I don't think I've got a rant in me today. I can't comment authoritatively about the dynamic there (I don't even know where "there" is). But I suspect that a lot of this sort of abuse is driven by the developed world's demand for ever cheaper and cheaper stuff.

But it really is wrong at so many levels that the people who grow our food (over there and here in our own western countries), can barely afford to feed themselves. At least in Australia, I happen to think that the plight of farmers is probably the biggest (behind homelessness) indicator of how fucked up neoliberalism is. Particularly Australia, as agriculture has been responsible for so much of our wealth in our earlier history. And the really ironic thing here is that the country "farmers" party (The Nationals) does pretty much fuck all for farmers, as they have been in a formal coalition with the neoliberal Liberal Party for decades, a party that actively decimates rural communities in favour of get rich quick financial industry and property speculation in the big cities. To complete the irony, it's actually the Greens who are the party that supports rural Australia and farmers the most, yet farmers can't bring themselves to vote for the greens because they are more worried about Jesus, and gays and lesbians taking over the world, than they are their own and the nation's wellbeing. But that's conservatives for you. There's only so much you can do for such people.

Ok, that turned into a mini-rant. Baby steps... :)