If Satnam Singh had not died at the age of 31 because a machine severed his arm and he was abandoned like a bag of garbage, without help, today he would still be working in the fields of Agro Pontino.
Of Asians and Africans, slaves in the fields like him, there are between 5,000 and 8,000, in the province of Latina alone, over 200,000 in all of Italy.
Thinking that they are the only ones is wrong: there are Chinese slaves, in the warehouses of Prato and in those between Milan and Bergamo, South American slaves in the large logistics hubs, between Piacenza and Pavia, slaves on bicycles who deliver meals in all Italian cities.
Singh, once again, stood out, because he died so tragically.
Many slaves, we see them every day, but we don’t notice them, by now, we are used to it.
The exploitation of desperation and misery, which comes here from all over the world, is now integrated into many areas of economic activity in Italy, and we have become accustomed to it, to put it bluntly, it no longer makes us hot or cold.
It would be right to question the laws we have and the lack of controls by our law enforcement agencies.
We should use an iron fist and be demanding with the big companies in the food, trade and distribution sectors.
I have collaborated and continue to collaborate with Konsumer and as consumers we have great power, when we enter a supermarket and we realize that a bottle of bagged tomatoes costs 60 cents, we choose a shopkeeper and a product rather than others, so that we are contributing to deciding what model of economy and society do we want.
It is necessary to read the labels, find out about the histories of the companies, make an effort to employ critical sense and reasonableness, it is certainly more expensive, because regular workers cost more than slaves and respect for the environment entails its costs.
We too must put in a little effort if we want to reduce the risk of finding a melon picked by poor Singh on our plate and if we want to ensure that those slaves are not our slaves too.
Alfredo Magnifico
