Orange juice provides vitamins, has a positive effect on the stomach and is also said to put you in a good mood. Almost everyone likes “OJ” – but nobody wants to hear that: The working conditions on the orange plantations are bad, the fruit often grow in monocultures and with intensive use of pesticides. But consumers can do something.
Like all citrus fruits, oranges thrive best in the tropics, in subtropical regions and in a Mediterranean climate. They need lots of sun and warmth. If it is too hot, intensive watering is necessary, while frost during flowering can damage the crop.
Almost 80 percent of the world’s orange juice exports come from Brazil – including most of the juice offered in Germany. The most important growing region is the area around Sao Paulo, the so-called citrus belt.
The work on the plantations there is hard. Oranges are mostly harvested by hand because they can ripen very differently within the same tree. Blossoms and ripe fruit are often close neighbors. The workers are under high pressure to perform. Many work more than ten hours a day and are often paid less than the legal minimum wage. There is nobody who stands up for their concerns, because trade union organizations are often not allowed on the plantations.
