Wanna know more about food workers and food justice?

See the great resources listed in our Videos and Reports pages!

And check out the following reports from the Food Chain Workers Alliance!

NO PIECE OF THE PIE: U.S. FOOD WORKERS IN 2016

In honor of International Food Workers Week, Food Chain Workers Alliance has released its new report: No Piece of the Pie: U.S. Food Workers in 2016.

The U.S. food system has grown by 1.5 million more workers in the past five years and continues to be the largest employer in the country–employing a total of 21.5 million workers. That’s 14%, or 1 out of every 7 workers, of the nation’s workforce. At the same time, the U.S. food system is the worst employer in the country in terms of wages and working conditions, paying the lowest hourly median wage of $10. This leads to a higher rate of food insecurity for food workers compared to workers in all other industries.  In fact, food workers use food stamps (SNAP benefits) at over the double the rate of all other US workers.

No Piece of the Pie also highlights pay inequity, particularly among worker of color. Women workers of color are paid much less than white men in the food system–less than what they were paid in 2010.

For more findings, stories from food workers, and recommendations for policy makers and consumers, download the full report and the executive summary here. The report is a result of a collaboration between the Food Chain Workers Alliance and Solidarity Research Cooperative.

“THE HANDS THAT FEED US: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKERS ALONG THE FOOD CHAIN”

The Food Chain Workers Alliance’s unprecedented, comprehensive report looks at wages and working conditions of workers across the entire food chain – a sector that employs 20 million people in the U.S., comprising one-sixth of the nation’s workforce. The Hands That Feed Us is based on nearly 700 surveys and interviews with workers and employers in food production, processing, distribution, retail and service. Click here to read a summary of key findings from the report. You can download the full report, as well as the executive summary in English, Spanish, and traditional Chinese characters.

“FOOD INSECURITY OF RESTAURANT WORKERS“

  This report by FCWA, Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay, and Food First is the first comprehensive look at food security and employment conditions of workers in the restaurant industry.

The report, based on over 280 surveys and interviews with restaurant workers in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, highlights the crucial ways in which restaurant workers’ employment conditions affect their ability to feed themselves.

Some of the key findings:

• Twice as many restaurant workers reported being food insecure compared to the overall U.S. population, the New York City population, and the San Francisco Bay Area population.
• Workers in the San Francisco Bay Area were 17% less likely overall to be food insecure than those in New York City.
• Compared to documented immigrants, undocumented immigrants were about 24% more likely to experience food insecurity.
• Tipped workers in NYC were 30% more likely to be food insecure than their non-tipped counterparts.
• Bay Area restaurant workers who served organic or “sustainable” ingredients were 22% more likely to be food insecure compared to other Bay Area restaurant workers.

“A DIME A DAY: THE IMPACT OF THE MILLER/HARKIN MINIMUM WAGE PROPOSAL ON THE PRICE OF FOOD“

A Dime A Day analyzes the impact of the proposed Fair Minimum Wage Act, introduced in 2012 by Representative George Miller (D-CA) in the House and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the Senate. This proposal would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour over the next 3 years and the tipped minimum wage from $2.13 to 70% of the regular minimum wage. We found that this increase in the regular minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage would have a minuscule impact on food costs. Read more in the report! Published with the Food Labor Research Center of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

If you have any suggestions for us, please email us: info [at] foodchainworkers.org!