Description
about pepper
Pepper is ‘one of the most popular and oldest spices in the
world and nearly everybody eats it every day’ (Cave, 2015; np), often referred
to as ‘The King of Spice’ (Alan, 2012; np). Throughout history pepper has been
used as for its flavour, as a medicine, and even as a currency, making it a
‘prized spice since ancient times’ (Alan, 2012; np) referred to as ‘Black Gold’
(Cave, 2015; np). Black pepper is from a flowering vine; the berries are then
picked, extracted (through stamping on the pepper, breaking the stem from the
berry, Cave, 2015) and dried. It can take three to four years for peppercorns
to develop, and it is during the drying process when the peppercorns shrivel
and darken (Alan, 2012).
Black pepper is native to the Malabar Coast of India (Norman,
2016) and is ‘extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions’ (Alan,
2012; np), including Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Malaysia (Costigan, 2005),
with each country produces different varieties. The discovery and trade of
Pepper was instrumental in the opening of ‘spice trade routes to India and
South-East Asia in 1488’ (Costigan, 2005; np). The pepper market is extremely
competitive, with Vietnam currently the largest producer (Alan, 2012). The
cultivation of pepper is a ‘labour intensive process… still requiring hand
picking and, in many areas, cleaning and sorting by hand’ (Costigan, 2005; np),
exemplifying how important it is to uncover where our Pepper is produced.
“McCormick & Company” is the largest manufacture of
spices and herbs, including pepper, namely under Schwartz (Wikiedia, 2016). The
company’s revenue is more than $3 billion (Pinto, 2011), highlighting the
market value of the spice trade. The company’s slogan is ‘Pure Tastes Better’;
something that we played with in our subvert. As we questioned how ‘pure’ their
pepper is.
We decided to illustrate Pepper’s past through a ‘Tasty’
style video, a growing trend on social media, and the use of a Subvertisment. Through
the reconfiguration of a ‘Tasty’ video we are undertaking Détournement, luring individuals
in through what they find familiar and then unearthing the processes behind the
Pepper (Malitz, 2012), rehumanising the cultivation process and hopefully
making individuals think. This is then reinforced using the subvertisment,
which aims to visually reiterate what is shown in the video.
Issues with
supply chain transparency
Individuals are often surprised to know the conditions in
which peppercorns are cultivated (Cave, 2015). This raises issues with supply
chain transparency, something we wanted to address in our video, through
paralleling the process of creating peppercorn sauce alongside the steps of cultivation
using flashbacks during the cooking process.
In McCormick’s 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
they stated how their vision is “To grow our business globally, while driving
positive change to the environment, without our communities, and for our
employees” (McCormick Corporation, 2015; 2), employing over 200 diverse
companies from all backgrounds; something they seemed to be proud of. Yet, when
contacting Schwartz, we were informed that they could not share further information
about their suppliers, highlighting the issues with supply chain transparency.
We felt as though it was important to illuminate issues
within the supply chain of pepper as we found it almost impossible to locate
exactly where peppercorns were produced. It was a common theme to look at the
back of a peppermill and be able to only find “produce of various countries”,
or being unable to contact brands in the search for more information. This
frustrated us, and therefore we decided to expose what we did know; the physical
process of making pepper, and the issues within the chain. These issues will
likely surprise individuals, as they are not something you would immediately associate
with something as innocent as pepper, but we felt as though it was important to
educate others so they could make an informed choice about their pepper
consumption in the future.
Issues with
pepper
There are a series of injustices within the cultivation
process of pepper, as pepper provides a low standard of living, contrasting to
its high marker value (Costigan, 2005). A common theme from the research was
how women workers tended to be neglected in the Pepper industry, despite being
instrumental in the cultivation process, due to the low skill set required
(Joseph and Viswanathan, 2016). Arun (2012; np) argued how the markets and
financial services were not ‘responsive to the ‘needs’ of women farmers’, as it
is often assumed that the male family members will bring in an income. This is
reinforced through the gender norms and stereotypes in the Pepper producing
countries, as a women’s place is continually rooted in the home (Arun, 2012).
An increasing issue with Pepper is dependent on climate, as
food from India to Indonesia is vulnerable to ‘harvest failures, food price
crashes and price fixing’ (Johannisson and Bengtsen, 2011). As pepper is a cash
crop it is at a heightened vulnerability to these failures. Moreover, the
farmers are more vulnerable as pepper is often produced on small-scale farms,
often subsistence farmers, with few workers with a high dependency on the crop
(Johannisson and Bengtsen, 2011). The price crashes of pepper in the 2000s, and
price fluctuations in general (Steenbergs Organic, 2007), has been associated
with an increase of suicides amongst pepper famers, notably in the Wayanad
District in Kerala (Johannisson and Bengtsen, 2011), due to the increasing
competition from Vietnam (Raman, 2005). In 2004 in Wayanad approximately 100
farmers committed suicide (Raman, 2005), illustrating the scale of this issue,
and concerningly this number is only set to rise. These suicides are the result
of financial strain brought on by pepper farming, often due to unpaid loans, described
as ‘pay or die’ (Johannisson and Bengtsen, 2011; np). These suicides are
described in harrowing narratives, including 20-year old Neethu 'One morning we awoke and found my dad having hanged himself in the bedroom, right here' (Johannisson and Bengtsen, 2011).
It could be argued that these issues would not be so
widespread if the supply chain was more transparent, and if companies like
McCormick took more responsibility and accountability for their actions, as
this may take the financial strain off some farmers. Therefore, these issues
are indicative of why we felt like we needed to engage in activism to expose
the injustice occurring.
Solutions
It is important to note that there are other options when
buying pepper. Instead of buying into the global pepper produce, sourced from
all over the world, you can choose to by pepper from one region, or even from a
certain farm; supporting the local economy directly. An example of this is
Wayanad Pepper from Parameswaran’s estate (Norman, 2016). This 20-acre estate
is a mixed-plantation, growing a variety of produce, including pepper. Jill
Norman visited this plantation in 2016 and noted how ‘the quality of this
single pepper stands our because it is so carefully farmed and processed’
(Norman, 2016; np). Furthermore, not all pepper plantations are suppressing
places driven by financial strain. For example, Sorn Sothy, a professional from
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, bought a 10-acre farm with over 800 pepper sticks
(Bethune, 2014), selling a higher-priced Kampot Pepper, which is now protected
under the World Trade Association status of protected Geographical Indication
(Kampotpepper, 2016). Illustrating how pepper quality can be upheld in an
ethically sound way.
These peppercorns are available to buy in the UK in
well-known shops including Lakeland, indicative of how consumers do have a
choice, and subsequently they can choose to support the “Little guy” (Campbell,
2011; np) illustrated in these examples, rather than the big companies like
McCormick with a poor supply chain. Therefore, we are hoping that through our
video and subvertisment that we can influence pepper consumption habits, and
make individuals think about what they are putting on their food and the people
behind its production.
Reference List
Campbell, J. (2011) Spice of Life, New Straits Times Malaysia, 19th June, last accessed
13/11/2016, http://www.nst.com.my/
Costigan, J. (2005) Berries with bite, The Age (Melbourne Australia), 27th September, last
accessed 13/11/2016, http://www.theage.com.au/
Rajazenan, D. (2016) Employment and livelihood of workers in
natural rubber, black pepper and cardamom plantations, in Joseph, K. J. and
Viswanathan, P. K. eds. Globalisation,
Development and Plantation Labour in India, Routledge, Abington: 109-130
Malitz, Z. (2012) Détournement/
Culture Jamming, in Boyd, A. eds. Beautiful
Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution, OR Books, New York: 28-31
McCormick Corporation (2015) 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, McCormick