       Have you ever thought about the process and people your food goes through to make it to your kitchen table? Many people do not realize how complex of a supply chain the food industry is; at the top sits the corporations and at the bottom the workers. Corporations control how and when your food gets to you. The way they run their companies affects the entire world, from the farm worker picking tomatoes in Florida to the mother of four buying fruit at the grocery store. A big issue surrounding this industry is corporate responsibility, mainly around the issue of worker’s rights, which calls into an essential question, what are my responsibilities and duties to others? According to the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM) six out of ten workers are undocumented immigrants, meaning they naturally face quite a few issues on the job, specifically exploitation (“National Farm Worker Industry”). Given America’s current political climate and the Trump Administration, these people are at even more of a risk than ever before. Prior to the 2016 election, undocumented workers of the agriculture industry were already at a disadvantage, but Donald Trump’s current policies have almost created a witch hunt for illegal immigrants across our country. This situation is starting to spark a dangerous cycle of discrimination and exploitation around these people damaging any progress made for undocumented workers in the past decades. Throughout his campaign, I remember hearing Trump spiel lies during his rallies, labeling these workers as criminals, thieves and rapists. Now that he is in office, he’s created policies that “publicize crimes by undocumented immigrants; strips such immigrants of privacy protections; enlist local police officers as enforcers; erect new detention facilities; discourage asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speed up deportations” (Nixon). These aggressive new policies counteract any previous efforts made by the Obama and Bush administrations “who sought to balance protecting the nation’s borders with fiscal, logistical and humanitarian limits on the exercise of laws passed by Congress” (Nixon). Given the current situation of the United States, I argue that the mass deportation of undocumented workers will negatively affect the food and agriculture industry and that the current limited government intervention in this industry allows multinational corporations to have a tight control over these workers, restricting their rights through the exploitation of their weaknesses clearly violating the human rights of farm and factory workers throughout the United States. This can be solved by pushing for stronger legislation to protect the rights of workers and resorting to smaller family owned farms that are being wiped out by agribusiness.

       One of the most prevalent issues in this industry right now is the corporation’s exploitation of workers. This addresses a central question, what does it mean to have human rights? This issue of exploiting workers can be seen in both the agriculture and meat industry. One of the reasons this issue is so prevalent is because of the number of undocumented workers. Recently, there has been “an influx of Latin American workers… seen across the country partially due to active recruiting by the corporations” (“Slaughterhouse Workers”). The problem with being undocumented is that these workers are even more vulnerable to abuse and have no way to stand up for themselves out of fear of being deported from threats by their employers. Farm worker activist, Cesar Chavez, pointed out the paradox of the whole system saying, “(Farm workers) are involved in the planting and the cultivation and the harvesting of the greatest abundance of food known in this society. They bring in so much food to feed you and me and the whole country and enough food to export to other places. The ironic thing and the tragic thing is that after they make this tremendous contribution, they don’t have any money or any food left for themselves” (“National Farm Worker Industry”). An issue this large means that some form of government intervention is needed to protect these workers. According to Farmworker Justice, there are an estimated 2.4 million farmworkers laboring on our farms and ranches to bring food to our tables, and at least a half of those farmworkers are undocumented (“US Labor Laws for Farmworkers”). I agree with Farmworker Justice when they say that our nation’s “broken immigration system inflicts harm on farmworkers, their family members, their communities, and the businesses that need their labor” (“President Obama Announces…”). This legal situation many farmworkers are in is a major contributing factor to the low wages, poor conditions and extensive illegal practices in agriculture. Again, these undocumented workers’ fear deportation and job loss, ultimately depriving them of their bargaining power with their employers.

This issue of illegal, undocumented workers goes hand-in-hand with the government’s intervention policies. The government tends to crack down on the workers, rather than the businesses who are hiring these people illegally. This can be seen in Tar Heel, North Carolina. The documentary Food Inc. captures immigration arresting Smithfield factory workers at a trailer park. There are no massive raids; only a handful of workers are arrested at a time, that way the production lines will not be affected. The upsetting fact is that this is an agreement between Smithfield and immigration (“Food, Inc.”). By informing immigration of when and where to find undocumented workers, they can decide the fate of so many people. Some of these workers have been here for as long as two decades producing and processing our food, but suddenly they are being arrested like criminals when all they really came here to do is try to make a living. Yet, with Trump’s recently passed policies, deportations of all undocumented immigrants are happening on the daily. An article from The New York Times points out that the main issue with the new policies put in place is that previously immigrants who had committed serious crimes would be deported first; now literally anyone can be deported at any time (Nixon). The issue that Trump, his administration, and supporters do not understand is that these massive deportations could cause agriculture to collapse given 50%-70% of the workers are undocumented. If these workers are taken out of the industry there will be no one to replace them. The average American is not willing to work in such conditions which is why these undocumented workers make up most the industry. Ultimately the result would be an increase in the price of food due to the lack of workers, as well as more of a struggle for small farms to keep their businesses running (Garfield). Overall undocumented workers are vital to our current system, so it is important to think twice and weigh the outcomes when making huge decisions regarding their involvement in this country. 

Farm workers are not the only people experiencing this exploitation and fear of deportation; factory workers in the meat industry are in a situation just as bad, even though they are not as heavily made up of undocumented workers as they are poor, lower class Americans. It is not a new idea that the meat industry doesn't treat their workers well. Since the early 20th century, workers have been in constant battle against these major corporations for their rights and safety to be upheld. Congress passing the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 helped workers, but didn’t do as much as they needed to regarding workers’ rights. Today there are very few labor laws enforced to protect workers, creating “an industry where corporations set the rules and government agencies follow”. The actual job performed alone is dangerous. “Slaughtering animals and processing their flesh is an inherently dangerous industry where company profits consistently take priority over workers’ most basic rights” (“Slaughterhouse Workers”). According to The Food Empowerment Project, meat factories employ over 500,000 workers, most being people of color or recent immigrants to the country with very low incomes. This is a common trend of major US corporations. Workers with this type of background tend to be a target because they are the most efficient way to get the job done. This is because many corporations deliberately choose areas filled with people who need the money and will do any job to make some.

According to the documentary Food Inc., one of the largest meat processing plants in the world, owned by Smithfield, is centrally located in the very economically-depressed area of Tar Heel, North Carolina. Smithfield deliberately chose this location, exploiting their workers based on their need for money (“Food, Inc.”). In an area where jobs and money are sparse, people will do whatever they can to make somewhat of a living, even if that means working a dangerous job. Corporations like this one tend to view their workers as expendable, which is why they treat them just as badly as the animals they slaughter. Based on this view, many of these corporations knowingly hire undocumented workers to “satisfy the extremely high turnover rate of the industry, which often exceeds 100% annually” (“Slaughterhouse Workers”). As these companies get bigger to supply a greater demand of meat products, mainly due to the fast food industry, the needs of the workers became less important. About 50 years ago, Food Inc. compares working as a meat packer to working in the automobile industry; it was a great job. Yet today it is considered one of the most dangerous in the country. These corporations began to adopt similar practices to the fast food industry by cutting wages, getting rid of unions, speeding up production, and having one person do the same job repeatedly, basically treating them as a human machine (“Food, Inc.”). This fast-paced work environment makes the possibility of injuries inevitable, yet so many workers choose not to report them because of their fear of being fired.

       Looking at the big picture, it can become apparent that corporations have too much power. The book, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser discusses the implications of agribusiness and what it is doing to our society. In the 70s, farm activist Jim Hightower viewed the new fast food industry as a threat to independent businesses, and he was right. Through centralized purchasing and the demand of standardized products, giant corporations now have a ridiculous amount of power over our country’s food supply. As more industries adopt this fast food method of production, small businesses are wiped out, leaving local economies shattered because of the multi-national corporations that are invading their towns (“Schlosser”). These chains control our nation’s agriculture, affecting everything from the environment to the worker. For example, during the 1980s, large multinationals could dominate and control one market after another, in turn taking independence from farmers who have now become hired hands for these agribusinesses. Family farms are being replaced by gigantic corporate farms. Once these corporations come in, many rural communities sink below the poverty line, losing their middle class and creating a great divide between the wealthy and working poor.

Overall, the wealth of agriculture tends to fall into the hands of only a few multinational corporations, rather than many smaller companies or farms. According the Patrick Mulvany, this is mainly because “the rules that govern food and agriculture at all levels- local, national, and international- are designed a priori to facilitate not local, but international trade” (Mulvany, 68). This means that no matter what, the bigger business will succeed because it can reach more people and places, ultimately putting the little guy out of business. Based on this, only a few corporations control our food and the reason for this is far more complex than one might realize. There are so many companies out there selling so much food, but they can all be linked back to a few main corporations. Because of this, the food and agriculture industry suffer from ridiculously high levels of concentration. According to the one source, “Four companies own 83.5% of the beef market, the top four firms own 66% of the hog industry control and 58.5% of the broiler chicken industry” (Snyder). Not to mention that “in the seed industry, four companies control 50% of the proprietary seed market and 43% of the commercial seed market worldwide” and “when it comes to genetically engineered (GE) crops, just one company, Monsanto, boasts control of over 85% of U.S. corn acreage and 91% of U.S. soybean acreage” (Snyder). With so much control over each aspect of the industry, it’s no wonder a small-town farmer has a hard time surviving against them. These corporations need to learn how to share the marketplace fairly without taking advantage of the current system.

Part of the reason this is such a big problem is the fact that so many government officials work for or sit on the boards of these multi-national corporations. This creates a sort of revolving door between CEO’s of a business and those officials making judicial and legislative decisions. For example, former North Carolina State Senator Wendell Murphy is also a Smithfield Board of Directors (“Food, Inc.”). Learning this, it’s no wonder Smithfield tends to get away with whatever they want, especially when it comes to when immigration deports their workers. Another example is Justice Clarence Thomas, who was also an attorney for the corporation Monsanto. The reason why this is such a big deal is because of a court case about the seed saving issue prevalent in the farming industry. It is no coincidence that Thomas had wrote the majority opinion that allowed companies to prevent farmers from saving their own seed, ultimately favoring Monsanto in the verdict (“Food, Inc.”). Examples like these clearly show how centralized power is being used against people who are producing foods like workers and farmers.

       The documentary Food Chains focuses on the struggle of farm workers, specifically in Florida. These people live in trailers, cramming fifteen to sixteen people in one because rent is too high. The amount of money they earn is based on the number of buckets they fill up with tomatoes. One worker interviewed said they “live like animals” (“Food Chains”). Part of the reason these people live like this is because of how poor the local area is. This again brings up the issue of corporations exploiting workers based on their local economy. Even though these people produce millions and millions of dollars a year for these corporations, none of the money stays with the farmworkers in the local economy. While these massive corporations generate half a trillion dollars a year from the United States alone, the workers who gather their produce are living below the poverty line.

Even though most people may not think this, but supermarkets have an unprecedented amount of power in this industry. They dictate the pricing structure down the entire supply chain (“Food Chains”). This creates something known as a monopsony, because the free market no longer exists and the labor wage is set far below the equilibrium level. Worker’s salaries vary week to week, meaning one week they could make $300 but the next $50. This inconsistent income is something that can be fixed. These corporations are creating the poverty found in the areas they dominate and they have an obligation to help eliminate this pressing issue. Fixing this issue is not as difficult as it seems, if a corporation like Publix consented to paying one more penny per pound of tomatoes collected, the workers’ wages would double, only costing one million dollars of their two billion annual profits (“Food Chains”). In my eyes, a livable wage is a human right. These corporations have a responsibility to fix the poverty problems they are causing in the areas they inhabit.

Ultimately, there are solutions for the problems at hand. These solutions address a central question of how did we get here and where are we going? Over the years there have been laws created that somewhat address the many issues of worker’s rights, but nothing that has done enough. Two laws that have been successfully put in place to protect farmworkers in the United States are the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983. These laws are vital to the farm working community because of the sad fact that they often encounter abusive labor practices from their employers. Many of these people work for employers who skirt minimum wage laws, work under unhealthy or dangerous conditions, or live in inhumane substandard housing. Because of this, farm workers rely on the provisions of the FLSA and the MSPA to provide some amount of worker protection (“US Labor Law for Farmworkers”). A lack of unions also limits how much these workers can fight for their rights. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, “Many workers who try to form trade unions and bargain collectively are spied on, harassed, pressured, threatened, suspended, fired, deported or otherwise victimized for their exercise of the right to freedom of association” (“Summary”). The formation of unions could do so much for these people, especially those illegal workers who are afraid to speak up. Having at least one person fighting for the many can do so much; and this is seen through the work of Cesar Chavez.

This one man gave a voice to the many other farm workers in the United States angry and frustrated with the way they were being treated. Through nonviolent protests and fasting, Chavez raised awareness about pressing issues. His creation of United Farm Workers changed the lives of so many people. When he got grape growers to accept union contracts in the 1970s, he was able to effectively organize most of the industry. Part of the reason why he was so successful was because of the way he protested. Some of his most famous demonstrations were the Delano Grape Strike, his fasts that focused national attention on farm workers’ problems, and the 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 (“Our Vision”). All of this pushed for stricter legislation, specifically in the west, in favor of the millions of farm workers in that region. He ultimately made people far more aware of the struggles of farm workers for better pay and safer working conditions.

Today the UFW continues to fight and raise awareness about pressing issues in major agricultural industries across the country. The organization’s website reports that recently there have been dozens of key UFW union contract victories, among them the largest strawberry, rose, winery and mushroom firms in California and the nation. For example, 75 percent of California's mushroom industry is now under union contract. Also in 2007, the organization signed a contract with Three Mile Canyon Farms, which is America's largest dairy corporation. This was also the first major union contract protecting farm workers in Oregon. They are also working to push UFW-sponsored laws and regulations that aide farm workers, among that being an AgJobs immigration reform bill (“Our Vision”).

Another possible solution to solving this problem of corporate control of workers is resorting back to smaller farms, limiting the control of agribusiness. The pressing question with this solution is that because agribusiness is such a monster food source, supplying to millions of people, would it even be possible for smaller farms to survive and supply the industry. On top of that, would people be willing to pay more their food knowing it was locally grown. According to the Economic and Social Benefits of Farmers Markets in BC project, over the last decade more people have attended farmer’s markets and on average spend more (Connell). Even though this study was done in a specific region, it demonstrates that most people are willing to pay and spend more for food they know was created locally. Over the last two decades, there has been a huge organic farming movement throughout the United States. Yet, even this industry has been taken over by multinational corporations, ultimately defeating the original message of the movement. CBC’s Jill Eisen said about this corporate takeover: 

The mainstreaming of organics has split the organic sector into two streams — the industrial and the local. One is large-scale and feeds the big supermarket chains, while the other is small-scale and sells direct to consumers, restaurants and independent stores. There’s little room for mid-sized farms in this new organic landscape. Consumers benefit from the two streams. The industrial stream is bringing the price of organics down, while the local stream is supplying high quality fresh seasonal produce. But this bifurcation isn’t leading to the kind of agriculture veterans of the organic movement had in mind (Suutari, Amanda, “Moving Towards Sustainable Agriculture”).

Ultimately, there is a big difference between the ‘organic movement’ and the ‘organic industry.’ Vijay Cuddeford writes “some worry that the vision of early organic activists - who sought not only healthier food and more environmentally friendly production but also smaller and locally based alternatives to the dominant food system - is being lost in the rush to maximize market share. These critics point out that the current expansion of organics to include sourcing cheap raw materials from developing countries reproduces the neo-colonial structure of the conventional food system” (Cuddeford, Vijay, “When Organics Goes Mainstream”). This further reiterates the issues of corporate domination. It is so easy for them to buyout a company or idea or movement that started out so pure in intent and ultimately corrupt the ethics of the original purpose. Because it is the people who drive the consumer demand, making the decision to buy locally can make a big difference in shifting the industry towards smaller, local farms.

Overall major corporations in the food and agriculture industry tend to take advantage of their workers, ultimately limiting basic human rights through exploitation and threats of deportation. The many problems that can be seen in this industry reiterate the importance of corporate responsibility in any industry. It should be a corporation’s duty to their worker to uphold their rights and treat them with respect, regardless of the country’s political climate and current administration’s viewpoint. The future of this issue could be better or worse, it all depends on what the corporations do now to fix the issues they have created. Whether the government decides to get involved to regulate the industry to help the workers over the businesses will also determine the path this industry does down. Finding solutions to the problems in front of us are not as hard as people may think. Resorting back to local farms and farmers market can make a difference in keeping the smaller, local farms alive. The exploitation of workers can be seen in almost any industry worldwide. From the clothing to the coffee industry, these problems are not specific to the United States. Corporate responsibility is a global issue that impacts everyone from the farmer to the consumer. In the end, paying a cheaper price for an item always comes at a price.
