The Food Industry Is Rife With Worker Abuse
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The Food Industry Is Rife With Worker Abuse
By Errol Schweizer
Food systems employ more workers than any other sector of the global economy—roughly 1.4 billion people. And few industries are more rife with worker abuse.
A child works with a team of seasonal agricultural laborers picking tomatoes on a farm near McGregor, South Africa. (Gideon Mendel / Corbis via Getty Images)
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Two things in life are certain: everybody eats, and nothing explains capitalism better than food. A new report from the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) presents a comprehensive analysis of the exploitation inherent in the global food system, and what needs to be done to change it.
More people work in food than any other sector of the global economy, yet the food system can only function through systemic exploitation. Addressing these contradictions gives us a blueprint for not only tackling the worst aspects of food production but a model for taking on the worst of capitalism in general.
- Food systems employ over 1.4 billion workers globally. Two out of every five working people are involved in food production.
- Food workers face numerous challenges: low pay, wage theft, forced and child labor, human trafficking, insecure work, discrimination, sexual violence, occupational health risks, and exclusion from social protections.
- Nearly 400 million food system workers earn below a living wage. Minimum wage protections are often absent or weak for these workers, with farmworkers particularly vulnerable.
- Informality is prevalent in food work, excluding workers from essential protections and collective bargaining.
- Agriculture is one of the most dangerous sectors globally, with risks including extreme weather, long shifts, exposure to harmful chemicals, and elevated injury/death rates.