Ethical Virus

Ethical food

For many people, it can be quite overwhelming to realize just how much suffering and injustice goes into the familiar products that line our store shelves. Whether it's the abuse of animals, the exploitation of workers, the failure to offer healthy foods, environmental devastation, or all of the above, there can be a temptation to throw up our hands in defeat and conclude that it's just not possible to make ethical food choices.

We understand that impulse, and it truly does feel overwhelming at times, for everyone. It's our hope that the resources on this website will help make these choices easier for you. The fact that the problems loom large surely doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can to address them. And, armed with knowledge about the issues, we can do quite a lot through the choices we make.

One of the easiest things we can do is to identify particularly "bad actors" in the corporate world, so we know what products and companies to absolutely avoid. With that in mind, the following are a few examples worth highlighting.

Coca-Cola

cokeprotestEven among companies with egregious environmental and worker's rights records, Coca-Cola stands out.[1]

In India, Coke unlawfully pumped 1.5 million liters (400,000 gallons) of water a day from local reserves, leaving farmers without enough water to irrigate their crops, and draining the community's drinking water supply. The company also contaminated fields, wells, and canals in the process – leading to widespread misery and community upheaval[2] — and have sought to mislead investors about the environmental consequences.[3] The world's largest beverage company, Coke used 283 billion liters (73.5 billion gallons) of water in 2004 ... a fact put into perspective when remembering that we live in "a world where over 1 billion people cannot meet their basic water needs."[4]

In China, separate investigative reports[5] have found a shocking range and systemic pattern of workers' rights abuses at Coke facilities. These include providing inadequate (or no) protective equipment, an excessive use of so-called "dispatch labor"[6] to avoid standard employer obligations (similar to "employee misclassification" in the U.S.[7]), forced overtime, having workers sign blank contracts, refusal of back-pay, and the denial of the right to unionize. Workers who have protested their treatment were rewarded with beatings from supervisors.

In Colombia[8] and Guatemala[9], there is a long, documented history of anti-union activities[10] at bottling plants on par with the worst episodes in labor history anywhere. This includes the intimidation, kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of labor organizers and their loved ones, often via paramilitary forces in collaboration with local management[11]. Union-busting efforts in Pakistan have included extortion, blackmail, abduction, and death threats.[12] Workers in the Philippines report vast labor abuses, as well.[13]

In El Salvador, Coke's sugar suppliers have been caught using child labor in the fields[14].

In Mexico, Coke has engaged in a range of predatory activities. To name just a few, their aggressive retaliation against whistleblowers and massive fraud[15], their standard over-exploitation of water resources[16], and aggressive marketing of their product to school children and the rural poor (by some counts, 80% of Mexican schools lack decent access to water).[17]

The scope of these abuses is staggering and difficult to process, but one thing is clear: Anyone concerned with issues of worker justice, environmental responsibility, and the integrity of local communities worldwide should avoid Coca-Cola and its products.[18]

Nestlé

nestleactivistThe Swiss corporation Nestlé is the world's largest food and beverages company, with a net profit in 2011 of 9.5 billion Swiss francs ($10.35 billion).[19] It produces iconic products like Nesquik chocolate powder and syrup, as well as Nescafe, Nestea, and popular candies like Baby Ruth, Butterfingers, and Kit-Kat. All told, Nestlé owns more than 6,000 brands worldwide, in markets ranging from "petcare" to infant formula.[20]