The true cost is a story about the clothes we wear, the people who make them and the impact on our world.
The idea of the documentary began in 2013, when all over the world newspapers talked about the massacre of Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, with the death of 1,138 textile workers due to the collapse of a factory. The workers had repeatedly reported cracks in the building, but the management had done nothing. Tragedies of this kind are frequent, with an almost $3 trillion a year industry wanting low-cost products at the expense of production costs and worker safety. Wishing to give voice to those people, director Andrew Morgan began an investigation that led him to change his way of thinking and choosing the clothes he wears forever.
The true 'price' of fashion
The origin of the problem identified by Morgan is the so-called 'fast fashion', the model of consumer fashion that has become established in the last 15 years. This trend, which wants clothes produced at low cost and sold at bargain prices, feeds a philosophy of 'disposable' that generates huge profits for the few, to the detriment of the environment and the many people who work in the textile industry.
Behind the clothes we wear there are people in the flesh, whom we often only notice when serious news stories happen, such as the one in Bangladesh, and which has brought to the newspapers the hidden side of fashion: that 'price' paid by workers who work non-stop for less than $ 2 a day. The same 'price' paid by cotton producers, who use fertilizers and chemicals, endangering their lives and irreparably damaging the environment to keep up with industrial production. Agriculture, in fact, must also keep up with fashion. And if once the collections of clothes followed the four seasons, now the seasons have become 52, to push the consumer to buy in a continuous cycle.
Worker-fashion
That is why 80% of cotton is GMO. But what impact does it have on the soil? What about people in communities? The figures are shocking. In Punjab (India), where GM cotton is grown and fertilizers are used to grow it at the fast pace required, about 70% of children in neighboring villages suffer from serious delays or malformations due to the toxicity of these products. In India in the last 10 years more than 250,000 farmers have committed suicide because they cannot keep up with production. This means 1 farmer every 30 minutes. It is the biggest wave of suicides in history.
Not much different is the situation in Texas where there are the largest cotton plantations, also GMO. Here we have seen a surge in cases of cancer in the population, and it has been discovered that the companies that produce seeds are the same companies that produce the fertilizers necessary for the cultivation of this type of cotton, and the same companies that patent drugs to treat people who become ill as a result of the toxicity of these products, with a system by which these companies make huge profits.
Our shopping has grown 400% more than it did just 20 years ago, with a rate of growth that is unsustainable for the environment and people. And what's even more remarkable is that most of them are goods we don't even need. Is it really worth it? Andrew Morgan answers this question effectively, in perfect balance between information and emotion, giving voice to the many hands and hearts behind our clothes.
low cost fashion
Change is up to us. Not to accept to buy 'disposable' fashion at low 'cost' for us, but with a very high 'cost' in terms of pollution, manpower, people who die every day to make our clothes. After seeing The true cost, it is impossible not to wonder how much work and blood is behind every dress we wear.
Have you seen The true cost before? Do you have any other documentaries on the subject to recommend?