The Triangle Food Frenzy – What’s Cool and What’s Not

Guest post by Erin Krauss

Food. Mmm…..the most natural of pleasures; melt in your mouth butter, delicate tastes of salt and sugar, coffee and cream…or…over-zealous, raw, freshly chopped, crunchy…....pure nourishment. Food is good, food is fun, and frankly these days, food is COOL. The Triangle can give testament to this fact. Food draws in the crowd - from locals seeking a new menu, to students shopping around for an economical fast fix. Everything from swanky restaurants to corner food trucks has exploded over the last few years in urban centers of central North Carolina, and across the state. Food-lovers are salivating at the variety of choices and all hours of the day you can obtain a taco, dumpling, raw smoothie, or NC BBQ. The recent attention on food has been accompanied by a number of “food movements” advocating for positive changes in our food system over-all; this kind of community action has gained praise and some critique.

A recent article by Sally Kohn in Salon speaks to the contradictory phenomenon of food becoming more and more popular on a national level, while the people who are responsible for growing, processing, and cooking our food, are not. Otherwise they would have fair treatment and fair wages, right? The author argues that the “foody movement” has resulted in a massive trend towards hypersensitivity for the organic, the humane treatment of animals, and the local nature of food as well as health-conscious and environmentally conscious critique of food. Kohn claims that the ironic thing missing in the popularization of cool and fancy foods is a level of genuine concern surrounding the people that make food production happen. In Kohn’s words, “In the food industry, as in America overall, the concerns of low-wage workers tend to get swept under the table...”

Kohn’s critique highlights the importance of a very needed global perspective when it comes to “foody” movements, but let’s not forget the strides we have made in NC and other communities over the last several years. As buy local and support small & organic farms campaigns have gained momentum – so have efforts surrounding environmentally sound agriculture practice, growing consumer consciousness and even some equitable prices that reflect what sustainable food and fair labor practices actually require. Local food movements and other food-awareness efforts have done a good job at educating on alternatives to multinational corporations and big agro-business. Ultimately – whether advocates are pushing for local food or quality food (organic, sustainable, healthy) the common vision often seems to be to strengthen communities over all. 

Contrary to Kohn, others argue that a problem lies not in the current focus of food-movements, but rather, what food-movements often lack. While overall, the objective of food-movements are to strengthen our communities, it’s not clear whom exactly it is that we include in our definition of community. A variety of people have a stake in food movements. However, not all the diverse stakeholders are talking together about how they are connected and how to work towards common goals. More often then not, many stakeholders (farmworkers themselves) are simply ignored & excluded from the conversation about how to create a new kind of food-system. Conscientious consumers, restaurant and stores, and small farmers have done well to make a dent in their own spheres. But how could we all work together more effectively and inclusively to make a larger impact on the agricultural machine that is the NC economy?

First, we could all reflect deeply on the fact that most of the 150,000 farmworkers and 28,000 poultry living and workers in our state community do not have a regular seat at the "food movement" table. When have farmworkers been invited to join the local food movements’ conversations? When haven’t they? And why is this so? Thinking about these questions is challenging and requires a social justice perspective that sometimes isolated food campaigns can lack. A social justice perspective means prioritizing inclusive decision making and strategizing, refusing to marginalize groups of people that historically have had the least power and have been exploited the most, and believing that the most affected should lead. If we want food movements to strengthen the whole community we all need to have a frank discussion about who is included in our definition of community, and, more importantly – who is excluded and why.

Second, we can all, no matter who we are, push for changes in the larger NC-food system that we all depend on, whether directly or indirectly by virtue of living here. Organizing new efforts around small & organic farming and socially aware business are invaluable - and we must keep up this good work. Equally important is pushing for real change in the massive, exploitative food-system we have had for so long in this southern state.  

If we all make efforts to reflect deeply on how we talk together and who is included in conversation, and if we all push for change in "alternative" and "traditional" food arenas, perhaps by next year, we will have enough diverse stakeholders to make a global food movement that benefits health, environment, local economy, and social and labor rights alike. Perhaps foodies and farmworker advocates will work together and succeed at passing the bill that failed in last year’s legislative session that would provide protections to NC child farmworkers. And maybe with this unified public support, by next year the NC Department of Labor will have leadership that is committed to enforcing NC labor laws and protecting all workers in NC – even farmworkers. Finally, if food movements can grow a stronger social justice perspective – perhaps by next year there won’t be quite as much space between the stakeholders - the “foody”, the small restaurant owner, the small farmer, and the migrant laborer who has worked in NC for decades.

My hope is that someday soon, all of us in the Triangle region and across NC will connect our food pleasures to all people that make food possible. Let us make this food-trend honor the joy that is taste and nourishment, as well as the justice & respect that food-workers deserve. If we create the product, eat the product, make profit from it, or simply live in this state that depends on agriculture - we all have a responsibility in this food chain. 

Food writer Mark Bittman visits farmworkers in Immokalee

Recently, Mark Bittman went to Immokalee, Florida to see for himself what has been happening with the workers who harvest nearly all of the winter tomatoes grown in the U.S. Bittman is renowned for his recipes and his long-running weekly New York Times column “The Minimalist,” and has appeared on dozens of TV shows.

Here are some of Bittman’s initial thoughts:

I spent a couple of hours talking to workers and organizers at the offices of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, went for a walking tour of workers’ housing (the lattice over the windows is there to reinforce a ban on air conditioning, a ban that has been lifted in at least one instance as an indirect result of the recent agreement), even visited three workers in their “home,” and saw the house where several workers had once been held in slavery (not “like” slavery — slavery, as defined), chatted with one of the more progressive growers, and was driven through the fields, whose winter/spring crop is over, though not entirely picked…

Though far from North Carolina, the tales of abuse and exploitation from Immokalee are very close to home. We have seen cases of modern-day slavery here in NC, and we are all too familiar with the poverty wages and substandard living conditions so prevalent in south Florida.

But this story is not all bad news. While Bittman’s visit will help to raise the profile of farmworker issues, farmworkers themselves in Immokalee have been making progress over the last few years. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has challenged major fast food chains and grocery stores to take responsibility for their supply chains. Many companies – though not all – have taken responsibility, and workers in Immokalee are starting to see the difference.

Field and poultry workers in North Carolina, including the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, are working to make changes here too. Nationally recognized experts on food – like Bittman and Eric Schlosser – are joining the conversation and making a difference.

Will you join it too? Click here to endorse the Harvest of Dignity campaign pledge.

Foodies and farmworkers

In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser explains “Why being a foodie isn’t ‘elitist.’” 

In short, he says:

A food system based on poverty and exploitation will never be sustainable.

To see the “poverty and exploitation” on which our current system is based, we don’t have to look any farther than the farmworkers who make agriculture possible.  In North Carolina, half of farmworker families face food insecurity at some point during the year.  Annual incomes for farmworkers average less than $12,000.  Most farmworkers are exempt from minimum wage laws, and all are exempt from overtime provisions, despite long work days during peak harvest.

How much exploitation went into this salad?Schlosser argues that large agribusinesses “don’t want people to think about what they’re eating. The survival of the current food system depends upon widespread ignorance of how it really operates.”  One of the crucial cogs in this industrial machine is the backbreaking human labor required to hand-pick 85% of the fruits and vegetables we eat.  But if we are going to be honest with ourselves, if we are going to move towards a truly sustainable food system, it’s time to make changes in the way we treat field and poultry workers.

It’s time for farmworkers to reap a harvest of dignity instead of exploitation and abuse.  It’s time for poultry workers to have safe working environments.  No one should have to risk his or her health or future for a job. 

Schlosser’s article is a reminder that this topic is never popular.  It’s always easier to ignore the difficult questions than to raise them. 

Now you have been warned: you might be called an “elitist” if you ask who picked your food or if you include farmworkers in your table prayers.  But we can’t afford to ignore this reality any longer – our current food system remains unsustainable because it is based on poverty and the exploitation of the workers who reap our harvests.

You can make a difference - click here to get involved with the Harvest of Dignity campaign.