Prioritizing labor in food systems governance work

Summary

This study explores the observed lack of recognition of labour issues within Canadian food systems governance work (the various laws, policies, and regulations that shape food systems) and seeks to identify barriers to their inclusion in future work. The researchers interviewed a range of food systems-focused civil society organisations (CSO) to examine the extent of their engagement and involvement with both food systems governance and labour issues. 

The authors broadly find a lack of capacity within CSOs in Canada to address food and farm workers issues. Findings from this paper are directly relevant to Canada and generalisable to North America. Whilst findings from this paper are not directly relevant to other parts of the world, this paper contributes to discussions on the extent to which civil society organisations consider labour issues within food systems. The authors conclude with a discussion of potential pathways to translate increasing public awareness of labour issues within food systems to significant changes to CSO activity.

The authors cite an upsurge in public recognition of the importance of food and farm workers across the food chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. They note that despite denouncements of migrant farm working conditions and praise of ‘front-line’ heroes at grocery stores and meat-processing plants, little action has been done to materially address these labour issues in Canada. Through a literature review, the authors identified a significant lack of inclusion of food and farm workers in CSO activity and decision making spaces. They suggest historical factors as a possible explanation, such as an enduring romanticised perception of farmers as white and rural, citing Wakefield et al. describing the “story of the prairie pioneer”. They argue this perception ignores both the enslavement of African Americans and the displacement of Indigenous nations in North America and a continued reliance on low-paid migrant labourers. Thus a wide range of food and farm workers have been made invisible through the continued romanticised view of food producers held by CSOs and policy makers.   

The researchers conducted interviews with CSOs in Canada, specifically asking whether labour issues within their food systems governance work receives active attention. This research builds on a multi-year project exploring food systems governance in Canada which previously surveyed CSOs and found only 5% listed food labour as a top policy priority (Levkoe et al., 2023). 

This paper finds that 70% of respondents reported they did not believe their organisation actively worked on labour issues. 

Although many people within CSOs noted an awareness of the issues despite not directly engaging with them directly. The authors do note a small number of respondents that cited more sustained actions around labour issues, including advocacy at the UN in support of the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants, research projects on small and medium sized farms in Ontario and Canadian federal policy advising amongst other efforts.

The researchers broadly describe the work of CSOs as “promoting and supporting”; emphasising awareness but lack of action in the sector. 

Many respondents either reported labour issues being outside the purview of their organisation or the need for others to lead in this area to gain their support and collaboration. The organisations represented in this study work at regional, provincial, national and, in case,  global levels but have a bias (more than half) towards regional or provincial level organisations in Ontario and Quebec. Several CSOs also do not work exclusively in food systems, having a range of other priorities. Examples include educational centres, research institutes, producer associations and community food centres. The authors do openly state their position that food labour is an issue that “all food organisations should address or engage with in some way.”

The authors conclude by reflecting on three themes they deem to be “discursive openings” in an effort to move beyond “promoting and supporting” into more active engagement. The discursive openings relate to building new pathways to talk about or frame the labour issue that might build solidarity between workers and farmers. 

1. They explore the potential of increased public awareness of migrant worker conditions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to fuel more active involvement by food systems CSOs.
2. They consider participants' discussion of the connection between food insecurity and labour, specifically food insecurity related to minimum wage of food and farmer workers.
3. They highlight a shared struggle between workers and farmers that offers potential to address complex and often tense relations between farm business owners and workers.

This third discursive opening is noted by the authors to have substantial political potential when paired with an acknowledgement of inherent structural conflicts within food systems which the authors link primarily to capitalist relations of production. 

The authors hope the discursive openings may aid food system CSOs to consider the potential benefit of investing and participating in food systems governance work to foster stronger engagement in labour issues. They also point to the potential of rebuilding the collective organising capacity of CSOs. A shared sense of struggle amongst food system workers might contribute to a move beyond “promoting and supporting” towards concrete action. 

The authors recommend investment by food system CSOs in collective organising, skill building and organisational literacy on structures of oppression that shape food systems. They support creating conditions for the political organising necessary to address food labour issues.  

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare many of societies’ existing social and economic inequalities, one of which is illustrated in the challenges facing food and farm workers across the food chain. Despite this upsurge in public recognition, the circumstances facing food and farm workers remain unchanged, and this lack of action is reflected within the work of food systems-focused civil society organizations (CSO) in Canada. Several authors have noted the lack of recognition of labor issues within food systems work. This paper further explores the nature of this disengagement, particularly in food systems governance work, and identifies barriers to more meaningful engagement and possible avenues to overcome these challenges. Findings draw from a set of 57 interviews conducted from 2020 to 2023 with a range of food system CSO representatives across Canada, examining their understanding of, and engagement in, food systems governance work and their involvement in labor issues (or lack thereof). The paper concludes that though there exists widespread awareness of the challenges facing food and farm workers, and a desire to engage in a more sustained fashion, many food system CSOs have not yet found the tools or pathways to do so on an organizational level. Several discursive openings are identified that offer an opportunity to leverage the heightened awareness of food and farm workers during the pandemic into concrete collective action.

References

Wilson, A., Tasala, K., 2024. Moving beyond awareness to action and food system transformation: prioritizing labor in food systems governance work. Frontiers in sustainable food systems, 8. 

Levkoe, C., Andrée, P., Ballamingie, P., Tasala, K., Wilson, A., Korzun, M., 2023. Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 12, 267–286

Wakefield, S., Fredrickson, K.R., Brown, T., 2015. Food security and health in Canada: Imaginaries, exclusions and possibilities. Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes 59, 82–92.

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