At Solid Ground we believe that healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food is a human right – but who’s behind our food system?
Food workers are subjected to low wages, few opportunities for advancement, widespread exploitation, and injustice – including wage theft, pesticide exposure and poisoning, child labor, long work hours with few breaks, racial and ethnic discrimination, unsafe working conditions, sexual harassment, and lack of access to health benefits. Women and workers of color are especially vulnerable, and undocumented immigrants are often unable to speak up due to fear of deportation.
Whether we’re talking about “cheap food” or organic, fine dining or fast food, there is no food without the labor of food workers. And in our current food system, that labor is frequently invisible, vulnerable, and exploited.
While bringing food to consumers’ tables, many food workers can’t afford safe and nutritious foods for themselves and their families. The workers who cultivate and harvest fruit and vegetable crops in agricultural regions like the California Central Valley lack access to healthy food and experience high levels of poverty, hunger, and diet-related disease.
Nationally, farm workers are among the poorest of all US residents. In California, 75% of individual farm workers and 30% of farm worker families earn less than $15,000 per year; 43% of individual farm workers and 30% of farm worker families earn less than $10,000 per year.
Nationally, farm workers are among the poorest of all US residents. In California, 75% of individual farm workers and 30% of farm worker families earn less than $15,000 per year; 43% of individual farm workers and 30% of farm worker families earn less than $10,000 per year.
Thirteen percent of all food workers, nearly 2.8 million workers, relied on SNAP (food stamps) in 2016. That’s more than twice the rate of all other industries. Food insecurity is especially widespread among tipped workers like servers, most of whom (72%) are women. The federal sub-minimum wage of $2.13 for tipped workers leaves them vulnerable and dependent on tips and restaurant food.
Without a federally mandated paid sick leave, many workers have to forgo a paycheck, or even risk reprimand, for taking a sick day – which most cannot afford to do. A 2015 survey found 51% of food workers said they “always” or “frequently” go to work when they’re sick, a practice that not only harms workers, but puts the public at risk of foodborne illness.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the food system as it currently functions does not work for food workers. However, we believe that our food system is not broken – it is functioning exactly as designed. At Solid Ground, we know that racism and other oppressions are root causes of poverty intentionally baked into the food and other systems.
The following are video, publication, and web resources collected for a Building Power with Food System Workers film screening & discussion hosted by Solid Ground’s Community Food Education (CFE) program on June 23rd, 2020. A huge shoutout to Real Food Media, which provided the toolkit, information, and statistics for the event and this blog post.
Restaurants and the Food Chain
- The Hands That Feed Us: Challenges & Opportunities for Workers Along the Food Chain – A 2012 report by the Food Chain Workers Alliance
Farm Workers
- Yakima Valley Fruit Worker’s Strike – Spring/Summer 2020
- Familias Unidas por la Justicia – farm workers union in Western Washington
- Community to Community Development (C2C) website
Food Distribution Workers
Our food gets from where it grows to where it needs to go through an elaborate system of workers in warehouses, driving trucks, and in food distribution. Many workers in this sector are low paid and lack worker protections.
Grocery Workers
- Walmart workers increasingly rely on food banks, report says – The Guardian, by Jana Kasperkevic @kasperka, 11/21/14
Restaurant Workers
In 43 states, tipped workers get $2.13/hr. It has not increased since 1996. There are 10 million restaurant workers – the fastest growing sector of the US economy.
- The Welcome Table: A Fresh Look at the Restaurant Industry – Civil Eats, by Hnin W. Hnin, 11/27/13
- Nearly 1 in 3 Restaurant Workers Suffers From Food Insecurity – The Nation, by Michelle Chen, 7/30/14
- Reinventing Restaurant Work: An Overdue Call for Equity and Job Quality – The Aspen Institute, by Jenny Weissbourd, 6/12/20
Take Action for Food Workers and Food Justice
- Contact Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and State Legislators and demand that agricultural employers provide safe housing, access to health care, sick leave, and livable wages.
- Support Black and Brown-led food organizations, like Soil Generation and Soul Fire Farm.
- Download the National Diner’s Guide app from Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) to find restaurants that treat workers well, and advocate with the ones that don’t to change their practices!
- Volunteer at the Magnuson Park Community Food Pantry (or your local food pantry).
- Volunteer at Solid Ground’s Giving Garden at Marra Farm and help grow food for folks who struggle to afford it in our community.
Black workers face disproportionate retaliation from employers for raising COVID-19 workplace concerns – yet Black and Latinx workers are disproportionately impacted in COVID-19 infections, deaths, and unemployment. Employers continue to refuse to make changes that would keep workers safe. Lack of mandatory federal guidelines from OSHA – and only a patchwork of state rules – gives the message to employers that they will not be held accountable for failing to protect their workers. Now, as businesses reopen across the country, thousands of workers are being asked to return to unsafe workplaces.
Food Chain Workers Alliance has been calling on Congress to compel OSHA to pass an Emergency Temporary Standard to protect workers, as well as provide premium pay and income for all workers regardless of immigration status. All three measures were included in the House stimulus package.
ACTION: Contact your State Senators to ensure the Senate bill includes these critical worker protections!
Learn about the connections between oppression and the food system. Some of our favorite sources are:
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