A Horrid History of Sugar

By Alan Singer

The New York Times recently published an investigation of the abusive conditions in the sugar cane industry in Maharashtra, India. India is the world’s second largest producer of sugar. Workers are virtual slaves because they owe money to employers either because they were forced by poverty to borrow or inherited the debt from impoverished parents. Instead of being paid wages, migrant agricultural workers in Maharashtra receive an advance when the harvest season starts, but because of the irregularity of work and the lack of oversight of employers, they often end up owing money, which means they are forced to return year after year.

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Source: New York Almanac