Prison labor is one of the American food industry’s best-kept secrets

Two years of comprehensive investigation by the agency AP revealed a A controversial little-known aspect of the American food industry: The prison labor, According to the study, products manufactured or processed by prisoners are in the supply chain of brands popular As frosted Flakes, ball park, gold medal And Coca-Colaand are available on the shelves of Supermarket is famous as kroger, Target, Aldi And whole Foods,

At the center of this dynamic are approximately 800,000 prisoners, who represent the hidden workforce behind a wide variety of jobs, from prison maintenance and kitchen work to highway garbage collection. This workforce includes not only domestic work; This also extends to areas with labor shortages, including meat processing plants and potato packaging factories.

“A lot of these kids come from homes where they never understood work and never understood the feeling at the end of a job well done.” David Farabo, who oversees prison farms in Arkansas, highlighted one positive aspect of prison work.

The investigation revealed not only the vastness of the areas benefiting from prison labour, but also the disproportionate number people of color Among people held in prisons in the United States, who are forced to work, in some cases under the threat of punishment.

Difficult working conditions and low pay, where it exists, raise serious questions about equality and human rights within the American criminal system. “Generally, they’re not paid, they’re forced to work and it’s unsafe,” lamented Andrea Armstrong, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

This has been added to legal complexity which allows such practice on a clause basis amendment 13 of United States Constitution Which prohibits slavery and involuntary labor except in punishment for any crime. Efforts to modify this provision are ongoing at the federal and state levels.

Companies identified AP As beneficiaries of prison labor, directly or indirectly, they have responded in a variety of ways. For example, McDonald’s and Cargill assured the news agency that they would investigate and take action regarding the connections found, while Whole Foods flatly denied the use of prison labor in its products.

Confrontation with jailed workers terrible working conditions while contributing to industries suffering from labor shortage, doing some of the most dangerous and dirty work in the country. Furthermore, this prisoners usually not covered labor compensation nor for federal safety standardsBeing excluded from filing formal complaints about their working conditions.

investigation of AP Highlighted the risks and challenges that workers face behind bars, including incidents of serious injuries on the job and cases of sexual harassment and abuse, sometimes perpetrated by civilian supervisors or corrections officers in charge. Through analysis of thousands of pages of documents and interviews with more than 80 current or former incarcerated people, the investigation revealed how Koch Foods, one of the largest chicken processing companies in the United States, became involved in a tragic affair. happened.

Frank Dwayne Ellington, a man sentenced to life in prison, died after being trapped in a machine while working at one of his facilities. His family faced many legal difficulties while attempting to seek justice, facing legal barriers that prevented them from filing wrongful death lawsuits.

The investigation also revealed how prison workers in the United States infiltrated the global supply chains of companies through third-party suppliers or direct purchases, leading to the loss of Cargill, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Archer Daniels Midland, and Consolidated Grain & Barge. Even big companies are affected.

These giants of commercefundamental to global nutritionpurchased products such as soy, corn And wheat It’s literally worth millions of dollars prisonscompete with local farmer, In fact, Kargil Purchase of assets recognized prison farmindicating that it represents a a very small fraction of its total volume And announcing that it’s found Evaluate appropriate corrective actions,

penal institution Angolaknown as “south alcatraz”, surrounded by swamps filled with crocodiles in a bend of the river mississippi, The prison, formerly a 19th-century anti-war plantation, now holds approximately 3,800 men, 65% of whom are African-American, who are assigned to farm work soon after their arrival, with wages of Rates range from 2 cents to 40 cents per hour.

History of labor in American prisons It dates back to pre-emancipation times, when slaves were often captured and then leased out by local authorities. Back civil warThe Exception clause of the 13th amendment Provided legal protections for thousands of youth, primarily African-Americans, incarcerated minor Offences, Later, these individuals were rented out to plantations and companies, marking their path to Modern Prison Industrial Complex From America.

In louisiana And alabamaprisoners have submitted class action lawsuits Over the past four months, these practices have been criticized, accusing states and outside companies of forcing people to do cheap or free work. Slavery,

ken pastoricCorrections Department spokesperson louisianarejected comparisons of working conditions to slavery, calling them “absurd” and highlighting that “the America’s bloodiest prisonin recent decades “Reinvesting in large-scale criminal justice reform and the creation of rehabilitative, vocational, and educational programs designed to help people recover and successfully return to communities.”

“They may be doing the exact same job as people who are not in prison, but they don’t have the training, they don’t have the experience, they don’t have the protective equipment,” said Jennifer Turner, lead author of the study. The American Civil Liberties Union’s 2022 report on labor.

(AP)