Posts tagged as:

food and farm workers

Dolores Huerta, Saru Jayaraman Speak Out Against Food Systems Injustices

, April 23, 2013

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Last week in New York City, The New School held its 29th Social Research Conference, “Food and Immigrant Life: The Role of Food in Forced Migration, Migrant Labor, and Re-creating Home.” As described by the New School, the conference “places issues of immigration and food service work in the context of a broader social justice agenda and explores the cultural role food plays in expressing cultural heritage.” I had the opportunity to see talks on injustice in the food system by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers, as well as Saru Jayaraman, founder of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and author of Behind the Kitchen Door.

Saru Jayaraman on the poor conditions in which food services workers work:

“Those of us who care about the food system, about a good food system, about food—you have to know that the food system is not just a bad employer—it is the absolute worst employer in America. The food system and the restaurant industry in particular are the worst, statistically worst, lowest paying, providing the least benefits to workers in America and unfortunately, they are also the fastest growing. Which means we’re growing our economy on the backs of the lowest paid, poorest workers in America.”

Dolores Huerta on pesticides:

“There’s the whole issue of pesticides, right? Another problem-making area. All of the pesticides they put on the food. And you know, with the United Farmworkers we were able to ban over a dozen pesticides; we called it the ‘Dirty Dozen.’ Some of these pesticides were so deadly that farmers would just walk into a field and could be dead within 15 minutes. They were so deadly.

“Even though we were able to ban a lot of the pesticides, they were able to make new ones. Let’s call them what they are: economic poisons. That is the legal name for pesticides. Economic poisons. This is a medical issue and we have to get [it] under the auspices of someone that’s really going to test these pesticides and protect us.”

Video of the conference will soon be available on the New School’s website. For more on food and farm workers, check out Workers in the Food System on WhyHunger’s Food Security Learning Center. And before you next eat out, check on the labor practices of your favorite restaurant with the invaluable Restaurant Opportunities Centers Guide to Ethical Eating, available as a PDF and an app!

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Celebrating Farmworkers

, April 3, 2013

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Got food on your plate? Thank a farmworker!

Last week was Farmworker Awareness Week! If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you know that one week of thinking about the role of workers in the food system is just the beginning — check out Student Action for Farmworkers and Student Farmworker Alliance for how to stand up for the rights of farmworkers all year.

And for something to look forward to, watch the trailer for “Food Chains,” a documentary in the works featuring our friends the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Dolores Huerta, Eric Schlosser and Executive Producer Eva Longoria.

 

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The Hands That Feed Us

, June 7, 2012

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WhyHunger congratulates our partner, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, on its groundbreaking new report, The Hands That Feed Us: Challenges and Opportunities for Workers Along the Food Chain. It’s the first-ever comprehensive report looking at wages and working conditions of workers across the entire food chain – a sector that employs 20 million people in the U.S., comprising one-sixth of the nation’s workforce.  The report exposes that food workers face higher levels of poverty and food insecurity than the rest of the U.S. workforce, while facing discrimination, abuse, and other forms of exploitation.

The report was launched at yesterday’s Food Workers and Food Justice Conference in New York City.  WhyHunger participated and had the opportunity to hear directly from restaurant workers, meatpacking workers, warehouse workers and others. Many have faced unbelievable abuses on the job and were courageously speaking out and joining with other workers across the food chain and allies to bring about change.  These first-hand stories of workers, which are also reflected in the report, are a stark reminder of how far we have to go to achieve a truly fair food system—but are also a testimony to the resilience and capacity for change in those who feed us.

WhyHunger commits to strengthening our solidarity with food and farm workers and encourages everyone in our network to join us.  Raising the minimum wage, supporting paid sick days and enforcing penalties for wage theft are simple policy changes that would have a big impact on reducing hunger and poverty in this country. Read the report, spread the word, and join food chain workers in their struggles for a food system that is fair for all.

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