FEBRUARY 12, 2025
Today, Food Chain Workers Alliance published a new and critical resource on the state of work in our food system. Food Chain Workers in 2025: Labor and Exploitation in the Food System analyzes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Labor to find that food workers fare worse than nearly all other U.S. workers by basically any measure.
Low wages, high rates of injury, high rates of food insecurity, and low unionization are just some of the trends that continue to make the food industry one of the most exploitative employers in the country.
Right now, FCWA members are organizing to challenge ramped up immigration enforcement and other Trump administration policies that will hurt workers. This new data attests to what our members already know: our food system runs on worker exploitation, propped up by racist anti-immigrant sentiment. Share this report to uplift the critical need to support worker power in the food system, and use it as a resource for further analysis of the food system:
Press Inquiries: Elizabeth Walle, elizabeth@foodchainworkers.org
Data Inquiries: Winston Moore, winston@foodchainworkers.org