Reader Question: Human Rights Associated with Food

Reader Laura G. wrote: "I've been reading information on treehugger.com for about 2 years now. Thank you so much for everything you put out. I have a question relating to the post on Whole Foods Market's new initiatives. Or, stemming from it. I am wondering if you know of any good resources for finding out about the human rights associated with the food products that we buy. I am just finishing reading "Fast Food Nation" for the first time. What has been troubling me even more than looking for meat/dairy products that come from places that treat their animals humanely is the difficulty I'm having finding out about the working/safety conditions for humans in the factories and distributions centers where our food comes from." More after the jump. Please leave your answer in the comments.

What do I look for? Free Trade products? I am not ready to stop my consumption of meat/dairy products at this time, but I do want to find a way to buy responsibly instead of supporting greedy moguls who view their lowly factory workers as dispensable commodities.

Any help you can offer is truly appreciated.

P.S. I hope it doesn't come across that I'm not concerned with the humane treatment of animals. I DO consider that very important. I just found the treatment of human beings to be important too. I don't want to buy from companies that do not value their workers.

Thank you for your question, Laura.