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Costco..Vietnamese Fish…Slave labor law suit!!!!!
Vietnamese fish anyone??? Costco provides opportunities for various venders to promote their products, which is a good way to educate the public. Venders hire reps. to cook food items,offer cups of beverages, or present cold items from portable stations located throughout the food section of the store.
Everyone flocks these stations to get a free samples, who wouldn’t?
One station was very devoid of customers and that was the one promoting cooked Vietnamese fish. My assistant gingerly sampled a piece and then just couldn’t choke it down. What with the radiation contamination from the nuclear disaster in Japan, along with information circulating about the pristine environmental practices in Vietnam it was too tough to swallow. I chickened out.
Today, August 20, 2015 in the Wall Street Journal, an article By Erik Larson from Bloomberg News really makes one reflect on where does Costco source their food from and do they practice “Fair Trade”?
A California Woman, Monica Sud, has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Federal Court claiming that Costco, by purchasing farmed shrimp [prawns] from Thailand and then reselling to U.S. consumers is in violation of State laws.
The heart of the issue is that there is documented evidence that Thailand has an issue with slave labor and human trafficking. The farmed shrimp [prawns] are raised on inexpensive fish caught by salve labor, Unpaid labor!
Costco must have purchasing agents in various countries around the world searching for food suppliers. Do they set any standards or is the only goal to negotiate the best deal, with corporate turning a blind eye to any issues that might get in their way of making profits?
Where is the oversight and responsible corporate behavior? Public statements from Costco about not supporting slave labor is contradictory since there is a close relationship with Maryland company CP Food Products Inc. and parent company based in Thailand named Charoen Pokphand Foods Public company LTD.
They have all been named as defendents in the lawsuit which is seeking class action status. I guess by having an intermediary, CP Foods, Costco can shift the blame and responsibility to them.
If Costco does not have anyone overseeing the source of the food, no serious, independent on sight inspection, then they have a Big problem!
So inadvertently American consumers are supporting this culture of slave labor by purchasing this product.
What about the Vietnamese fish??
