A few weeks ago, I reflected on an article about the treatment of workers on organic farms. I was skeptical that small/local/organic farms would treat their workers worse than a large, industrial farm would.
This recent article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian suggests that I was wrong – the average organic farm treats its workers similarly to large farms, and may provide less benefits.
This is likely the next big conundrum in the world of sustainable food. While more and more people are recognizing the health benefits of local, organic food, in most cases the lower-income people who (perhaps) need it most are unable to afford it. And often, that group includes the people who grew it in the first place.
So, to treat workers better, the cost to produce the food goes up, and so does the cost to buy it… bringing it further out of reach for low-income families.
I do believe that “sustainable” food should by definition include social justice, and should be available to all people. But as a movement, we’ve still got a long way to go.
