The majority of food system workers are people of color and immigrants, and receive significantly lower wages than those working in White-dominated occupations. Food system jobs are often perceived as undesirable and have been devalued for years. Despite a long and rich history of organizing efforts among workers, jobs in the food system fail to offer economic security, adequate protections, and career mobility. Rights to organize are unprotected and participation in unions is actively discouraged. These conditions often perpetuate a state of vulnerability for workers across the food system.
Despite being acknowledged as essential, many food system workers feel expendable. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing challenges for food workers, including low wages, limited benefits, inadequate workplace protections, heightened food insecurity, and increased threats of detention.
The earnings of the bottom 90% of U.S. wage earners grew by only 24% over the past 40 years, while the top 1% of wage earners saw a 158% increase and the top 0.1% of wage earners experienced a 341% increase.
The gender and racial hourly wage gap has barely moved over the past 20 years.
Nationally and in San Diego County, food workers have the lowest median hourly wages ($13.15) of any major occupational category. Most food system wages do not provide an adequate standard of living.
Food service workers consistently ranked the lowest compared to all other occupational categories in terms of the number of workers having access to retirement benefits, healthcare benefits, paid holidays, paid sick leave, paid vacations, paid personal leave, paid funeral leave, paid military leave, and paid family leave.
Weak protections from the National Labor Relations Board, union busting, and anti-union campaigns have all played a prominent role in the decline of unions.
There are 3.8 million immigrants making up more than one in five food system workers. In California alone, 42.5% of immigrants work in the food system. Farmworkers from Mexico comprise 69% of total farmworkers in the country.
