Food and Farm Labor

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

Young People Are Feeding the Effort to Unionize Food Service Workers

By Annie Sciacca

November 21, 2022

At Starbucks and beyond, young people are joining—and often leading—burgeoning food workers unions.

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

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

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)

For Healthier School Meals, California Bets On More Cooks in the Kitchen

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

September 28, 2022

School meal Chef trainees take part in the Healthy School Food Pathway program. (Photo credit: Santa Clara Unified School District)

This Pastor Wants to Recreate a Black Farming Paradise in California

By Tiffani Patton, Nexus Media

September 23, 2022

Allensworth, California (Photo credit: Wayne Hsieh via Flickr)

Co-Op Grocery Stores Expand Their Mission to Equity and Food Justice

By Christina Cooke

September 19, 2022

Detroit People’s Food Co-op Board Member Malik Yakini at the Detroit Food Commons construction site.

Top Chef’s Gregory Gourdet on Sourcing, Sobriety, and Equity

By Hannah Wallace

September 15, 2022

Gregory Gourdet in the dining room of his new Haitan restaurant Kann, which opened in August. (Photo credit: Zack Lewis)

Why Aren’t Federal Agencies Enforcing Pesticide Rules That Protect Farmworkers?

September 7, 2022

Aerial view of farmer spraying growing chilli plant in field. - stock photo

The Field Report: The USDA Steps Up Its Investments in Regional Food Systems

September 7, 2022

Fred Lee and his Sang Lee Farms team participate in the Farmer’s Market in Northport, New York. (USDA photo by Preston Keres)

This Labor Day, Catch Up on Our Food and Farm Worker Reporting

By The Civil Eats Editors

September 5, 2022

Farmworkers harvesting watermelons at Bellinger Farms in Hermiston, Oregon. (Photo by Andrea Johnson for the Oregon Department of Agriculture)

The Heat Wave Crushing the West Is a Preview of Farmworkers’ Hot Future

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

September 2, 2022

farm worker harvesting grapes in the midst of a climate change driven heat wave

Op-ed: Catch Shares Enable Wealthy Landlords to Gobble Up Local Fisheries

By Ryan Bradley

August 31, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 17: Fresh Red Snapper lies on ice at the San Francisco Fish Company October 17, 2006 in San Francisco, California. A study by the Institute of Medicine found that eating fresh seafood twice a week is healthy for your heart and may reduce the risk of heart disease. The study also says that eating fish twice a week also outweighs the risk of exposure to mercury and other dangerous contaminants. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Most Farmworkers Speak Spanish, but Pesticide Safety Labels Are Often Only Printed in English

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

August 30, 2022

Farmworker spraying pesticides on a farm in Jordan. Photo CC-licensed by Seersa Abaza, IWMI.

Food Service Industry Workers Are Organizing to Fund Their Own Reproductive Care

August 29, 2022

A concerned service industry worker stands behind glass at a restaurant.

This Anti-Capitalist Café Is Creating a New Approach to Work

By Mike De Socio, YES! Magazine

August 26, 2022

Cafe Euphoria in Troy, New York. (Photo credit: Cafe Euphoria)

Photo Essay: The Next Generation of DC Central Kitchen Chefs

By Lisa Held and Jake Price

August 24, 2022

Five of DC Central Kitchen's trainees. Photos by Jake Price