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Friday 28 January 2022

The Price of Silk

 

Cocooned.

Radio 4 has a lot to answer for. Now I can never buy silk – I’d say, again, but I’m not sure I ever did buy it. But it has that allure, doesn’t it? One wants to buy silk, the best silk.

Apparently, the best silk comes from China, where the best mulberry trees grow. Farmers collect the cocoons which the silkworms weave, selling them to factories. There they are sorted according to colour – whitest is best.

Then. Then they are boiled. Yes, the silkworms are still alive, snoozing away, transforming into a moth. Suddenly they are plunged into boiling water. We humans are so cruel!

The boiled silkworms are sold on to South Korea, where they are eaten as a delicacy. The cocoons are unwound: a single thread can measure up to a mile. I wonder how many cocoons are needed for a scarf, or a nightie, or a pair of socks?

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. When will we wake up and stop our cruel exploitation of it?

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