"Salad days? Semi-slavery on the 'sweating fields' of southern Spain",

Lettuces, peppers and other vegetables grown under 'semi-slavery' conditions in Spain are filling supermarket shelves in the UK...Workers are routinely abused, underpaid, sprayed with pesticide, and sacked if they dare complain, an C4News / Ecologist investigation has found. But now they are getting organised to defend their rights...Hassan works for a large courgette grower supplying the UK and Northern European market. Inside the greenhouse where he works, he told us that there is no ventilation...He also says that there are no sanitary facilities......[W]orkers can go on without being paid for months...The shack [Fatima] lives in has no water or electricity, she says: "We live here in deep misery ... we live here without work, without food, I have documentation but no work. We live here like locked in sheep, like pigs. like pigs, locked in here! They don't open the door for us. If you want to buy a loaf of bread they don't open the door for you to leave."...

It is hard to imagine that our salad bowls can contain so much suffering. Big supermarkets chains need to ensure that the way our food is produced is ethical and legal. There is a need to re-think our consumer habits, transparency and certification.