking into the Hershey chain of production and they so have a "portion" of their chocolate Fair Trade certified but thats not enough for me. I've been trying to find a list of companies that are not expensive (I'm a college student without financial assistance) but are also ethical or Fair Trade-oriented. If anyone has suggestions feel free to send me a Private Message or post them here and I'll check back. Thank you in advance, as I don't have many chances to get online.
Posted by Alexa Weger on 08/08/2009 @ 12:47PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hi Alexa. I recommend www.betterworldshopper.com. They have a page on chocolate, which lists most of the chocolate companies, and rates them from A to F. Nestle gets an F, no surprise there. Perugina and toblerone also get F's.
The best ratings, A+, go to AlterEco, Divine, Equal Exchange, Endangered Species, and Rapunzel.
A and A- grades, go to Dagoba, Shaman, Sjaaks, Theo, Terra Nostra, and Green & Blacks.
I look for sales of the above when I read grocery store ads.
I avoid, like the plague, Nestle, Toblerone, and Perugina, all of which scored an F.
for all the grades and info on the grading system used, go to www.betterworldshopper.com. I hope this helps.
Posted by Andrea Ransdell on 08/09/2009 @ 08:00PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I've heard that M&M Mars will be sourcing Fair Trade cocoa starting in 2010 or 2011. They did this after petitions and public pressure. It's a start! I believe Cadbury's has already started doing this as well. So far Hershey's refuses to change. Still, Divine Chocolate is the best - the farmers are part owners of the company and they receive education, clean water, medical care and other advantages besides the living wage.
Posted by Kate Jamal on 08/09/2009 @ 12:26PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
This is great! Thanks so much Amanda....just have a question....how can we know for sure about products like poultry? I rarely see a fair trade label on anything except coffee and chocolate....and certainly never on poultry. And we know we can't trust it just because it's a "product of USA". What should we look for?
Posted by Mercy Lady on 08/09/2009 @ 04:16PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hi Mercy Lady,
That is a great question, and unfortunately one which doesn't have a quick and easy answer. Even Fair Trade certified products, while a great choice, are not guaranteed slave-free. Most of the known cases of human trafficking in the U.S. in the poultry industry, for example, have taken place on factory farms and large processing plants. So I would recommend buying poultry from a local small or family farm. This doesn't make the poultry "slave free", but it's generally considered a better choice, both for workers and the environment (and possibly your health).
You can also pressure big poultry companies, and other industries, for more transparency in their supply chains. Pressure from consumers can lead companies to better monitor their product and reduce exploitation and slavery along the way.
Posted by Amanda Kloer on 08/10/2009 @ 06:25AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I have a problem with this posting. I am a migrant coordinator for my school system, hence I work with migrant laborers and their children. It is not a slave system. They could go back to Mexico if it was. They are working here because they make more money than they would in Mexico, and if you had seen their economy there, you would know it is a better life for them here. This is the work they do since they only have 6th grade or below educations. Their children will reap the benefits of being in the USA receiving a high School Diploma and can obtain better jobs. To not buy strawberries would be taking away jobs from them, and I have seen what happens when they don't have work and try to stay in the USA, it is worse than anything. Those without work live in cars, trailers with no heat, broken windows, etc just trying to survive, and we have to use our emergency crisis centers to feed their children. Not buying migrant picked anything will hurt our economy and theirs. By the way why just pick on strawberries. They also pick blueberries, grapes (which is your wine), tobacco, oranges, apples, tomatos and these migrant workers work on the pig farms, and pig factories(all american pork). Please don't go after the migrant families livelihood, they wouldn't do it if they didn't want to improve their lives. They do have the choice to stay in Mexico. That is not slavery.
Posted by Linda Camerino on 08/10/2009 @ 07:06AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hi Linda, You have a point, but I'm guessing you're not familiar with all the situations which go on, which this is trying to avoid. I've seen some of the side which this article represents, and I can assure you what happens is horrific! I blame our greedy corporations. Many of which you speak in support of, like the pig factories in Mexico, and even here. I invite you to watch PEACEABLE KINGDOM, and read the book FAST FOOD NATION, the section on migrant workers. And do note that the agra-businesses in Mexico are probably much worse since the laws aren't as strict.
Maybe I don't understand your point, but I also have to ask where you've been when you state that these workers have a choice to stay in Mexico. Are you not familiar with the wait lists to get into this country? It takes years and years to get here legally, and there's a whole other slew of problems these poor people face due to that, or trying to get here ilegally. If they're in desperate needs, even one day is too long.
It's a genuine concern that if we all buy fair trade these people will no longer get work. But the fact is, and the great thing about this type of boycott is that there are still going to be tons of people who continue to buy products no matter what. What will happen is that the companies will feel a pinch and look into why it's happening, if it's not reported to them already. This pinch will be enough to get them to change some.
Also, it's good to report other products, but there are way more harmful ones than are stated in this article. It says that these are only a few of the common offenders. I'm guessing there's not enough room here for the author to put them all down, or for anyone to figure them all out, since many companies can hide it so well.
And, I'm not sure what you meant, but you mention American products and migrants being in this country as if they're both a good thing. There are many great things about The States, and many of our companies, but there's tons of greedy and extremely inhumane practices by us too. Just being American, or in this country illegally doesn't prove anything to me for the fairness, or even livability to these people. But, as I said before, you must see a different side. I'm just trying to point out that I've seen the one this article fights against, and I assure you it's very sadly true.
Posted by Massey Cindy on 08/10/2009 @ 08:28AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I want to embellish on the coffee thing, as I've always thought I was doing good by buying it in fair-trade/exchange. But then I saw a documentary which showed an even better organization/company that's formed, and which I now support instead, because harm is done since the money is given to the men. This doesn't sound like it should be a problem but it is since there's so much depression amongst them that they either drink the cash away, or they leave their families altogether. And many of the men end up beating their wives too. This, however, is easily solved by giving the money to the women. It makes a complete turn around in the behavior of the men too, not to mention that the families are now taken care of. It's called Cafe Femenino. Try googling it. I had to ask Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers to stock it because I couldn't find it elsewhere, and it's also top quality. I'd also like to point out that drinking regular coffee is extremely hard on our environment. But since fair trade standards are so high, and this means any kind of fair trade coffee, it is actually good environmentally. It has to meet the utmost standards, like being shade grown etc., so purchasing it is good in more than one way, as the other causes harm in more than one way too.
Posted by Massey Cindy on 08/10/2009 @ 08:07AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Of all the reasons to boycott companies doing dirty, this one is the most basic and visceral. I'm trying to compile a list of offending companies to post on my fridge so when I make out the grocery list, I can make note of those companies to avoid when shopping.
Posted by R Gomez on 08/10/2009 @ 02:43PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I miss bananas on your list. The banana wars have pushed whole nations into slavery...
Posted by annette ochs on 08/11/2009 @ 02:26AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
The problem of slavery in grocery stores is not just about the products, but the employees. I overheard an employee of Ray's talking about how they were forced to work 15 hour days, and this person had bruises! Trafficking happens, right here in this country, and in others. It is also related to the many missing children. We first noticed a ring stealing puppies. Then we witnessed children being abused and trafficked. It's real, people.
Posted by witness protection on 08/11/2009 @ 08:01AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Found this link at Twitter. Thank you so much for raising awareness in this manner and telling us what to do--in easy-to-implement ways--to help end mondern-day slavery.
Posted by marj aka thriver thriver on 08/18/2009 @ 10:34AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Can anyone post some common Fair Trade brands?
Posted by Marissa Goins on 11/01/2009 @ 11:35AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.