Click here to watch the video.
Costa Rica (10/1/2010) An investigation by Guardian Films has found a lot of environmental and social damage caused by pineapple production in Costa Rica, from where pinapples sold in Europe come.
The Guardian found that:
• The use of chemicals has led to dirty drinking-water for communities around the plantations. The company sprays chemicals on the fruit and these chemicals get washed into the rivers when it rains. The water is so filled with chemicals that one group of villages, near plantations owned by Del Monte, has been forced to collect water from tankers for more than three years.
• Repeated chemical accidents have inflicted serious damage on the local environment. In June this year, a fire at a chemical dump used by the fruit company Dole caused a toxic cocktail to spill into the nearby river. Fish and other wildlife including crocodiles were killed along miles of waterways. The pesticide involved is sprayed by Dole on its bananas. Dole told us that it was co-operating with the authorities investigating the accident.
• Workers reported suffering serious health problems from being near to the chemicals used on pineapple plantations, including in some cases accidental chemical poisoning on Del Monte and Grupo Acon farms. Grupo Acon supplies Tesco, Asda, Dole and Fyffes.
• Price cuts in European supermarkets have led to wages being cut by Grupo Acon (one of the fruit companies), workers said.
• When the workers try to join a union to improve wages, they are fired by Del Monte and Grupo Acon plantations.
Questions:
1. Where did this story take place?
2. When did this story take place?
3. Why is the drinking water dirty around the plantations?
4. In what month did the fire at Dole cause a toxic cocktail to spill into the nearby river?
5. Why are the workers suffering from health problems?
6. Why have the workers wages been cut?
7. What happens when the workers try to join a union?
Video and info from the Guardian.com. Image from rangebuzz.com
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