Labor & trade
“Does it matter whether an heirloom tomato is local and organic if it was harvested with slave labor?” - Eric Schlosser
Truly sustainable food systems ensure the well-being of farmers, farm workers and other food producers. Workers on industrial farms and those in the food-processing industry often are subject to hazardous working conditions and unfair labor management practices.
Exploitation of workers is not the only threat to sustainable food systems. Immigration policies have led to labor shortages causing many farms to close.
You can support fair labor practices by purchasing imported products that are certified "fair trade" by a third party, such as TransFair USA or IMO. Look for fairly traded coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, rice, and vanilla.
Read the following articles and reports for more:
Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States ; United Farm Workers and Bon Appetit Management Company, March 2011.
Creating Change through Chocolate; Sound Consumer, February 2011.
The Farm Worker Pesticide Project: Protecting People and the Planet; Sound Consumer, January 2011.
The Hands that Feed Us: Working for Farmworker Justice; Sound Consumer, April 2008.
Organic Harvest: Better for Farm Workers; Sound Consumer, September 2005.