María Alonso Martínez - The Salmon and the Tomato

This episode is a supplementary full interview with María Alonso Martínez from Episode 4 of the Edible Empire podcast series. Here, we explore the human and environmental costs of the fishmeal and fish oil industry that has decimated fisheries in West Africa in the name of supplying aquaculture feed and cheap, year-round fish. What connects salmon farming in northern Europe with tomato farming in southern Spain? These two, seemingly distinct food supply chains ensure that our supermarket shelves are stocked with cheap, year-round food. What we don’t see, however, are the hidden links - the overfishing along the coast of West Africa that destroys local communities’ livelihoods and drives migration to Europe; the dangerous journeys by small boat where 1 in 5 people die; the entrapment of migrants arriving in exploitative agricultural labour in Spain’s intensive greenhouses. This interview examines the story of salmon farming - and highlights the hidden costs of this highly commodified food. Researcher María Alonso Martínez reveals the environmental and social costs of the vast plastic-covered greenhouses in south-east Spain that produce much of Europe’s winter veg. She discusses the exploitation of a vast labour force of migrants who make the perilous journeys from West and North Africa, often dangerous, multi-day trips by small boat. On arrival, many of them work as undocumented migrant labourers, toiling under inhumane conditions within Almería’s vast "Sea of Plastic" to harvest the cheap winter vegetables that stock European supermarket shelves. To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website. Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee or becoming a member of Athletes for Nature. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, subscribe to this podcast, and share this episode with your friends and family.