Champagne on New Year’s, with an aftertaste
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Tonight, the champagne bottle is opened with a bang. We raise our glasses and say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one. The noble fruity bubbles are grown in the Champagne district of France. Harvesting takes place in early autumn. 120,000 seasonal workers work to pick the grapes by hand in the vineyards. The sun burns and the seasonal workers suffer in the scorching heat.
4 Death from overheating
In September, a total of 4 people died during the harvest. One of these fell over in the vineyards, another lost consciousness on a machine and fell off. The others died at home after collapsing earlier in the day.
The focus is now on the working and living conditions of these seasonal workers in France. Champagne, which is synonymous with sparkling wine of the very best quality, needs to take some action. The conditions under which the seasonal workers live border on what we can call human trafficking.
No need to welcome the new year with Champagne
Only wines grown in the Champagne region of France have the right to use the word Champagne. The sparkling drink has for generations. This wine is often drunk to mark major events such as weddings, birthdays, national days and New Years. The drink is associated with optimism and celebration.
The conditions for the seasonal workers who pick grapes for use in the production of Champagne are hardly worse than for other types of wine. It is fairly typical for us consumers. We do not question the ethics of the products we buy. We take it for granted that the workers have an OK workplace, that the wages are OK and that the working conditions are good. As consumers, we must become more aware of the ethical principles when making our purchases, whether it concerns wine or other products.
Market forces can regulate the price of a product. The price and the ethical principles are often not connected. While we close our eyes to the realities and drink our Champagne tonight, the grapes are grown on hand-picked by people who work for hours in the scorching sun with temperatures above 40 degrees.
Sources:
Morts au travail : une première campagne de prevention qui convainc à moitié (lemonde.fr)