Appetite for equity

Michelle Chen

Appetite for equity

Tomato

Do we care more about the chemicals on the tomatoes in the produce aisle than the people who pick them?

Sarah Newman at Alternet writes that the green veneer of organic food often masks exploitative labor conditions, as major organic growers perpetuate the abuses of their mainstream corporate counterparts. “The social-movement component of organic farming,” she writes, has over the past generation—

“been largely discarded. What’s left, to a large degree, is quaint packaging that’s strategically conceived and mass marketed to lure consumers into thinking big organic agriculture is really a sustainable mom-and-pop deal. The demand for organics continues to skyrocket, even under dismal economic conditions.
“Many organic growers have responded by continuing to expand their operations and behaving similarly to their conventional counterparts. Market forces have also encouraged conventional growers to join the profitable organics movement (e.g. Driscoll’s Berries and Tanimura and Antle). Many organic growers are promulgating the status quo in an industry that has kept its costs low by oppressing its workers.”

Organic farming that denigrates labor is another illustration of the gaps in the green movement between ideas of environmentalism and social justice. The forces of marketing create artificial distance between labor struggles and the desire for “purer” production.

But some activists are trying to find common ground between greenness and equity under the ever-widening banner of "sustainability."

The Organic Consumers Association has advocated around various labor issues, including the Employee Free Choice Act, global fair trade policies, and farmworker organizing. The Pesticide Action Network takes a global, health-based approach to sustainability, targeting the chemical industries that put both consumers and workers at risk and promoting an “Agroecology" framework.

Worker groups are also pushing onto the vanguard of the sustainable food movement. The Coalition of Imokalee Workers, which cut its teeth campaigning against abuses in the fast-food production chain, has engaged the organic behemoth Whole Foods and nouveau burrito joint Chipotle in the Campaign for Fair Food, with kudos from Gourmet Magazine and the Slow Food Movement. Such entities might be more receptive to pro-labor principles due to the hypocrisy factor of pushing pesticide-free produce tainted by the sweat of wage slaves.

But the dialogue is still missing the voices of many who have yet to be recognized as real stakeholders. The movements for food fairness and sustainability are impeded by disparities in access to progressive modes of consumption—not just in terms of over-priced soy patties, but basic resources, like green grocers in poor neighborhoods of color. To paraphrase Cesar Chavez, a racially and economically stratified food system exploits many in order to sate a few, leaving the people at the bottom to starve, materially and politically.

Image: Tomato pickers in Florida (Scott Robertson, Coalition of Imokalee Workers)

Posted at 9:20 PM, May 15, 2009 in Environment | Food | Permalink | View Comments

Comments

I'd like to speak a little bit about this in terms of political ideology. First off, conservatives could obviously care less about the workers of color (or any worker for that matter).

But, at least some of the wealthy liberals involved in California agriculture seem very scandalous to me.

They sell organics, and put partially recycled packaging, and donate to some charities, which is good. But, I get the feeling that alot of that has to do with "looking good" in front of their wealthy liberal pals and getting attention.
They don't bring up the, basically, indentured servants they have out in their fields.

Conservatives mischief bothers me but at least I expect it. The liberal mischief is really irritating. These liberals that trumpet egalitarian values but live up to them need to be called out as much as possible.

I am the Vice President of a wholesale organic distribution company in Southwest Florida. I just wanted to note that there are many small organic farms (and not so small organic farms) that are very mindful of their workers. That is why we support small farms where we have personal relationships with growers and can directly observe labor conditions. Like any growing business that starts out with good intentions and then succeeds, organics are no different than any other business that got co-opted by the corporate world. Still, even the worse of farms at least offer a chemical free work environment that keeps workers and their kids healthy. Not having to work and live in the presence of pesticides that often impact water sources as well is a leap forward. I'm not looking through rose colored glasses, just wanted to point out that some of us still care.