Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves

Ummm…I love seafood…I especially love those large shrimp…butterflied…deep fried…served chilled in a cocktail…scampi shrimp…you name it I love it…

Source

I don’t love it to the extent that I can ignore the suffering of men women and children slaves forced to peel those shrimp though

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.

…No…It suddenly leaves a sick taste in my mouth…
How could I so thoroughly enjoy that succulent seafood…knowing that some little child was forced to stand on a stool through long grueling hours…day after day…peeling and de-veining until their hands bled…just so I might have that bit of luxury caress my palette…

If one is honest…it poses a serious question…what is the price we’re prepared to pay for an illusion of affluence…Is that price payed only fiscally or is there some other price…not talked about…hidden deep inside…yet with a stark name that should ring alarm bells throughout the psyche…might this name be justification…

I wonder how many times I’ve sat down to dinner with only good intention…only an effort to enjoy good company and friendship…while in truth what I consumed was placed before me by the ghost of little hands…and the sheen of little eyes drawn huge by the incessant leak of tears as another shrimp was added to the endless stack…

How can I even think to enjoy what had before seemed so innocent a scene of sharing…and not sense what I really shared there during that meal…not sense that innocence was lost…there on that stool…in that shack…so many miles away…



YouSir

Well that sucks.
Wasn't all the free trade and globalization supposed to fix this sort of thing?
Let's have free trade with countries that have a standard of living 1000 times lower than us, that's bound to turn out well...

I can peel, devein, butterfly, batter, bread and fry a 100 pounds of shrimp, fresh out of the Gulf, in a 10 hour shift. I developed this skill as a young teen working in a restaurant. No one ever threatened to beat me. I took pride in my skill that I had developed. Enjoy your damn shrimp and drop the guilt. I'm doing other things these days, but I am still a Kung Fu master of preparing seafood.

a reply to: YouSir

THANK YOU

shoot...

I hope unpeeled shrimp are still more guilt free.

That's terrible.. There go some of my favorite meals at restaurants.

S+F for the info.

a reply to: skunkape23


Ummm...you go right on being the fine upstanding human being that you are...Go ahead and brag that you can peel shrimp faster than a slave child...You've got some skill set there my friend...

In case you hadn't noticed this news report wasn't about you or your much avowed skill set...beyond the fact that you seem to take pride in being able to drop your humanity along with all the shrimp shells...

You see...the news report wasn't about you but my commentary sure exposed which side of the divide you occupy...obviously it wasn't any guilt on my side that caused you to expose yourself...it was purely your own...that and your pride of course...

Have a nice day...you might want to pick your humanity up...from there on the floor where you dropped it...
May your day be better than those slaves your competing with...




YouSir

a reply to: Bluntone22


Ummm...the globalization fix is in...and we get to reap the benefits...all while NOT having to consider whose hands the tasty morsels actually passed through...




YouSir

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: skunkape23


Ummm...you go right on being the fine upstanding human being that you are...Go ahead and brag that you can peel shrimp faster than a slave child...You've got some skill set there my friend...

In case you hadn't noticed this news report wasn't about you or your much avowed skill set...beyond the fact that you seem to take pride in being able to drop your humanity along with all the shrimp shells...

You see...the news report wasn't about you but my commentary sure exposed which side of the divide you occupy...obviously it wasn't any guilt on my side that caused you to expose yourself...it was purely your own...that and your pride of course...

Have a nice day...you might want to pick your humanity up...from there on the floor where you dropped it...
May your day be better than those slaves your competing with...

YouSir

Go catch your own food and prepare it yourself if it's a problem for you. No need to be a dick.

a reply to: tony9802


Ummm...your welcome Tony...I just read the story online and my first thought was an image of someone forced to peel the shrimp I had just eaten last week...It made me reflect on what the true cost of that meal might have been...





YouSir

a reply to: YouSir

Well I peel my own shrimp that I buy from the supermarket. In fact, I got a lb sitting in my freezer right now that needs to be peeled.

a reply to: AudioOne


Ummm...thank you Audio...It's not so much a matter of guilt as it is a realization that none of us live in isolation from what occurs on a daily basis around us...We just have to recognize that when we learn of injustice we either have a choice to separate ourselves from that linkage or continue...as if it had no real effect...





YouSir

originally posted by: skunkape23

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: skunkape23

Go catch your own food and prepare it yourself if it's a problem for you. No need to be a dick.

Ummm...apparently it isn't a problem for you...How does it feel really to proclaim for all the world to see...that it's not a problem for you...that you find no problem with modern slavery and human trafficking...
Are you really that insular...?
Do you really live such an insulated life that nothing touches you...?

Each to his own I guess...
Good show...Mr SkunkApe...kudos...

P.S...My name isn't Richard BTW


YouSir

a reply to: YouSir

Insects of the sea.

Bottom feeders.

Collecting all the heavy pollutants which sink to the bottom.

There's a reason many people are allergic to these things. I will add - many people are allergic without realising. Next time you eat prawns observe an hour afterwards to see if your armpits and palms itch... Sign of minor allergic reaction.

a reply to: Krazysh0t


Ummm...good for you Krazy...good for you...





YouSir

a reply to: and14263

There's a reason many people are allergic to these things. I will add - many people are allergic without realising.

Allergic shrimp reaction is associated with warm water shrimp. Cold water (nordic) shrimp do not produce such reaction and the northern hemisphere is suposed to have a better reputation with slavery these days.

originally posted by: YouSir

originally posted by: skunkape23

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: skunkape23

Go catch your own food and prepare it yourself if it's a problem for you. No need to be a dick.

Ummm...apparently it isn't a problem for you...How does it feel really to proclaim for all the world to see...that it's not a problem for you...that you find no problem with modern slavery and human trafficking...
Are you really that insular...?
Do you really live such an insulated life that nothing touches you...?

Each to his own I guess...
Good show...Mr SkunkApe...kudos...

P.S...My name isn't Richard BTW

YouSir

I am not understanding where you are coming from. I do not support slavery in any form. I live on the coast. I am skilled at catching and preparing shrimp and other bounty of the sea. "Insulated life?" Good joke, man.

a reply to: PeterMcFly

Interesting. Would like to see some evidence on this claim. Those I know (including myself) are allergic to all of these dirty bottom feeders, be they langostines or good 'ol shrimp.

EDIT: Crabs, lobsters etc etc

originally posted by: PeterMcFly
a reply to: and14263

There's a reason many people are allergic to these things. I will add - many people are allergic without realising.

Allergic shrimp reaction is associated with warm water shrimp. Cold water (nordic) shrimp do not produce such reaction and the northern hemisphere is suposed to have a better reputation with slavery these days.

Ummm...actually the northern hemisphere has a dismal record on slavery and human trafficking...

While I do agree that shrimp peeling probably isn't the major reason for such trafficking in the northern hemisphere...it would be incorrect to assume that the western world is free of such behavior...



YouSir

Same can be said for chocolate and the clothes you wear, people get exploited in sweat shop/ slave environments for plenty of places that supply the stores we shop at. Too bad they didn't have to show a picture next to the item of where it was made and by whom.

originally posted by: korath
Same can be said for chocolate and the clothes you wear, people get exploited in sweat shop/ slave environments for plenty of places that supply the stores we shop at. Too bad they didn't have to show a picture next to the item of where it was made and by whom.

That's a great idea. But those who would enforce such legislation are those who profit from not enforcing such legislations.