At most of industrial parks and export processing zones in Vietnam, workers still have to buy food from outside at dirt cheap prices because they have no choice. They are struggling to manage their lives with their meager wages failing to keep pace with the increasing cost of living.

Every morning, millions of workers at industrial parks and export processing zones, such as Linh Trung 1 in Thu Duc district, pay approximately VND 1,000 – 10,000 to buy food from dozens of vendors sitting along the road in front of the main gate.

Food is always sold at the maximum price of VND 12,000 – 15,000 due to the fact that workers cannot afford more than that. Their favorite breakfasts usually are boiled sweet potatoes, xoi (steamed glutinous rice), and bread without any fillings inside because of the cheap prices. Each boiled sweet potato costs just VND 1,000 and each portion of xoi costs only VND 5,000, which isn’t even much as a chewing gum packet or a bus ticket.

Meager breakfasts of “meager” workers

One early morning, just like any other day, Kieu Thu, a worker at Tan Binh Industrial Park, stopped in front of a vendor, bought some boiled sweet potatoes for a total of VND 4,000, and ate in a hurry by the roadside before undertaking the day's work.

She said while eating her tiny breakfast, “I usually have breakfast here because it is cheap. I cannot afford a meal worth more than VND 10,000 everyday. It is hard to live on such a small salary. Therefore, we have to save money on our daily meals. We usually eat only cooked rice with tofu for several days at the end of months while waiting for our wages.

Some days I also have to cook meals and bring them to work for breakfast and lunch as well.”

In another case, My Lieu, 20, who left her hometown in Khanh Hoa province years ago to find a job at Tan Binh Industrial Park, said, “Every morning I eat a portion of xoi before going to work. Xoi is my first choice for breakfast because it keeps my stomach full longer than other kinds of food and is much cheaper.”

She sighed, “I earn about VND 3.5 million per month, all of which gets spent. Every month I have to send 1 million VND to my family in my hometown, pay VND 600,000 for rent, and the rest is used to for food, medicine, clothes and vehicles. I have had no time to myself.”

“Like me, other workers in industrial parks are struggling to manage our lives. I know some of my coworkers who have to walk five kilometers to work every day to save money from expensive motorcycle gasoline and bus tickets”, she added.

To sustain a whole family, these workers try to work almost seven days per week. However, their breakfasts are always the simple dishes mentioned above.

Workers in industrial parks and export processing zones cannot do such hard work without eating. “However, sometimes we have to work on an empty stomach”, Nguyen Thi Cuong, a worker at Tan Tao Industrial Park, sighed.

Needy vendors

According to Hoang Thi Hoa, a vendor, both workers and vendors earning livelihoods in industrial parks are all poverty-stricken people from the countryside. “Therefore, vendors like us do not dare to charge more even when our prime cost has already risen. No worker will buy if we do so. Our incomes depend on theirs, while theirs depend on the factories.”

Nguyen Thi Thuy, a vendor selling xoi at the front gate of Linh Trung 1 Industrial Park, said, “Everyday, I sit here selling xoi to workers. The average price of each xoi portion is VND 6,000. However, because my customers do not have enough money to afford this, sometimes I also sell smaller portions costing about VND 2,000 – 3,000, or even VND 1,000 for those who are very needy. This is xoi for poor people so its cost should be flexibly adjusted.”

To help these workers

Nutritional experts have referred to breakfast as the most important meal of the day. People who skip breakfast are disproportionately more likely to have problems with concentration, metabolism, and weight.

Moreover, the National Nutrition Institute warned that poor-quality workers’ meals would undermine their health and lead to a decline in their productivity. However, most industrial park workers are unable to afford healthy meals thanks to the very meager wages they earn every month. Therefore, their daily meals obviously do not meet basic nutrition requirements.

In this case, Yen Thuy, a nutritional expert, suggested that factory workers should cook meals at home and bring them to work. “These meals are much better than sweet potatoes and will prevent food poisoning”, she said.

To help these workers, some companies in Tan Tao Industrial Park have cooked breakfast for them or sponsored their breakfast cost, which is worth VND 12,000 each meal.