# Supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves



## Dave Martell (Dec 14, 2015)

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-14-00-39-31


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## aboynamedsuita (Dec 14, 2015)

Stories like this are disturbing, another reason why I prefer to source local ingredients or grow my own to the extent possible. I'd rather support this business model than greedy corporations.


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## spoiledbroth (Dec 14, 2015)

Yes, yes, totally unlike the system we've set up in North America with regard to produce lol... don't ethically "produced" (see: picked) tomatoes cost like five bucks apiece or something...


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## Smurfmacaw (Dec 15, 2015)

True, I've seen heirlooms going for $5.99 per pound!! But then in San Diego everything is stupid expensive.


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## Asteger (Dec 15, 2015)

It's actually not a new story at all, but comes up once in a while, and the situation persists. In that area of the world the politics and economics mean that there is migration, and often it can't be done legally even though many of the migrants could be considered refugees. And so people are vulnerable, they get exploited, and things don't really change until it's in the best interest of the powers that be to effect change.


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## mr drinky (Dec 15, 2015)

spoiledbroth said:


> Yes, yes, totally unlike the system we've set up in North America with regard to produce lol... don't ethically "produced" (see: picked) tomatoes cost like five bucks apiece or something...



Similar tomato 'slavery' was very prominent in the US (Florida) 10-15 years ago, but thanks to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) it has gotten significantly better in the US in the last decade. But grocery stores like Publix and many others still exploit the tomato slavery industry in Florida. I also seem to recall that those Natures Sweet cherry tomatoes in those yellow containers has been resistant to giving up slave labor -- but that may have changed, I'm not sure. Unfortunately, in Mexico there is really no organization like CIW so Mexican tomatoes are probably slave tomatoes. 

It used to be the general rule of thumb was: if you buy a tomato not in season, it was picked by slave labor -- and most likely in Florida. Grocery stores like Wholefoods, Trader Joes, Walmart and Giant no longer buy from producers who utilize wage-slavery practices -- so if you need that crappy tasteless tomato in the middle of winter it is best to shop for it there I guess.

The modern world sucks. 

k.


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## OneS (Dec 15, 2015)

At least there is some awareness of this, which is better than the blissful ignorance of 10-15 years ago. It is depressing that the practice is clearly going on and on and on though....


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## spoiledbroth (Dec 15, 2015)

I wanted to state that my post was not a condemnation specific to any country (and I cannot comment on issues abroad), I believe to some extent farming in Canada has similar issues (though I am not well versed enough in the issues in my own country to compare or contrast the situation in the USA, overall I don't believe such moral relativism serves any real purpose) and of course much of our produce is sourced from USA anyways. 

It is true that there is much more scrutiny of such practices and I think this is thanks in part to all the technology and social activism that has arisen in the "information age." It is good to be able to talk about such things


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## ecchef (Dec 17, 2015)

Buy Gulf shrimp.


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## Dardeau (Dec 17, 2015)




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## alterwisser (Dec 17, 2015)

Another reason not to buy those Thai farmed shrimp. At best they taste like nothing, at worst like the muddy, chemically contaminated water they're grown in. 

We have to be honest to ourselves sometimes. This all happens mostly because we demand cheap food, available all year long. Shrimp has become an every day food, so cheap most people can afford to eat it almost every day. It doesn't make sense. And it enables these merciless people to even establish and run slave businesses. It's supply and demand.

Ever since I had shrimp caught fresh off the coast of the Outer Banks I stopped buying and eating shrimps unless locally sourced (in restaurants), or wild caught WITH head on. My wife's from Barcelona. One of the first things she taught me was to buy the shrimps raw and with head on, pan fry or grill them, make a simple dressing of Olive oil, parsley and garlic and suck out all the good stuff after twisting off the head ...


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## Asteger (Dec 17, 2015)

Muddy ~ know exactly what you mean. Echk


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## schanop (Dec 17, 2015)

Dardeau said:


>



I can smell the sea. Awesome looking little buggers.


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## daveb (Dec 17, 2015)

Right off the docks in Tarpon Springs. Shrimp that taste like.......Shrimp!


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## TurboScooter (Dec 18, 2015)

There was an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit about this. If anyone is interested - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3wst97/im_pulitzer_prizewinning_ap_national_writer/

I think this story popped up on my feed a while back - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/earth/shrimp-pokkali/


> Because of shrimp farming, the village of Neendakara is literally crumbling. The placid ponds that dot this village are salt pools brimming with shrimp, and over time, the salt from these ponds has percolated into the groundwater and crept up into the buildings, where it is now eating away at the bricks and plaster.
> 
> Since this round-the-year shrimp cultivation has set in, the salt has encrusted the land, and it is impossible to grow vegetables, Kalathunkal says to a revenue inspector from a neighboring district, as he takes her on a tour of some of the salt-damaged houses one Friday afternoon. About twenty women and children from the village are tailing them, holding placards demanding government action against shrimp farmers. Every home the officer visits has cracks, crumbling bricks, and peeling paint on the walls. One house even has salt crystals blooming like fungi on the floor.


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## boomchakabowwow (Dec 23, 2015)

i know a thai shrimp farmer..well, i know their daughter. i'm gonna ask about this.


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## Keith Sinclair (Dec 26, 2015)

When I was born 2.4 billion world population 2015 7.3 billion. Three people for one in a short period of time. Project by 2050 could top 9.7 billion. Looked at my bag of 16-20 shell on shrimp in the freezer product of India which is expected to surpass China as most populated country.

Huge world demand for inexpensive seafood creates supply where labor is cheap or even slave conditions.


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## Keith Sinclair (Dec 26, 2015)

Might add that many of these migrant workers are persecuted refugees. As with Myanmar where the Muslim minority has no rights at all in a Buddhist majority government.

Nobody wants the refugees and they are easy to take advantage of.


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## Asteger (Dec 26, 2015)

keithsaltydog said:


> Might add that many of these migrant workers are persecuted refugees. As with Myanmar where the Muslim minority has no rights at all in a Buddhist majority government.
> 
> Nobody wants the refugees and they are easy to take advantage of.



Yes. And there are other groups too, as said.



Asteger said:


> It's actually not a new story at all, but comes up once in a while, and the situation persists. In that area of the world the politics and economics mean that there is migration, and often it can't be done legally even though many of the migrants could be considered refugees. And so people are vulnerable, they get exploited, and things don't really change until it's in the best interest of the powers that be to effect change.


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