What is the social cost of our food expenditure daily? An only seemingly simple question is matched by answers as varied as they are opaque, unfortunately. In relation to the many production chains everywhere based and the practices in place at different distribution channels. Food for thought from a recent report by Oxfam.
Oxfam, ‘
Ripe for change
‘. The report
The Oxfam Report ‘Ripe for change‘ Is devoted to the exploitation of supermarket supply chains. A report that demonstrates, data in hand, the rampant inequality in the globalized economy. Where the agribusiness sector, ouch us, is no exception.
The global food market
is governed by the large chains of the
LARGE-SCALE RETAIL CHAINS
(Large-scale retail trade). Supply chains serve the supermarkets, players and referees at the same time in a game that often sees workers (and even worse, women workers) defeated in the countries where so much is born, grown and processed. Under the whirlwind of
unfair trade practices
that crush production chains with sometimes ridiculous purchase prices and often unfair contract clauses.
Topathological opulence of a small part of the planet is matched by the human suffering of those who work to fill shelves at rock-bottom prices. In the recurrent violation of human rights, void of union protections and wages at the limits of survival. Lives without dignity or prospects.
An employee of afish industry tail
andese
processing shrimp, Oxfam writes and documents, would have to work more than 1,700 to put together the annual salary of the CEO of a British supermarket.
The exploitation of workers without rights It also happens, moreover, within a few kilometers of our homes. In the fiefdoms of European caporalism, in Italy as in Spain, rather than in Amazon’s logistics centers.
780 million workers in the world live below the poverty line (2US$/day). Just varying the course by a few degrees would be enough to go from the
Globalization of exploitation
at
Great
Re-Distribution. Without even affecting retail prices. Fostering on-the-ground growth models, as Oxfam proposes, also helps improve supply chain efficiency, we add. And there is no shortage of tools.
SA8000, a sign of civilization
SA8000 is the first ethical standard object of certification. Dating back to 1997, it is now in its fourth year and now has 3,728 certified enterprises worldwide.
Coop Italy
was the first retail chain to adopt the standard.
, already for 20 years now.
The SA8000 standard
prescribes compliance with a few but imperative requirements:
– NO to child labor, forced labor, discrimination,
– YES to health and safety, freedom of association, disciplinary practices, working hours, fair pay.
Not enough cosmetics of business procedures, there is no need for the
greenwashing
masquerading as
CSR
. The organization must apply the necessary diligence-and conscientiousness, we add-to verify compliance with the SA8000 standard of its suppliers and sub-suppliers wherever located as well.
The
fair-trade
must be the rule, respecting the essential rights of workers that have been internationally defined at the ILO (International Labor Office). For this to happen, let us rely only on those who can guarantee-through SA 8000 or other certification-that these rights have indeed been respected. Only then will other operators be forced to adapt in turn.
Dario Dongo
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
