cut-up broccoli is BAD

pitu

Bummer of the day:
frozen broccoli fed to US schoolchildren and US soldiers is processed by teenagers in Guatemala working 15 hour shifts in standing water, for slave wages. They're not permitted to wear sweaters because the lint would get in the food. According to the National Labor Committee, they're not even paid Guatemala's minimum wage, which is only about a dollar a day anyway.

The National Labor Committee has just published a report; it is titled "Harvest of Shame."

There's a NYT story about Guatemala and Free Trade agreements...

MARC LACEY/NYT March 12, 2007 wrote: To draw attention to the issue of child labor in advance of Mr. Bush’s visit to Chimaltenango, the National Labor Committee, a New York-based group that has investigated gross labor violations worldwide, interviewed child workers in the area.

The group focused on Legumex, a factory that exports broccoli, melons and other fruits and vegetables to the United States, and in a report to be issued on Monday accuses it of violating a host of labor laws, including employing children, some as young as 13, for shifts longer than permitted.

Charles Kernaghan, director of the labor group, traced the food exports to American food service marketers that distributes to schools, hospitals, restaurants and the military. “It is very possible that children in the U.S. may be eating broccoli harvested and processed by other children in Guatemala,” Mr. Kernaghan said in a statement.