The Story Behind Food

 

Farm Workers working in a crop field

Vera Chang of Bon Appétit Management Company   gave a talk at Bellevue College on Thursday April 21, 2011. The company she works with provides sustainable food services with the motto, “food services for a sustainable future.”

According to Vera, there are approximately 1.4 million crop farm workers in the United States. Most of them live marginalized lives, working long hours for low wages without benefits, paid time off or overtime pay. They also work under conditions that risk their health and safety.

She’s spoken to a number of these workers and relayed one of her conversations to us. A farmworker she met experienced skin rash and eye problems from working in conventional strawberry fields where they spray. He has to quickly change out of his field clothes before his children come home so that they do not accidentally hug or touch his pesticide-laden clothing.

My own opinion: The cheap ‘conventionally’-grown food comes with a added price that’s unseen at the cash register when the customer buys it. There are unseen costs not only to the  environment but also to human health and welfare. Our current food system harms farmworkers as well as the people who eat the food produced by it.

There are groups that are working to improve conditions for farm workers. One of them is United Farm Workers who is currently working to stop the use of the toxic pesticide methyl iodide  .

Personally, I have some idea of how hard farm workers work, especially because of the long hours required when crops need to be harvested, sorted and packed quickly. A few years ago, I helped out on a friend’s organic fruit farm. I found it was very challenging work because I was not used to the type of labor and the hot climate. At the end of the day, I was so exhausted that I just fell into bed. So just imagine what it’s like for the average farm worker: working long hours, in the heat, with little or no breaks and then receiving little pay for his or her efforts.

The company that Vera works with is creating relationships with suppliers that are attempting to produce food in a more sustainable manner and that includes better working conditions for the people employed in helping to produce the food. There are organizations label certify some foods like chocolate, coffee and bananas as Fair Trade but there are no such certifications for food in the United States.

She told us that Full Circle Farm is working towards the goal of providing health benefits for all their employees. Interesting to note that this same business had a booth at the Farmers Market on Bellevue Campus just 2 days earlier.

I believe that as more people become aware of these issues and more businesses support suppliers that are producing using sustainable methods (including better conditions for workers!), people will start to make healthier food choices and this will also improve conditions for farm workers.

Note: Farm workers image is courtesy of Vera Chang