Extra Credit Assignment: Was Your Food Made By Slaves

Was Your Food Made By Slaves
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Was Your Food Made By Slaves
The article Was Your Food Made by Slaves, by Kevin Clarke awakens one of the debates that most of the people have not given the required level of interest. For most people it is the bargain that they get at the local store that matters most, only a few are interested in the information how the food came to the shelf.
‘Strolling your supermarket aisles, you have one eye on your family’s food needs for the week and another on whatever bargains you may be able to pull off the shelf.’
In the article Clarke refers to it as the hidden ingredient, slavery. This is relative to the fact that a large portion of the foods that are in the stores come from uncompensated or compelled efforts of a slave somewhere in the world, fighting to stay alive. While the element of slavery to some people is a concept of ancient history, in truth, it is a reality for most people in the modern and civilized society.
‘…even produce grown in the United States has been tainted by forced labor, as vulnerable undocumented laborers on U.S. farms are held as virtual prisoners, cheated out of wages, or robbed by growers or traffickers. Florida’s Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a worker-based human rights organization, estimates that approximately 5 percent of all farm workers in the United States are victims of forced labor.’
It is ironic that even in the United States where most of the immigrants come in the hope of a better future, they are subjected to forced labor, killing the American dream.
There have been efforts to make sure that the vice is brought under control and eventually eradicated from the church. The Pope has increasingly initiated efforts at the international level to make sure that people held against their will are free. While efforts have had some significant impacts, it is up to the consumers to question the source of their foods and join in the efforts to eradicate modern slavery by boycotting companies that still use slaves.
For most of the multinational conglomerates in the food industry, there is an element of slavery that is included in their chain of production. This is a reality that most of the people do not want to consider as long as they are getting their bargains at the local stores. It is not just in Africa, where the problem is vile, even in America and Europe, where immigrants come in search of a better future, they are forced into labor within the production chain. For their efforts they are paid merger wages and sometimes they go without the pay. Working in inhumane conditions just to get that product we love so much. What is more appalling is the fact that the product we consume could have been made by children forced to work and paid minimum wage, working under inconceivable conditions. Their lives have been snatched from them in th...