Prisoners, Processed Food, and Profit: How Corporations Exploit Labour and Health Inequality

Forced Prison Labour 

Did you know prisons in the US, Canada, and all around the world force inmates to work full-time for only a few dollars a day? Most people justify brutal prison treatment for violent offenders, but what about non-violent offenders? And what about the disproportionate amount of racially filled prison systems, with people of colour being jailed five times more than white people? This leaves the question of whether prison systems are possibly reinforcing modern slavery. 

Despite provisions against cruel and unusual punishment in Canada, modern-day prisons lock up people in an unsafe, unsanitary condition with minimal contact with family, malnourished processed food, and unpaid labour for years, only to come out with a lifelong record, no job opportunities, and psychological damage. What is the result? A PhD in crime, and a greater incentive to ruin people's lives, as yours is already ruined. Aside from the questionable prison system. Nobody realistically cares about the rights and dignity of prisoners, and this leaves corporations able to utilize them for profit with no backlash. 

• US prisons produce 11 billion dollars worth of goods and services for around 13-52 cents an hour. 

• Canada pays a maximum of $6.90 per prisoner per day for industries that include furniture and woodwork.

• McDonald's, Starbucks, Target, and Nordstrom are all reported to have used prison labour, along with many big corporations.

• In 2013 prisons made 100 million dollars' worth of military uniforms for the US. 

Prisons are funded almost entirely by our tax dollars, and if anything, the victim should be receiving profit from prisoners, not corporations. For big companies, prison labour isn't given for employable skills but is a cheap way to cut costs and earn profit. 

Even more chilling is that in countries with low labour rights, forced labour conditions for prisoners are often concentration camps, and prisoners are sent for arbitrary reasons. In Xinjiang, China, it is reported that half a million people are forced to pick cotton, primarily Uyghur Muslims that are sent to “re-education” camps.

The Unspoken Hierarchy

Big corporations taking money from an unpaid labour system produce unhealthy but quick processed foods that weaken those who eat them. Unfortunately it is the marginalized, the impoverished, or the uninformed who end up consuming this food. This is perfectly seen by the viral video of Campbell’s Soup Company’s head executive saying “Sh** for f*** poor people,” calling their food bioengineered meat. 

It is not just prisoners that are fed with highly processed food with little nutritional value, but it’s a greater inequality and hierarchy. It is good that food is made affordable and convenient, but healthy food should be made affordable and convenient; otherwise, a fundamental life need is being patronized for inequality, and wealth becomes a social determinant of health more than ever before. Instead of having the Campbell's Soup employees' unsympathetic comments like, 

“I don’t want to eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.”

Nutritious meals should be accessible to everyone regardless of wealth or status. Here is a healthier option. 

Healthy Choice: Canned and Frozen Foods

• Over 90% nutritious ingredients and minimal processing 

• Affordable pricing: less than $2 US for a soup can

• Frozen veggie and protein meals available. 

Affordable, non-bioengineered meat options are needed in a market with little such options. Inequalities for labour and food are widespread but don’t have to be.