If you’re trying to eat healthily, you can never go wrong with some fresh nuts. Cashews, like all nuts, are an incredible source of Protein and Fiber. Their usefulness of being incorporated into different snacks helps them to be a nut consumed by people of all generations in all walks of life. Although not everyone has access and affordability to cashews, these nuts are sold in bulks online as well as in your nearest market. However, did the thought of cashew production cross your mind? Behind your delicious cashews, many workers work in exploitative conditions, which led to the formation of fair trade.
What is Fairtrade?
Fairtrade is when companies of developed countries pay the food producers of developing countries. Fair prices are given to the producers by the companies to help in maintaining a fit lifestyle on astable income. The ultimate goal of this is to address poverty and help countries build a development model. Various factors considered are listed below.
- The companies pay the farmers a good salary. In many cases, producers get offered credit or advanced payments to ensure they have the resources needed to meet their demands.
- The farmers should be in a healthy workspace. There is a ban on child labor and forced labor. All forms of workplace discrimination and harassment are also prohibited.
- Both parties should be honest in their dealings with 100% transparency. Each party should be held accountable for its actions.
- Do not misuse the land.
- Respect local culture.
- Provide training opportunities for workers.
- Provide opportunities to producers.
- Anyone working with a fair trade producer promises to respect their culture, values, and heritage.
- Carry out direct trade.
Why do we need Fairtrade?
Products produced this way meet the standards designed to end and prevent poverty, sweatshop labor conditions, and environmental degradation. By this, you can create better and more possibilities for developing countries and the people inhabiting there. Due to these reasons, all over the world, fair trade of cashews is being carried out.
How is the quality of Fairtrade cashews maintained?
To maintain the condition of Fairtrade cashews, Beyond the Nut works with a chain of local farmers, business people, engineers, and community members to sustain cashew production. It produces high-quality products while ensuring a sustainable environment. Over 7,000 local farmers provide the cashews prepared for sale through Beyond, with over 650 individual employees in Benin.
Which nuts and food products are Fairtrade?
There is a variety of Fairtrade nuts and food products. They range from olives to peanuts, cashews, sesame seeds, soya beans, coffee, tea, bananas, fruits, juices, and flowers.
What is a Cashew nut?
If you think cashews are just like every other nut out there, you are very wrong. Cashews are very popular and for good reasons. Even though they are a part of a group with other tree nuts, cashews also have lots in common with seeds and legumes. These nuts emerge from a tree that produces a round, pear-like stalk known as the cashew apple. After removing the exterior cashew nut is extracted.
Constituents of Cashew nut
What makes cashews stand out from other nuts is the wide range of nutrients carried inside them. Its constituents with benefits are listed below.
1) Carbohydrate- One ounce of raw cashews contains about 8.56 grams of carbohydrate. It acts as a prime energy source for the body and is needed in sufficient doses to carry out everyday activities.
2) Protein- One ounce of raw cashews contains about 5.17 grams of protein. Protein is an essential building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, and skin. Our body needs it to build and repair tissue. Moreover, protein heightens your metabolism, lowering blood pressure and helping you maintain weight.
3) Fiber- One ounce of raw cashews contains about 0.9 grams of fiber. Dietary fiber increases the weight and size of your stool and softens it, reducing constipation.
4) Fat- One ounce of raw cashews contains about 12.43 grams of total fat. It provides the body with additional energy while acting as a source of essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make itself.
5) Calcium- One ounce of raw cashews contains about 0.9 grams of calcium. It is needed to maintain strong bones and teeth, supporting their structure and hardness.
6) Magnesium- A cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate various biochemical reactions in the body, including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation. It also helps in preventing migraines and depression.
7) Zinc- Boosts the immune system and reduces oxidative stress.
8) Iron- Your body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. It is also a constituent of various hormones.
Cashew production
Their production takes place in multiple countries all over the globe. These include places like India, Vietnam, the Philippines, West Africa, and Tanzania. In 2019, four million tonnes of cashew nuts were produced globally, with Ivory Coast and India as the leading producers. However, some instances of cashew production involved severe violations of human rights. For example, the fierce shelling of cashews by multiple drug addicts in Vietnam led to hazardous health effects. Another example is that Benin exported 98% of raw cashews for processing in other countries. The consequences were that the local workers could not partake in the economy of cashews, losing out on jobs, possible wealth, possibilities for work, and a good standard of living.
Hence, due to these unethical practices, raw cashews in bulk are being traded via Fairtrade.
Bulk Packaging
Type of packaging used to transport or store raw ingredients or finished goods in the manufacturing process. Cashews transported in bulk have various advantages listed below.
- Offer Durability and Flexibility.
- Materials like polypropylene resist water and protect the products from moisture.
- Great for perishable items.
- Offer eco-friendly packaging
- Most suitable for storage.
- Weight cost with value.
- Worker safety is more.
- Increases efficiency.
- Easier to package more products at once.
How are they harvested?
Cashew nuts come from fruit-producing trees. The fruit resembles a bell pepper, referred to as a false fruit. The original fruit hangs from the bottom of the cashew apple, containing a single seed known as the cashew nut. Taking out the nut can be done via two processes listed below.
1) Steaming- The in-shell cashews steamed under pressure soften the shell. Hence, the cashews present inside become loose and easier to remove in time.
2) Shelling- Splitting of cashews longitudinally to take out the cashew present underneath via hands.
Potential disadvantages of cashew nut
Even though cashews are generally a safe dietary supplement, eating too many cashews can lead to kidney damage and other chronic health problems.
Final thoughts
Cashew nuts have healthy nutrients like protein, fiber, and essential fats. Moreover, they contain various vitamins, minerals, and antioxidative plant compounds. Due to these components, this nut promotes weight loss, heart health, and blood sugar levels.
All over the world, Fairtrade is slowly becoming better known. Its increasing significance has created multiple opportunities for the working class. Hence, if you want to stock up on nuts, Fairtrade cashews are a good option.
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