Module 3: Ethics of Food

      Nowadays, there are hundreds kinds of foods in the markets and customers can buy them easily and conveniently with cheap price.  Besides, as the global food trade are developed, it is able to buy the tropical fruits in the winter season. It is not a difficult thing to buy  meats or seafood which does not have in the local country. However, a lot of people do not know or not even interest how those foods are produced. Before those foods arrive to the shops as a product, there are such a long and tough procedures.  It requires many labors' effort and time. Moreover, some of fruits and meats are distributed to public with unethical way. 

1.Banana

     Banana is  one of the most global fruits nowadays. According to Lineback and Gritzner (2013), about 80 million ton of bananas are grown yearly, and around 80 percents of they are consumed locally. The other 20 percent of bananas are exported and those bananas are from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colonbia and Philippines.  

Figure 1.Banana Producers in the world(Geography in the News,2013)

     Inside of this banana industry, there is a serious issue which is relative to an ethic. 

Firstly,there are five huge banana trade companies(Dole, Del Monte, Chiquita, Fyffes, and Noboa) in the world and this industry is controlled by them. The problem is that the price competition is getting stronger and each company goes on sale with extremely low price. It is good for customers but the people who work for banana planting and cropping earn very low wage. According to US Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP, 2006), Unionized banana workers in Latin America can earn around $10 or more a day, but most non-union workers can make $3~$ 5 a day or less. They do not even have any benefit.

     In addition, some workers work really long hours. Banana is easily rot and damaged by pest and disease, so it required a lot of agriculturalist pesticides. However some workers work exposing chemical hazard by those pesticides.

     Furthermore, other problems such as children labors, gender discrimination are keep happened in the industry.

     It is good for customer to buy bananas with cheap price, however, it is not a right issues in terms of ethic. The banana workers have the right to receive normal wage like people works in other industry. Also, their working hours and working environment must be improved.  If the workers are not protected from better working condition, the industry will be collapse one day. To protect this industry and workers, customer also avoid buying cheap bananas from the five  companies. Instead of that customers should buy the bananas with fair trade marks, because these bananas are usually produced from small farms and try to follow the minimum standard of producing cost and workers wage.      Moreover, in 2009, Fair trade labeling Organizations(FLO) decided to increased  the Fair-trade minimum price of banana to help labor's live hood (FLO,2009).

2. Meat

     Chicken is the most common meat for people but because of that reason, their lives are such a piteous. Most poultry animals like chicken, turkey which are raised for meat live in small and narrow cases with their excrement and dust. Almost of male chicks are killed after hatch because they cannot produce eggs and their bodies are smaller than female chicks. To provide pecking each other all of alive chicks cut  their tip of beaks. Female chickens got special injection for increasing their bodies and some cannot walk well because of weight. Once the ability of producing egg is degraded, they are killed for meat. While they are killed by cutting their neck,they are fully conscious. It is hart to find any ethical supports for living animals (PETA,2013).

     Pigs and milk castles are  not much better than poultry. To produce milks, milks castles have to be pregnant constantly. After calf is birthed, they are immediately separated both mother and baby cows get a lot of stress. Breast pumps make the castles have breast disease. Before going to slaughter house, a number of cows and pigs are abused by humans. When they are killed, many of they have consciousness and dying with fear and pain (PETA,2013). Originally,they are raised as humans foods and they are killed anyway, however in terms of ethic, they should live in better living environment. 

Glass walls (RETA,2013)

     To raise cows and pigs, a huge amount of feed grains and water are consumed and because of their manure, water and air pollution is arsing as another issues (NRDC, 2013). To eat a piece of beef stake people may ignore the people are suffering from famine and polluted environment.  Although it is hard to stop eating meat directly, it is the to think about in ethically. 

Reference

Global Issues (2010). The Banana trade war. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/63/the-banana-trade-war

USLEAP (2006). Banana workers justice and USLEAP. Retrieved from http://www.usleap.org/usleap-initiatives/-banana-worker-justice-initiative/more-information-banana-workers/banana-worker-j

Fairtrade International (2009). Fairtrade fight banana price war. Retrieved from http://www.fairtrade.net/single-view+M5d883ce446e.html

NRDC (2013). Facts about pollution from livestock farms. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp