Green Curry (Thailand)

For Christmas this year, I received a Thai cookbook that has a recipe for my go-to dish, Green Curry. This sweet curry packs a special kind of heat that intensifies with each bite, but doesn't overwhelm the delicate flavors. Typically it is served with green beans, basil and chicken, but I always throw in some shrimp. I've probably made the recipe for Green Curry at least three times since December, diminishing the last of the beans from my garden and making a frozen bag of shrimp a pantry staple. It may be the second favorite thing to have entered my life from Thailand in recent years;) 

This blog started as an exercise in exploring the intersect of culture and food in the life of our family, and in recent entries (sporadic as they may be) I've strayed somewhat from that intended goal. An article that I read this week changed that for me and I find myself drawn back to the computer to sort it all out in the name of my beloved Green (shrimp) Curry!

Just a week ago, the Associated Press shared a year long investigation into the use of Burmese slaves in the Southeast Asian fishing industry that supplies upwards of 20% of the seafood in US markets. The report literally followed the fish from the boats with the slaves to the supplier, Thai Union, and onward to the US companies that contract for their seafood, Kroger, Safeway, Wal-mart, and Sysco to name a few. There are additional reports that Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse among others, had been aware of this link to human trafficking and chose not to change their suppliers.

So what can we do about the scourges of human trafficking from half a world away? It breaks my heart to know that the beautiful homeland of my son is listed along side North Korea, Syria and Iran for its human rights violations. But I cannot wallow in my helplessness with a broken heart. In this case, I need to follow the story, Thai Union has already taken steps to sever ties with suppliers, but I can wait to see what happens in the US as well before I spend my valuable dollars on any sort of seafood. My money makes and difference!

This season of lent we spent time with a small group from church examining our own practices as people of faith. Often what we realized is that small choices and actions can lead to a larger impact. Here is my list of how to start to process and affect change.

Educate yourself on difficult topics. Read the news, analysis, and commentary, even when it is difficult to digest and consumes a lot of time. 

Ask questions. Where does my food come from? In the store, in restaurants, and in my own home, I must be diligent AND prepared to walk away from companies that ignore violations in human rights.

Share your voice. I'm doing that now, but in this day of viral media posts, word travels fast, and many times one voice becomes many, and that pressure makes a difference. Look at what is happening in Indiana. A national outcry by citizens and businesses alike might just change the tide of intolerance and discrimination once again.

Be vigilant and demand justice, especially in your own backyard. Human trafficking isn't just limited to faraway locales. In every state in the US, our young and vulnerable neighbors are being pressed into sexual slavery. As our own city prepares to host the Super Bowl in 2018, an event notorious for high levels of human trafficking, we must demand that our leaders prevent the exploitation of our neighbors.

Sometimes justice is lonely, exhausting work, but it must be done, on the smallest of scales and the largest of stages. What can you do today?