Human Rights Violations in Agriculture and How You Can Help
By: MG
Have you seen the viral video on twitter of crop employees racing to pick the most fruit or vegetable? This is because instead of getting paid hourly, these employees get paid based on the amount of produce that has been picked. On top of unfair wages, the working conditions are unbearable. Breaks are hard to take when a worker is motivated by quantity rather than their time. A heavy issue within food production and agriculture are human rights violations.
Charlie showed us how he harvests turnips. He's paid piece rate – he earns $1.50 every 2 buckets. He is the fastest in his crew and averages 24-26 buckets/hr.
Rushing without skill could easily cost you a finger. pic.twitter.com/myfwdpi1Ke
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) November 23, 2020
FoodPrint.org explained food justice best when they posted, “Food justice addresses the fact that there are many places along our food chain where people’s vulnerabilities are exploited and where injustice and inequity turn up…Often it is marginalized communities who do not have the resources to speak out against their communities being destroyed.”
As Food Print stated, many of the workers being affected by unhealthy working conditions in food agriculture are marginalized communities. This means immigrants, children and people of color who do not have the same voice that privileged communities have. The International Labor Organization or the ILO reported that 60% of child labor happens in agriculture. Child labor is comparable to modern day slavery and opens the door to sex trafficking, another huge issue within the world of agriculture. This is just a small scope of the injustices happening in our food production. Our privilege to browse around the grocery store with multiple types of the same fruit or vegetable unfortunately, does not come without a cost.
Marginalized communities deserve fair wages, a steady job and healthy work environment. A way to give large companies a wake up call and demand equality for agriculture workers is to reduce their income. Boycott and be vocal about the changes you want to see before buying their product again.
So what can you do specifically to not contribute to human rights violations and still complete your grocery list? The best way to avoid contribution is to shop small. Go to your local farmers markets for your groceries. Contrary to popular belief, farmers markets offer better prices than organic listed items at a large grocery store chain. What better way to spend a Sunday than at a farmers market supporting ethical farmers? Another benefit of shopping at a farmers market is that you’re only getting access to in-season produce. This means you’re eating the correct fruits and vegetables according to the time of year- this reduces outsourcing and thus human rights violations.
Some farmers markets in Austin, Texas that offer quality and ethical produce are the Texas Farmers Market at Mueller (Sunday 9 a.m- 1 p.m) , as well as Texas Farmers Market at Lakeline (Saturday 9 a.m- 1 p.m.) What’s interesting about Texas Farmers Markets is that every single vendor at these markets are thoroughly inspected for sustainability and direct sales from producer to consumer, meaning the vendors are selling their own personal product. These are great steps to avoid human rights violations.
Try going to a farmers market near you! Buy what you can there and buy the rest at your normal grocery store. Even small changes are good changes!
Edited by: CP
