What’s the scoop?
Cashew-based vegan dairy products are one of the most widely available non-dairy options. With the aim of supporting a more ethical and healthy alternative to the dairy industry, it’s important to look at where these nuts come from and how they reach us. In 2016 only 3% of cashews on the world market were considered fair trade with the US importing just over half of them.
What’s up with their production?
Cashews are traditionally processed by hand. The harvested nuts must be dried, de-shelled and then the remaining kernel steamed or roasted. De-shelling the nut releases toxic gases that burn the skin and eyes. Most cashew processing lies in India and Vietnam where there’s a lack of regulation and producers employ communities with little other options for work. Workers are paid by quantity rather than by the hour, forcing them to prioritize speed over safety. They must deal with excruciating burns everyday that never have time to heal because protective gear is either too expensive or too inefficient.
How can this be?
Cashew supply chains are currently extremely fragmented and there’s a huge lack of transparency because of that. One large cashew processor may purchase nuts from a number of smaller ones who’ve all sourced from various farms. It becomes tricky to know whether child labor or human rights abuses have been inflicted with this many variables. Nuts can travel from a farm in Côte D’Ivoire to a processing plant in Vietnam then to your local grocery chain — wracking up thousands of food miles along the way.
What can we do?
Two ways us as individuals can help is to vote with our dollar for fair production & use your voice to hold companies accountable. Contact your local supermarket chain and favorite cashew brands to call on them to source from ethical producers. Find a brand that’s certified fair trade, though that won’t always guarantee conditions are fair, it will have more of a chance.
Seems rather bleak…
On an optimistic note, Human Rights Watch published an exposé in 2011 on Vietnam’s cashew processing prisons. Afterwards, Vietnam shut these cashew operations and heavily invested in machinery to do the processing. Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire and Benin are investing in machinery to shorten the supply chain to the source, subsidized by their governments. Fair working conditions and pay won’t happen overnight but these signs indicate the industry is moving in the right direction.