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NPR visits a prison goat farm that was the subject of an activist's ire back in 2015:
Whole Foods loved [Jim Schott's] cheese. His company [Haystack Mountain] grew. It also changed. Ten years ago, Haystack Mountain started buying milk from a farm in a prison. Schott doesn't recall telling Whole Foods or his other customers about that change in the Haystack Mountain story. In any case, Schott felt that it was a good thing — "a model of good prison management."
Then, in 2015, a prison reform activist named Michael Allen sent a letter to John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods. Allen demanded that Whole Foods stop selling Haystack Mountain's cheese because it was made, in part, using the labor of prisoners earning pennies per hour. The way Allen sees it, Haystack was "taking advantage of helpless, powerless individuals. They're fair game for corporations to make money off of. And I just told [Mackey] that we wanted him to get out of that business."
Many things besides cheese are made in prisons. Across the country, tens of thousands of inmates work for businesses that have set up operations inside prison walls. They make flags and furniture. Most of the time, they attract little attention. People may feel differently about something they eat, though, especially a boutique food like goat cheese. To Allen's amazement and delight, Whole Food caved to his demands. In a statement, the company said that some of its customers weren't comfortable with products made by prisoners, so it would no longer sell them.
The inmates are still milking those goats, though. I was curious about this farm, and set up a visit.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Friday July 21 2017, @03:35PM
we often disagree but here, I'm with you.
what lesson are we teaching them? that evil corps are still evil and that they will do ANYTHING they can to make a buck, at anyone's expense but their own?
that its 'ok' to pay slave wages?
guys, think about what communication this achieves. it teaches that slavery is good. and don't think that prison labor is NOT a form of slavery. you can't say no, you can't negotiate terms at all, you have no power at all and you can be abused or even killed if you look at your bosses the wrong way.
all wrong - all exactly the opposite of what a modern free country is all about.
make no mistake, this is just another indication that big business runs this country and is ruthless beyond belief.
I have never been in prison, but I would imagine that if I was there and treated this way, if/when I got out, I'd have a HUGE chip on my shoulder and I'm spend the rest of my life getting back at whoever treated me like a slave.
we really don't need this kind of 'lesson'. this is not helping anything but the mega rich corps. and,well, fuck them! they all need to be cut down in size, at this point. they have way too much power and control over things.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."