Whole Foods Market buying prison raised tilapia

[Anti Federalist]

Oh yeah, take a look, this where this is all heading, this is the future of work in the US.

Convict or guard.

How can a competing business possibly survive when it has to compete with labor rates of sixty cents a day.

And people have the nerve to scoff at my prison analogy.

Of course any business could become profitable when you have the power of the state to come along and Shanghai labor whenever needed.




Is Whole Foods "Prison Tilapia" Good for American Aquaculture?

http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed/2011/05/25/is-whole-foods-prison-tilapia/#ixzz1hL0q6t29

"I guess I am of two minds on this," he wrote. "On the one hand, the program seems to be a good example of giving skills to the inmates that they could use for employment when they are released from prison. That it 'pays for itself' is an added bonus, in that no extra public funds are being used in the rehabilitation program.

"But while this may be the case, I do worry about the bigger picture. It does give a somewhat unfair advantage to either the prison system or the fish producers that use the prison to process the fish. This is particularly important in this industry, since (seemingly) the cost of imported fish is so much lower because of some combination of lower labor costs and less 'stringent' production quality. That is, the only way that local producers make a profit is by using a labor source that effectively is on a similar wage scale as foreign producers."

Questions about the presence of prison-run fish farms in the marketplace aside, what effect might the Colorado DOC's aquaculture program have on ex-prisoners looking for work once they get out?

"Furthermore (and maybe more importantly)," Bender said, "when these prisoners are released, they may find that their skills are not valued (at least locally) since the local fish producers will continue using the cheaper prison labor."

[moostraks]

hmmm...so tank the economy and send all jobs off shore to low wage economies. Then have so many laws you break, what is it-three a day now? Then employ you for less than the low wage economies who might be getting uppity with their new found power. Then everyone can fight to have the crumbs off the kings table. Pretty ingenuous of them.

[donnay]

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." ~Ayn Rand

[specsaregood]

How can a competing business possibly survive when it has to compete with labor rates of sixty cents a day.


Its not just the labor rate; but also the subsidizing of the labor by taxes paid by competing businesses and working americans.

[WilliamC]

Hey, we have to compete with the Chinese don't we?

Our prison labor versus theirs, that's fair trade isn't it?

'Union Made in the USA' will be replaced by 'Made in the USA by Prison, Inc.'

[Anti Federalist]

Its not just the labor rate; but also the subsidizing of the labor by taxes paid by competing businesses and working americans.

Exactly.

[tod evans]

Prisons should only be permitted to raise food for consumption within the prison itself.
This is an outrage!

[specsaregood]

i would not be opposed to telling john mackey exactly how we feel about this. this is very anti-liberty.

[oyarde]

Oh yeah, take a look, this where this is all heading, this is the future of work in the US.

Convict or guard.

How can a competing business possibly survive when it has to compete with labor rates of sixty cents a day.

And people have the nerve to scoff at my prison analogy.

Of course any business could become profitable when you have the power of the state to come along and Shanghai labor whenever needed.




Is Whole Foods "Prison Tilapia" Good for American Aquaculture?

http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed/2011/05/25/is-whole-foods-prison-tilapia/#ixzz1hL0q6t29

"I guess I am of two minds on this," he wrote. "On the one hand, the program seems to be a good example of giving skills to the inmates that they could use for employment when they are released from prison. That it 'pays for itself' is an added bonus, in that no extra public funds are being used in the rehabilitation program.

"But while this may be the case, I do worry about the bigger picture. It does give a somewhat unfair advantage to either the prison system or the fish producers that use the prison to process the fish. This is particularly important in this industry, since (seemingly) the cost of imported fish is so much lower because of some combination of lower labor costs and less 'stringent' production quality. That is, the only way that local producers make a profit is by using a labor source that effectively is on a similar wage scale as foreign producers."

Questions about the presence of prison-run fish farms in the marketplace aside, what effect might the Colorado DOC's aquaculture program have on ex-prisoners looking for work once they get out?

"Furthermore (and maybe more importantly)," Bender said, "when these prisoners are released, they may find that their skills are not valued (at least locally) since the local fish producers will continue using the cheaper prison labor." Your dead on .

[heavenlyboy34]

Well, prison labor is already used in Arizona (like Sheriff Joe's chain gang). I'm not surprised at all.

[heavenlyboy34]

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." ~Ayn Rand
Wasn't it Orwell who originally said that?

[KCIndy]

Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day.

Teach a man to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime.

Imprison a man and use the threat of violence to make him raise fish for others, and his overlords can rule in power forever.


:(

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

look at it from another perspective, they sell the fish that helps fund the operation of the prison. I know a lot of you complain that we waste money on prisoners who sit around and "do nothing." Now they give society cheap fish and you'd rather them go back to doing nothing.

[Anti Federalist]

look at it from another perspective, they sell the fish that helps fund the operation of the prison. I know a lot of you complain that we waste money on prisoners who sit around and "do nothing." Now they give society cheap fish and you'd rather them go back to doing nothing.

I understand your point.

Mine is twofold:

1 - There should not be 2.7 million people in prison.

2 - To put prison labor, subsidized, enforced and maintained by the state, in direct competition with private enterprise, is a wildly, insanely dangerous precedent to set. No business can compete with prison labor.

[specsaregood]

look at it from another perspective, they sell the fish that helps fund the operation of the prison. I know a lot of you complain that we waste money on prisoners who sit around and "do nothing." Now they give society cheap fish and you'd rather them go back to doing nothing.

If they were farming the fish exclusively to feed prisoners I would have no objection. that sounds like a good idea to me.

[oyarde]

If they were farming the fish exclusively to feed prisoners I would have no objection. that sounds like a good idea to me. I agree

[AGRP]

This is like blaming Wall Street when the blame should be placed at the Federal Reserve.

This is possible because of the police state.

[jtstellar]

Exactly. okay but all you did was railing against a market trying to its hardest to function while already bombarded in the most difficult circumstances via tax code and minimum wage laws.. he mentioned the government side in this equation and you didn't, which makes a whole world of difference

[steph3n]

I do think teaching skills to those in prison is good, but like the other poster here, raising food for them to be self sustaining as a prison would be far better. Selling it, is very bad and and encourages the prisons to become slave labor, even more.

[nbhadja]

The prisoners should raise their own food, mop their own floors, etc so they become self sufficient and severely reduce tax payer costs for prisons.

[steph3n]

I understand your point.

Mine is twofold:

1 - There should not be 2.7 million people in prison.

2 - To put prison labor, subsidized, enforced and maintained by the state, in direct competition with private enterprise, is a wildly, insanely dangerous precedent to set. No business can compete with prison labor.

I agree on both your points, but also think prisoners that are there should work to produce their own foods, it can be an integral part of the rehab programs and they can sustain their prison community. I just hope that in the coming years there is a drastic reduction in the prison population.