Enough?

Today I've contacted two food distributors whose products I have purchased at Wheatsville Food Co-Op here in Austin: SunRidge Farms and Go! Global Organics. Crazy me - I want to know whether anyone was treated unfairly in the process of supplying me with delicious food. Both responded quickly and I learned quite a bit.

SunRidge Farms:
Producer/ditributor of dried fruits, trail and snack mixes, granolas, nuts, and seeds. Based in Pajaro, California.

• truck fleet uses biodiesel
• commited to organic practices
• Starting May '07 their facility will use solar power

However the customer service person I contacted could provide me with no guarantee of fair-labor practices in their supply chain. I was told, "We are a company that believes in minimizing our impact on our environment. We relay this, as well as our values regarding fair labor practices to our hundreds of suppliers we deal with." Is that enough?

Go! Global Organics:

• strong commitment to organic practices, i.e. Green Cane Project

And yet when I asked about the dark chocolate chips they carry I was told that they are produced in Italy but the cocoa beans come from Central America, the Carribean, and East Africa, and the sugar comes from Brazil. All are certified organic and from small farmer owner co-ops. Most of the Carribean sources are Fair Trade certified, but by whom?. But then the response acquired some strange phrasing: "no child labor above and beyond normal local cultural practices are used in harvesting...families are encouraged to send their children to school for at least a primary education. Global Organics Ltd. further reviews the inspection reports to verify that there is no evidence of excessive child labor or slave labor being used..." (emphasis added) Excessive slave labor? One instance is excessive! Why state it that way? For that matter why make the chips in Italy when the beans and sugar come from South and Central America?

I'm suspicious of any product that comes from Central or South America. I don't get the impression that these countries are enforcing fair-labor practices. I think there's a good chance that there are children and people who aren't paid or treated fairly growing and harvesting these goods. I have no data to support this really, but does that mean I should discard my suspicions and trust the companies? No way. Not after watching The Corporation. I'm sure that Sun Ridge does inform and perhaps even encourages its suppliers to practice fair-labor, but that can't be enough. One child in the fields instead of a classroom is one too many. One worker not paid fairly for his labor is one too many. Don't support plunder. Investigate your suppliers and guarantee that as far as you can tell no one was treated unfairly.

Am I crazy? Would you feel good about supporting these companies? Where is the line? I don't need to actually meet the farmers or visit the farms, but I want some certainty that the products I'm buying were not looted.