Fighting For a Fair Food System

Story by: Heaven Taylor-Wynn

Whose voice is missing? This question confronts Leah Cohen daily.

As a soldier in the fight for food justice, Cohen is an amplifier for the voices of those in the food system who are too often ignored and subject to discriminatory practices. Everyday food consumers are rarely faced with the direct consequences of their choice in food sources, with the exception of the direct impact the food has on their bodies. Food travels through an expansive network of individuals between the time it leaves the farm and lands on a plate. This system benefits some and disadvantages others significantly.

Corporate entities, for example, benefit from the current structure of the food system in a major way. Whereas the case is not the same for farmworkers. This is just one sector of stakeholders Cohen’s work strives to support.

As the General Coordinator of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), she’s entrusted to support food system stakeholders who shoulder a disproportionately high share of the negative impacts and a disproportionately low share of the benefits of how the food system operates. This includes farmworkers, small and mid size family farms, food processing workers, ethical food brands, independent grocers and retail workers.

Cohen says many of the disparities in the food system result from racism that’s taken place since the founding of the United States. “The food system in its current model uses cultural structures to divide and exploit different groups for profit,” Cohen said via email. This then forces organizations like AJP to focus on others disparities like access to resources affecting groups like small and mid size family farms.

What is the Agricultural Justice Project? The website for the Agricultural Justice Project explains its goal is to transform the agricultural system. It seeks “empowerment, justice and fairness” for each individual who labors from the farm to the time food is available for retail. “ Farmworkers are just one group that is subject to unfair treatment. “

In 2018, the USDA reported there’s been an agricultural shift to larger farming operations that’s been taking place for about 30 years. While family farms continue to dominate U.S. farming, by 2015, just over half of the value of U.S. farm production came from farms with at least $1 million in sales. (1) This ongoing consolidation places power in the hands of fewer people than before. Large farms have corporate connections and supply grocers and retailers like beloved national chains. Smaller, ethical farms are snuffed out, overlooked and struggle to appear on major chain shelves.

Consequently, this profit-driven economy enables the exploitation of black, brown, immigrant and native people who labor intensively with little return.

One way AJP endeavors to improve conditions for their stakeholders is through its’ Food Justice Certification program. The certification identifies farms that meet strict social justice standards set forth by AJP with an emblem printed on the farm’s products.

The first and only Food Justice Certified operation in Gainesville is The Family Garden managed by farmer Jordan Brown. Cohen oversees the certification program and supports farms like Brown’s by advocating on its behalf to encourage restaurants and grocers to buy from fair and local farms.

Food justice for all

While there are groups that benefit from the current state of food system, Cohen said there’s also a whole lot of people who don’t.

Farmworkers are just one group that is subject to unfair treatment. A 2018 report from the National Center for Farmworker Health revealed 30 percent of all agricultural worker households had total family incomes below the U.S. government’s poverty guidelines. And 27 percent could not speak any English at all. (2) A report from Farmworker Justice revealed 48 percent of farmworkers lacked work authorizations. (3) However, considering the population of undocumented farmworkers, some may not felt comfortable answering accurately.

Being mindful of these statistics, this is a vulnerable group that may be easily taken advantage of. Farmworkers and other stakeholders can also be subject to the following: low wages, poor health, toxicity exposure, poor water quality, lack of food and labor rights.

“It is the same factors affecting all these groups (of stakeholders),” Cohen said. Farmers are pitted against farm workers the same way employees have historically been pitted against unions. She explains “it’s (the) pitting of sector against sector that is part of the problem,” and an approach that addresses each sector is necessary.

In her work, Cohen is intentional about how she represents those she wants to support. “I don’t want to perpetuate a single story about a group or a person,” she said. “I aim for the messaging we put out about people who work in the food system include their full humanity, not just ... the stereotypical traits attributed to them.”

According to AJP, the spread of cultural divisiveness is among the root causes of food system injustices. Cohen says the culture of divisiveness is part of what has led to the skewed power dynamic and other disparities that exist. “(Stakeholder) voices are critical,” she said. “They have to be okay with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”

Supporting fairness and justice

Consumers have a choice. Whether the rise to the occasion is a decision they must make. What can you do? Here’s what Leah recommends:

Get educated! Hungry for Justice: Whose Voice is Missing? is the awareness campaign designed to educate the masses about the real consequences of food injustice and how it affects AJP’s stakeholders.

Support a fair and just farm.

Money talks. Use your dollars to support ethical farming practices by purchasing from the only Food Justice Certified farm in Gainesville.

Sign up for community-supported

agriculture, or CSA. It’s a system allowing consumers to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm. Open a dialogue with your local grocer about supporting Food Justice Certified farms.