Avoid These 6 Foods If You Care About the Future of Humanity

The people who contributed to the production of food or the preparation of a meal are not necessarily present in our minds. However, as with our clothes, our smartphones or our cosmetics, there is a real human and environmental cost behind our daily diet. No fatality though. Be in control of your consumption by particularly avoiding these six foods.

6 foods to avoid if you care about humanity

Some people shop and consume without worrying about the quality or origin of their food. And, to meet consumer demand, food industries too often still submit to unsustainable competitive practices and policies where, costs and non-compliance with decent human working conditions make the law.

1 – Chocolate: the sweetness of the treat, the bitterness of the production

The world’s leading cocoa producer, Ivory Coast produces more than a third of the world’s cocoa. However, encouraged by the chocolate industry, today there are more than 2 million young Ivorian and Ghanaian children enslaved.

At the risk of their lives, these little hands, victims of child trafficking, contribute, among other things, to the manufacture of certain brands of chocolate bars such as Snickers or Hershey’s in the United States, which have been accused of not being sufficiently rigorous in their “sourcing”.

To avoid any risk of encouraging child exploitation, choose fair trade chocolate.

2 – Tea: choose the aroma, not the enslavement!

We take it for our well-being, but where it is produced, tea is too often a source of discomfort. Coming from Asia (Bangladesh, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.), Africa (Kenya, Rwanda), and sometimes Eurasia (Turkey), tea is cultivated by workers often living in precarious conditions and are exposed to various occupational diseases.

Thus, in the Indian state of Assam, after which tea is named, more than a million workers live on tea plantations with their families, poorly fed and paid very little.

On these plantations, around 500,000 women and their children are exposed to pesticides daily. They generally suffer from anemia, severe malnutrition and breathing difficulties.

In these precarious living conditions, where plantation owners set high daily harvest quotas, some parents are forced to “sell their children,” as those who are not trafficked are sometimes forced to work there for free.

Against pesticides in tea, choose your organic and fair trade tea.

3 – Beef and dairy products: why at least… consume less of them?

The breeding of Beef requires 28 times more agricultural land as raising pigs and chickens. And much more than plant proteins. Thus, to feed a few people, the large lands reserved for livestock constitute a colossal collective carbon footprint, compared to other industries. Also, to respond effectively to demand, operators often resort to migrant workers whose labor is low-cost.

Not all cows are housed so well (far from it), even if all should be… © tviolet

Ultimately, cows take much more than they give. As we know, and as an expert recently forcefully expressed: “ The biggest intervention people can do to reduce their carbon footprint is not to ditch their car, but to eat a lot less red meat ».

Follow our 8 tips to become vegetarian gently.

4 – Tomatoes: red, round and… full of nothing?

Whatever the season, enjoying a tomato salad is (a priori) a delicacy that a growing number of French people love. However, does their origin appeal to you?

70% of tomatoes sold in French supermarkets are imported from Morocco and Spain. However, in general, the taste of these tomatoes is altered. For what ?

The tomato production season covers the months of June to October. Grown in greenhouses in these countries all year round, tomatoes intended for export are harvested before maturity in order to withstand transport conditions. Selected for their texture and disease resistance during exportthey are then subjected to artificial lighting which gives them a “bright red” color and a more appetizing appearance. Not to mention fake beefsteak tomatoes, pesticides, even mafia origins.

Prefer short-circuit and organic tomatoes! Opt for nutrients in fruits and vegetables!

5 – Shrimp: detention at sea and destroyed mangroves

Culinary pride and reference of its economic expansion, shrimp have made Thailand one of the largest suppliers to Western consumers. Supported by low-cost labor from slave and child labor coming from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, the export of shrimp is far from being subject to regulations protecting producers.

A witness, often deprived of food and water, told the AP: “ when we asked (the bosses) for our money, they told us they didn’t have it… but they went to nightclubs, brothels and bars, consuming expensive alcohol ».

Shrimp, a production far from rosy! © gowithstock

In Madagascar too, shrimp farming is problematic, on an environmental level, with the destruction of mangroves. Elsewhere, their exploitation also has disastrous consequences for sea turtles.

So choose sustainable shrimp labels.

6 – Abalone: ​​a threatened marine mollusk

Highly appreciated in France, Chile, East and Southeast Asia, this rare marine snail, called abalone or sea ear, is often served on special occasions and banquets for its unique flavor. Once dried and preserved, it resembles a gold ingot: this is why it is “reserved” for wealthy people in China.

Abundant in South African waters, these molluscs have fueled poaching and a dangerous industry to meet demand from China. South Africa had to ban fishing for this marine mollusc in 2008, with black market transactions and the activities of poachers negatively impacting commercial fishing and threatening the survival of the species. An abalone takes 30 to 40 years to reach a size of 25 or 30 centimeters.

Also read: Everything you always wanted to know about seafood

The reality of the cultivation methods of certain foods and the resulting human, environmental and social consequences should concern us. From there, what we choose to eat could determine the activities of producers and the price charged. Before our purchases, let us not hesitate to ask ourselves about the origin, the provenance, the manufacturing process and the conditions in which they are sold or served to us.

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