Seafood slavery

[DavidBrown]

It looks like much of our shrimp comes from workers forced to work in conditions that are de facto slavery.


In a world hungry for cheap shrimp, migrants labor overtime in Thai sheds - The Washington Post

 

[nanoboy]

It looks like much of our shrimp comes from workers forced to work in conditions that are de facto slavery.


In a world hungry for cheap shrimp, migrants labor overtime in Thai sheds - The Washington Post

DavidBrown, you sound surprised that people are in de facto slavery for us in the west to be able to afford cheap goods. Only today I was reading an article that calculated the actual cost of an iPad to be $250. There is a reason that Foxconn (and many other multinationals) have factories in developing countries: cheap labour.

With regards to the shrimp (or prawns as we call them here), do you really believe that Walmart, Costco, and Red Lobster are not aware of the employment practices/labour conditions in Thailand as compared to endorsing it/turning a blind eye?

As consumers, we seem to be more inclined to buy wildlife-friendly or cruelty-free or recycled products than we are to buy products that have not been produced in sweat-shops. Indeed, I think that we really couldn't care less, because it is so easy to turn a blind eye - as long as we get our products cheap.

 

[DavidBrown]

DavidBrown, you sound surprised that people are in de facto slavery for us in the west to be able to afford cheap goods. Only today I was reading an article that calculated the actual cost of an iPad to be $250. There is a reason that Foxconn (and many other multinationals) have factories in developing countries: cheap labour.

With regards to the shrimp (or prawns as we call them here), do you really believe that Walmart, Costco, and Red Lobster are not aware of the employment practices/labour conditions in Thailand as compared to endorsing it/turning a blind eye?

As consumers, we seem to be more inclined to buy wildlife-friendly or cruelty-free or recycled products than we are to buy products that have not been produced in sweat-shops. Indeed, I think that we really couldn't care less, because it is so easy to turn a blind eye - as long as we get our products cheap.

No nanoboy, I'm really not surprised about this. The shrimp are essentially grown on plantations established by mowing down mangrove forests and with plantations slavery is bound to show up too. I put this article up to spread awareness so people will think about the ecological and sociological dimensions of their next all-you-can-eat Shrimpalooza at Red Lobster. I enjoy shrimp just like most people so I need to think about this too.

At some point it seems inevitable that several hundred million Chinese laborers are going to want to unionize, and that will be quite a show to see.

 

[nanoboy]

No nanoboy, I'm really not surprised about this. The shrimp are essentially grown on plantations established by mowing down mangrove forests and with plantations slavery is bound to show up too. I put this article up to spread awareness so people will think about the ecological and sociological dimensions of their next all-you-can-eat Shrimpalooza at Red Lobster. I enjoy shrimp just like most people so I need to think about this too.

At some point it seems inevitable that several hundred million Chinese laborers are going to want to unionize, and that will be quite a show to see.

I was momentarily taken aback when you started your first post with "It looks like..." as I thought that you would have been more aware than the average joe - I am happy that I was right.

I saw the devastation in a documentary on the Sundarbans (re: tigers), as I think that they also do a lot of shrimp farming there. Now, that is a reason to get me fired up. Thais mistreating their own people to sell cheap goods to the west doesn't raise an eyebrow.