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Dietary trends come and go, but a recent surge is the rising popularity of “superfoods.” Their consumption has become a symbol of health and wellness, featured as an organic health-conscious choice with few negative consequences.

Behind the flashy packaging and marketing strategies lies a reality that many people, particularly those of us living in wealthier countries, overlook: the freedom to choose a diet is a privilege.

The price of that privilege is often paid by children and families in third-world countries who are trapped without agency in cycles of underpaid labor and exploitation.

The United States has grown accustomed to outsourcing our food production to other countries, particularly in the Global South. But while these countries provide us with ingredients that fuel our increasingly diverse diets, their populations bear the brunt of the costs.

Quinoa, for example, grown in South America’s Andes mountains, is a grain that’s remained a staple food in Indigenous communities for centuries.

Yet, prices on quinoa are

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