The True Cost Documentary: Fast Fashion's Darkside

Andrew Morgan’s documentary, The True Cost, is an eye-opening trip around the world to understand fast fashion and its horrific human cost. As part of living a purpose driven life, raising consciousness and awareness is key. This documentary did just that, and is heart wrenching. I’m still wrapping my head around how to integrate this knowledge into my life. Consuming less and smarter are the next steps, but I know there is more to be done.

I first heard about The True Cost on The Rich Roll podcast. Andrew the director, was Rich’s guest. Andrew read about the Savar building collapse in Dhaka in 2013, where over 1100 people died. Management forced people to work in a building that was literally cracking, even after workers raised concerns.  This story led Andrew to ask the questions: who were these workers, and why were they working in such horrible conditions?

The documentary starts with a look at the evolution over the past 60 years. In the 50’s and 60’s, over 90% of the clothes Americans wore were made in the U.S.. Today it’s less than 3%.  The fashion landscape has changed from a seasonal model to a new clothes arriving every week. Companies work to get customers to feel like clothing is so cheap that it can be thrown away. Prices continue to go down, even though costs haven’t. Labor is getting squeezed in the equation.

Big clothing retailers, like H&M, Uniqlo, and Forever 21, have been at the forefront of driving down wages for cheap labor. These companies are not liable for the working conditions of the factories. They tend to go where countries do not uphold regulations. They pit cheap manufacturers against cheap manufacturers to get the best prices.

The film shows what conditions are like in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Long hours, toxic chemicals, and abuse are the norm. In one factory, employees, mostly women, tried to organize and were beaten. It shows the slums of northern India, where the chemical run-off from shoe processing is causing jaundice and cancer in the surrounding communities.

At the start of the production chain is cotton. Monsanto is rightfully demonized for trapping farmers. Their genetically modified seeds need their pesticides. Then the earth needs the engineered combination to continue to yield year after year. Over 250,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide, going into debt buying these seeds and pesticides. From Southern India to Central Texas, birth defects and cancer rates are extremely high near these farms because of the pesticides.

The end of the film focuses on the system that perpetuates this behavior. It takes a critical look at capitalism. Essentially, this system won’t change unless the people running big business are less concerned with making a better quarter each quarter. Essentially, corporations need a different reward and punishment system, or things won’t change.

The film isn’t all doom and gloom. There are stories of activists and designers who are working to raise awareness and create sustainable factories and practices. Still, so much damage has been done. And it’s hard to believe that this will get better soon without a huge awareness and behavior shift in consumers.

LET’S BACK OFF THIS ENDLESS, CONSTANT PURCHASING AND INVEST IN CLOTHES WE LOVE.

– THE TRUE COST DIRECTOR, ANDREW MORGAN

As an aside, Rich Roll, whose podcast I discovered this documentary on, is a really fascinating character. He transformed himself from an overweight alcoholic lawyer to a sober vegan super star triathlete. Now he is a leading consciousness raiser in the plant-based community. He also has an awesome podcast with an interesting array of guests.