Saturday, April 26, 2014

Fair Food

Multinational corporations drive global economic policies, with tentacles that reach into the four corners of the globe. Preferring to live in the shadows like some sort of cockroach, a successful predator company (termed "an individual" by the US Supreme Court) can eat away at the global soul while humanity slumbers - feeding its life-blood into the coffers of Big Biz.

Occasionally, a conglomerate becomes the target of a group of citizens, either from the inside (distressed employees) and/or as the result of the media shining a light on predatory corporate policies. When this happens, and a groundswell of outcry arises, the potential for change increases.

There is no greater horror for a business than a successful boycott, because profit can only be gleaned from the masses buying buying buying. A group of tomato pickers in Florida who were underpaid and ill-treated decided to boycott Taco Bell to protest slave-wages and slave-treatment at the hands of tomato growers. Word spread and within a few years, companies such as Walmart, MacDonalds and others have started to do business only with growers who practice fair labor policies.

Thus, a new label you might start to see on your veggies at the supermarket: Fair Food. This is the stuff to stuff into your grocery cart, because it will signify nourishment that was brought to your table with a modicum of human dignity and humane treatment. Vote with your purse!

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