My message to vegans - Behind the glamorous Mediterranean - Writing Wednesday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,

I recently sat down and watched Simon Reeve's documentary on the Mediterranean with my mum and my sister and was shocked by what I saw. The journey of the migrants crossing over Ceuta, the busiest shipping lanes injuring passing dolphins, and the amount of plastic that fishermen dig up from the bottom of the seabed is just horrendous. But what is more shocking to me is how ignorant we are about this one particular subject. It made me realise that in the grand scheme of things, nothing is cruelty free.

On one of his trips, Simon visited greenhouses that grow and cultivate the majority of our fruits and vegetables. The workers were all migrants that had crossed over from neighbouring Africa. These greenhouses are made up of large plastic sheets - a cheap but successful alternative used in mass production of our produce. These greenhouses provide the work migrants need to survive and although the business is successful, it does not mean that the workers get treated fairly. One of the migrants was interviewed and he said that if the boss didn't think you were doing the job correctly, he would hit you. People do know that these plantations exist. As soon as Simon stepped out of one of the greenhouses, he was on a main road.

Not only this but the apartment that is run by the local council is unsafe for any human to live in. It's got exposed wires, it's cramped, the walls have holes in them but they house a lot of migrants in one apartment. The migrants cannot escape from this because their wages are too low. While this is all happening, the bosses are making all the money without doing the dirty work. 

During the destruction of the greenhouses, the plastic does not go to a proper landfill or get recycled. Instead, it gets chucked away in the nearby desert. It rarely rains in the desert, but when it does, it can produce mass flooding. This means that the yards of plastic eventually gets washed away into the ocean. Something the nearby fisherman will have to clear up soon after.

So to the vegans out there eating your plant-based food, claiming its cruelty free, I would personally say, think more about where your food comes from. On the grander scale, it could be contributing to the to the terrible ways the workers get treated as well as the destruction of our environment. It may not be harming farm animals but it's certainly harming the ocean life and people working there and the impacts are very apparent as I've already suggested. 

What can we do better? Let me know in the comments below and I will be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you.

See you next time,

Bye,

XOX,Juliette

Link to the documentary:
Mediterranean with Simon Reeve

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