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The economic cost of improving the human suffering could turn out to be a lot less than you’d think.
There's a brand in France that was set up to pay farmers a proper amount for their goods instead of what supermarket buying consortiums do by absolutely bleeding them .
Been a huge success and expanding products as people are happy to pay a premium and ensure the people they buy from can live a decent life.
Would be nice to think that the farm owners then pass this on to employees but you never know...
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My Dad works at a rural Citizens Advice Bureau in his retirement. Mistreated veg/fruit pickers account for a notable percentage of his caseload. Sure, my Dad has led a sheltered and privileged life to some extent but discovering that so many people in the UK have no money, no rights and few prospects felt like a gut punch to him. It pretty much changed his world view tbh.
But another factor here is mechanisation. One slave hour doesn’t equal one living wage hour. The more highly paid farm labourer will most likely be provided with better kit and there will be some efficiencies in the longer run once the farms settle into this new regime, invests accordingly, and each labourer works more efficiently.
My inkling is that currently some people are treated horribly, but only for a negligible benefit for the rest of us. The economic cost of improving the human suffering could turn out to be a lot less than you’d think.