LOVE SHRIMP? HATE Slavery? How they connect....Whole Foods, Wal=Mart, Petco, Red Lobster

[Shandi]

If you can eat shrimp after reading this, I'd check on your "consciousness" level.

Refuse to buy shrimp, and show your love for the planet's people, as suggested in thread about humanity becoming extinct in 100 years.

AP: Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves

U.S. customs records show the shrimp made its way into the supply chains of major U.S. food stores and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Dollar General and Petco, along with restaurants such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand (AP) -- Every morning at 2 a.m., they heard a kick on the door and a threat: Get up or get beaten. For the next 16 hours, No. 31 and his wife stood in the factory that owned them with their aching hands in ice water. They ripped the guts, heads, tails and shells off shrimp bound for overseas markets, including grocery stores and all-you-can-eat buffets across the United States.

After being sold to the Gig Peeling Factory, they were at the mercy of their Thai bosses, trapped with nearly 100 other Burmese migrants. Children worked alongside them, including a girl so tiny she had to stand on a stool to reach the peeling table. Some had been there for months, even years, getting little or no pay. Always, someone was watching.

No names were ever used, only numbers given by their boss — Tin Nyo Win was No. 31.
Pervasive human trafficking has helped turn Thailand into one of the world's biggest shrimp providers. Despite repeated promises by businesses and government to clean up the country's $7 billion seafood export industry, an Associated Press investigation has found shrimp peeled by modern-day slaves is reaching the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The problem is fueled by corruption and complicity among police and authorities. Arrests and prosecutions are rare. Raids can end up sending migrants without proper paperwork to jail, while owners go unpunished.

To continue reading, go to: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ap-gl...050605163.html

[Shandi]

I also read recently that some shrimp from US is sent overseas for "processing". This might be very hard to track. I checked some shrimp at Raley's yesterday, and the country of origin was so blurry I couldn't read it, so I asked. The response was "India". Is that better than Thailand? hmmm...what would the our defenders at the FDA say?

It seems that even if it's "wild caught" and from "US", we might want to know where it's processed, and by whom. Thailand isn't the only culprit. But, most people don't really want to go that far. They believe if anything is from the US, including pet food approved by the FDA, it's o.k. But, wait, what about all the recalls of FDA inspected pet foods? I mean pet "feeds". Yeah, the language does make a difference,.....a BIG DIFFERENCE. Most any kind of "feed" is meant to fatten livestock for butchering.
Are we aware that most pet food is actually made from "feed" grade products, approved by the FDA and the USDA? See: www.TruthAboutPetFood.com

Language is a critical tool to manipulate us, and it works so well. Any organization who's intention is to get money from us, will use language to their benefit, and hey, who reads the fine print? Who can?

How many of us have been surprised with financial charges, only to be referred to the "fine print"? There's a reason that they make it almost unreadable, and it works well every time.