Food and Farm Labor

A tractor spraying paraquat on the Cox ranch. (Photo courtesy of Shirley Cox)

Paraquat, the Deadliest Chemical in US Agriculture, Goes on Trial

March 22, 2023

Amid lawsuits filed by thousands of farmers linking the herbicide to Parkinson’s disease, the EPA is reconsidering its analysis of paraquat’s risks.

All Eyes on California as Fast-Food Worker Rights Land on the 2024 Ballot

By Dana Cronin

March 14, 2023

Fast-food workers and activists protest McDonald's labor practices outside a McDonald's restaurant on March 18, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Farmers March for Urgent Climate Action in DC

By Lisa Held

March 9, 2023

The Rally for Resilience marches to the U.S. Capitol building. Signs at the front read

How the Long Shadow of Racism at USDA Impacts Black Farmers in Arkansas—and Beyond

By Wesley Brown

March 8, 2023

School Food Chefs Learn to Plot Healthier Menus With a New Fellowship

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

March 6, 2023

A trio of school chefs working in the kitchen as part of the Healthy School Food Pathways program. (Photos courtesy of the Chef Ann Foundation)

Forging Pathways to Land Access for BIPOC Farmers in Georgia

By Oisakhose Aghomo

March 2, 2023

Johanna Willingham (left), who manages Georgia FarmLink on behalf of ALT, and Jean Young (right), the first incubator farmer at ALT’s Williams Farm Incubator Program, walk the greenhouse at Williams Farm. (Photo credit: Oisakhose Aghomo)

Congress Killed a Bill to Give Farmworkers a Path to Citizenship. What Comes Next?

By Lisa Held

February 22, 2023

A farmworker in a broccoli field in Calexico, California. (Photo credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Farmworkers Finally Won Overtime Pay. Now the Industry Wants to Repeal It.

By Grey Moran

February 21, 2023

Farm workers harvest zucchini on the Sam Accursio & Son's Farm in Florida City, Florida. (Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Contested Election Is Fracturing a Farmworkers’ Union

By Grey Moran

January 30, 2023

Leticia Zavala (left) gives a speech in an effort to unseat the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's current and only president Baldemar Velasquez (right). (Photo credit: Grey Moran)

Op-ed: Want an Agtech Revolution? Center Farmworkers’ Expertise

By Erik Nicholson and Alexia Estrada

January 23, 2023

For Some Food Professionals, COVID Has Cast a Long Shadow on Their Senses

By Lindsay Herring

January 19, 2023

A food professional with long covid smells coffee to overcome anosmia and parosmia

Our Best Food & Farm Labor Reporting of 2022

By The Civil Eats Editors

December 29, 2022

A girl walks with street food vendors calling for legalization of their trade during a march on May Day, on May 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. David McNew/Getty Images)

In ‘Raw Deal,’ A Reporter Reveals the Dirty Underbelly of the Meat Industry

By Lindsey Margaret Allen

December 9, 2022

reporter chloe sorvino and the cover of her new book, raw deal

Young People Are Feeding the Effort to Unionize Food Service Workers

By Annie Sciacca

November 21, 2022

Starbucks employees and union organizers protest outside Starbucks headquarters in fall 2022. (Photo courtesy of Fern Potter)

Absent Federal Oversight of Animal Agriculture Safety, States and Others Step Up for Change

By Christina Cooke

November 18, 2022

A happy and healthy-looking worker in a clean and well-lit dairy. Photo credit: Vera Chang.

Tyson Says Its Nurses Help Workers. Critics Charge They Stymie OSHA.

By Alice Driver

November 17, 2022

An anonymous worker, 48, from Guatemala, has worked at the Tyson in Green Forest, Arkansas, for 20 years. She needs carpal tunnel surgery in both arms, and Tyson doctors have confirmed that she needs it. However, Tyson has told her the company will not cover the cost of the surgery. Her husband, also a Tyson worker, died of COVID in 2020. (Photo by Jacky Muniello for Civil Eats)

Biogas Expansion May Compound Worker Risks

By Kari Lydersen

November 16, 2022

An overhead view of an anaerobic digester pond next to animal barns and a cornfield. (Photo credit: Maas Energy)

‘I Was Coughing So Hard I Would Throw Up’

By Gosia Wozniacka

November 15, 2022

An animal-ag worker carries two piglets in a CAFO.

Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous Work. The People Who Do It Have Few Protections.

By Christina Cooke

November 14, 2022

A dairy worker in a barn. (Photo courtesy of Migrant Justice)

Op-ed: I’m a Restaurant Worker, Not a Robot

By Caitlin Hart

October 28, 2022

Students Are Building the Next Generation of Farmworker Advocates

By Grey Moran

October 24, 2022

Young organizers with Student Action with Farmworkers visit a labor camp in eastern North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of SAF)

A US Farmer Was Accused of Abusing His Workers. Then Big Tobacco Backed His Election

By Victoria Bouloubasis and Ben Stockton, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

October 14, 2022

Farm workers' efforts to organise have been impeded by Brent Jackson's political ventures

Ex-USDA Official Defends Pandemic Efforts to Keep Meatpacking Plants Running

By Mary Norkol, Investigate Midwest

October 13, 2022

The Field Report: Morality at the Center of Supreme Court Arguments Over Raising Farmed Pigs in Crates

By Lisa Held

October 12, 2022

PETA protesters outside the Supreme Court on the morning before oral arguments take place in NPPC v. Ross. (Photo Credit: Lisa Held)

California Farmworkers Gain Historic Union Win

By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters

September 30, 2022

Members and supporters of the United Farm Workers march through Fresno during day 10 of their 24-day march on Aug. 12, 2022. (Photo credit: Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)

Food and Farm Labor

Paraquat, the Deadliest Chemical in US Agriculture, Goes on Trial

All Eyes on California as Fast-Food Worker Rights Land on the 2024 Ballot

Farmers March for Urgent Climate Action in DC

How the Long Shadow of Racism at USDA Impacts Black Farmers in Arkansas—and Beyond

School Food Chefs Learn to Plot Healthier Menus With a New Fellowship

Today’s food system is complex.

Forging Pathways to Land Access for BIPOC Farmers in Georgia

Congress Killed a Bill to Give Farmworkers a Path to Citizenship. What Comes Next?

Farmworkers Finally Won Overtime Pay. Now the Industry Wants to Repeal It.

A Contested Election Is Fracturing a Farmworkers’ Union

Op-ed: Want an Agtech Revolution? Center Farmworkers’ Expertise

For Some Food Professionals, COVID Has Cast a Long Shadow on Their Senses

Our Best Food & Farm Labor Reporting of 2022

In ‘Raw Deal,’ A Reporter Reveals the Dirty Underbelly of the Meat Industry

Young People Are Feeding the Effort to Unionize Food Service Workers

Absent Federal Oversight of Animal Agriculture Safety, States and Others Step Up for Change

Thank you for being a loyal reader.

Tyson Says Its Nurses Help Workers. Critics Charge They Stymie OSHA.

Biogas Expansion May Compound Worker Risks

‘I Was Coughing So Hard I Would Throw Up’

Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous Work. The People Who Do It Have Few Protections.

Op-ed: I’m a Restaurant Worker, Not a Robot

Students Are Building the Next Generation of Farmworker Advocates

A US Farmer Was Accused of Abusing His Workers. Then Big Tobacco Backed His Election

Ex-USDA Official Defends Pandemic Efforts to Keep Meatpacking Plants Running

The Field Report: Morality at the Center of Supreme Court Arguments Over Raising Farmed Pigs in Crates

California Farmworkers Gain Historic Union Win