Category Archives: COVID-19 News

Applying course lessons and action project results to the real world

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For my action project, my group developed a set of news media and social media content to engage the public with the issues of dairy CAFOs in Washington. This included Facebook and Twitter posts, which had info graphics and in the future will have political tool kits for citizens to contact their representatives and the WA Department of Ecology during the legislative session, and letters to the editor which were sent to multiple local newspapers.

Figure 1: Example post from my action projects Facebook page
In this class we have discussed the impacts of COVID on the world food system. These impacts have largely been to processing and distribution. Our project was also impacted by COVID because we had less of an opportunity to spread our message. Our social media posts did not do as well as we had hoped because there is currently a lack of interest for this kind of content currently given both world an domestic events. This is not something that only we faced. During the pandemic, I have noticed that most environmental groups have shifted their focus from traditional targets to focus on causes related to the pandemic and more recently racial justice.

Figure 2: This image, posted on Greenpeace USA’s Facebook page, is an example of the shift in focus from environmental groups
This is a unique issue that ties into the other impacts of COVID on the world food system which we discussed in class. The difference is that the impact of decreased pressure from advocacy largely affects production, and not as much processing or distribution. Production has been negatively impacted by the disruptions to processing and distribution however, unlike processing and distribution where COVID has pretty much only been a detractor, the production portion of the world food system has been avle to operate unchecked.

Figure 3: The recent increase in the rate of deforestation of the Amazon is an example of the impacts on the food system as a result of a distracted world. Source: NBC news
While advocacy from environmental groups may not play into the typical model for a world food system, a basic understanding of systems thinking, the discussions we have had in class, and my experience with my action project have allowed me to better understand the connections in our food web I didn’t know existed.

Racism in the Food System

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Systematic racism is the basis of every aspect of the USA and the food system has no exception. In the 1600s, the first enslaved people were brought from Africa to America and were forced into labor. This included working on sugar, cotton, rice, and tobacco plantations. This brought on a sense of superiority to the white Americans, seeing anyone who is different from them as less than. The exploitation of many people of color were used to keep the social hierarchy going and it kept money in the white man’s pocket. This past of the United States has helped create the racist laws, actions, and institutions that are here today.

Now that forced labor is seen as immoral, even though it is still happening in the present, people have found a more covert way of keeping people of color oppressed. This is shown through wage gaps, the job market, the housing market, and so much more. A majority of minorities cannot find good-paying jobs with the only reason being simply that they are not white. Because of that, they find themselves working in factories, farms, and other jobs seen as undesirable and underpaying. This means that all the food being put on people’s tables are most likely being harvested or packed by people of color. While they are doing all of the hard labor, it is usually the white people that are in charge, gaining massive amounts of wealth.

Because of the unjust treatment of minorities, it makes it more difficult for them to support their families. It is harder to buy basic necessities, which can lead to a multitude of problems. This cycle continues on through generations because nothing is there to pass on to their children. However, most white people have the privilege and wealth to live healthy and have opportunities to pass onto generations of their families.

These disparities have magnified during the pandemic. For example, the wealthy have enough money to stop working while the poor continue to work in factories, farms or other underpaid jobs to keep food on America’s table and to keep their families afloat. Along with that, the systematic racism in the health care system keeps a lot of people of color from getting access to testing for COVID or getting treatment. 

Racism and oppression are at the very base of what America was built upon. With that, the food system cannot be ignored in this equation. It is often looked upon as a basic process of the way it gets to your fridges and pantries, but it is not that simple.

The End ENVIR 385

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My group had the opportunity to work with Landesa, a non-profit organization where their focus is to promote, empower, and secure land rights for millions of the world’s poorest in order to provide opportunity and social justice. Because Landesa works on a more broader range, my group wanted to focus our action project specifically on women’s land rights and food security and connect them with pandemics like the one we are currently in, COVID-19. In order to spread awareness with our topic and research we took on the social media approach.

We learned through our research that women in the areas we looked into make up the majority of the agricultural workforce, and because of the gender disparity that is demonstrated in these areas, and with the current system, women are left in a vulnerable state when pandemics strike their communities. Case studies that have been done in developing countries have shown that with support, women can have great economic and ecological impacts which helps build resilience in their communities.

Through our course we talked about the systems theory. This explains that we are all part of a system(s), and if one part of the system undergo a change then the other parts of that system will be affected. Landesa is performing under this idea, and that their organization is in hope trying to create change in society and rid of the unsustainable systems that are around us.

This theory is demonstrated greatly under our food system. Structural racism lives in this system, while many others as well. However, since our group focused of food security I believe it is necessary to focus on the food system as well. POC often receive low wages in the food industry, and because of this they are forced to face many disadvantages such as hunger. Part of this problem is that there is great disparity between consumers and the food chain since many do not truly know what the process is in order to get the food they are receiving. After this course, I grew to understand more about the food system and the corrupt attributes that take place. Through our action project and tying that with the systems theory, it is crucial that there needs to be more awareness especially with the BLM movement that is currently happening, and for everybody to keep protesting and doing what they can in order to affect our system in the ways that will reach an outcome where we see change for a better future for the POC.

How to change the system

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The core intellectual concept of this course, systems thinking, was ultimately for me the most valuable aspect of the curriculum. However, thinking systemically in the context of the world this quarter also made me feel relatively powerless as an individual. Systemic issues have been at the forefront of global discourse over the past several months. The coronavirus pandemic has rattled human society revealing our vulnerability within Earth’s ecosystem and reminding humanity that however much we resist this reality: we live under nature’s laws. 

Those of us who live in the United States have been reminded how badly our healthcare system is broken and inadequate at handling crises. Similarly, our globalized and industrialized food system has revealed its clumsiness and vulnerability to disturbance as the pandemic has challenged supply chains and means of production leading to vast amounts of food waste and threats of hunger around the globe. 

Source: Rebecca Conway for The New York Times — daily wage works stand in line for meals in New Delhi where for many with little social safety net “hunger is a more immediate threat than the virus”

In these past two weeks, incited by the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of police, people all over the world are rising up against the systemic racism ingrained in our political and social institutions. Many of us (especially those with privilege) are learning just how blind we have been to systemic injustice and just how inadequate our individual intentions are at making change. 

In many ways I felt my individual actions this quarter to be futile. Working with Community Alliance for Global Justice to acquire auction items for their upcoming fundraising dinner required my group members and I to reach out to over one hundred local small businesses. Most never responded to our requests (surly overwhelmed with the weight of owning a small business during these times), other folks responded with apologetic nos saying they simply were not in a place to donate, others were angry that we were asking for contributions given the context of the world. Working with CAGJ was a swimming-upstream type of fight and in the end I am not sure we moved an inch. 

However, after a quarter of feeling powerless as an individual amidst human systems so massive, convoluted and ignorant of nature’s reality that it almost seemed hopeless to take individual action, these past couple weeks have given me new hope. Taking to the streets with thousands of other individuals I am suddenly immersed in collective individual action unlike I have ever experienced before. And it feels like we may be on the precipice of actually forcing systemic change if we individuals keep on the collective pressure. Collectively we are opting out of leading our daily lives and choosing to sustain civil disobedience such that those in power are forced to listen. 

My own photo from a recent protest at Cal Anderson park in Seattle

I have often thought that we could alter our unjust and environmentally destructive food system if only everyone could come together and collectively opt out of consuming destructively and unjustly produced products. It surely is not that simple, but at the very least I have learned from this moment that we can feel less powerless as individuals if we band together in collective action. I hope dearly that we can maintain this fight for racial justice and in doing so create long-sustained collective action which can be continued into a fight for a more just and sustainable world generally. 

-Aisling Doyle Wade

 

A Systems Approach to Racial Justice

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      I want to talk about the racial issues and tension going on right now. I think it speaks to the systemic approach of this class and how there is no such thing as an isolated event. When I think about racial tension, racism and the current protests there is a historical tie and overall a timeline of injustice. 400 years of oppression and the single event of George Floyd’s murder are intrinsically connected, it’s never just one bad cop it is the system that has fueled and allowed for these actions. Specifically when slavery was abolished the police force was created as a patrol to control freed slaves and was also used to maintain slave labor by imprisoning Black people for “crimes” and then forcing them to work as prisoners again. This shows that while it looks like police violence are isolated issues they actually are connected by the fact that the system was created as a racist oppressive force to control Black people. The protests while happening right now, are rather the culmination of 400 years of oppression, government disregard for its most vulnerable citizens, and the final straw of the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. These events are all connected and show the importance of considering all these factors when talking about racial justice. 

      I think that the food system is actually one of the worst offenders of racist actions. It started with the taking of Native Americans food, and using slave labor to tend to the fields. This doesn’t even stop when the 13th amendment is passed, because convicts can still be forced to work on fields because they’re considered “criminals.” While this practice isn’t used today, there are now migrant laborers who are paid the lowest wages possible. A final problem is the disparity in diet related diseases such as diabetes and obesity. This is primarily because of the lack of healthy resources available in food deserts and low income neighborhoods. To honestly change the food system for better the racism and disparity in resources needs to be addressed first. 

4 Not-So-Easy Ways to Dismantle Racism in the Food System

 

Collective Action and Change: A Reflection

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2020 has been exhausting. Between murder hornets, escalating tensions among adversarial countries, a global pandemic, and racism, it’s getting harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel – and the year isn’t even half over yet.

As tempestuous as the world seems right now though, I’ve gained levity in working with my Citizens’ Climate Lobby action group, to lobby for the passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. I’ve built on my collaborative work skills and gleamed valuable insight into the process of collective action and deliberation, and had the chance to work with a diverse coalition of people from across the country and the globe to relate the knowledge we gained in the course to the real world. This work has given me hope that systematic change is possible through collective action.

Citizens' Climate Lobby - take action on climate change solutions

Citizens’ Climate Lobby, via https://citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CCL-Logo.gif

Group work has, no doubt, been complicated by the fact that we’re living through a global pandemic. However, my group mates and I made the best of a difficult situation and flexibly scheduled our weekly Zoom and Whatsapp meetings. Arranging a time for a videoconference that worked for people in Washington State, Ohio, and France was not easy, but we made do. To ensure equal distribution of work, we collectively decided to finish one training per person, per week, and then summarize that training for the rest of the group.

Our work for CCL builds upon Michael Maniates policy prescription in “Individualization”. Rather than plant trees or ride our bikes to work, we will be lobbying for systemic change in policy. Our work will necessarily invoke systems thinking in this way. By considering the inputs and outputs of the act, as well as its potential downstream effects (both economic and environmental), we’ve taken a holistic approach to the understanding the act, systems thinking in essence.

Citizens' Climate Lobby | Our preferred climate change legislation

via https://citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/eicda-2019-benefits.png

Ultimately, I’ve walked away from this experience with a feeling that I can make a material difference in the world. Although my lobby session isn’t until June 17th, I am confident in my abilities to persuade my member of Congress, and look forward to being a force for real good in the world – something that I could not have accomplished without the hard work of my group mates, and the volunteers at CCL.

Rain, Thibault, Rachel, Alan, and Jess: thanks for a great quarter.

– Dakota

Racism in the Food System

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I’m taking the liberty to focus on the food system and farm workers in Washington State. COVID-19 has served to peel back the layers of an incredibly unjust system. Farm workers, who are largely foreign and undocumented, have now been deemed ‘essential’ employees yet are not afforded basic safety measures. Currently, labor advocacy groups Familias Unidas por la Justicia and the United Farm Workers of America are filing a lawsuit against Washington State’s Health and Labor departments demanding regulated support for these farm workers who are too scared to speak for themselves because doing so could result in their H2-A visas being revoked and/or their information being given to ICE. Washington Health was reported issuing guidance that temporary worker housing facilities with a single room “should assign sick occupants to one side and occupants without symptoms to the opposite side.”

Speaking of housing, simply getting a roof over their heads is a challenge for many foreign farm workers. Not all farms are required to provide housing for their employees depending on the visas issued, and as Benton City has demonstrated, many local residents in farming areas push back hard against supplying farmworker housing. Residents of Benton City were recorded stating that they did not want Benton City to become like Mabton, a mostly Latino community. That was during complaints directed to the US Department of Justice in 2002. To this day residents are fighting against farm worker housing.

Perhaps one of the most telling cases of foreign farm worker discrimination was during the infamous 2018 Sumas Berry Farm case. The farm manager was quoted saying about the foreign farm workers: “They came here to suffer,” and that they were expected to work every day of the week “unless they were on their deathbed.” Despite H2-A visas not having a production quota in WA State, workers on this farm were expected to harvest two boxes of berries every hour or face deportation and paying their own way home. The conditions that brought on the allegations w

Sumas Berry Farm Protests

ere 12 hour shifts in hot, wildfire smokey conditions that led to severe heat stress, poor quality or portioned food, not enough water, expired visas that had yet to be renewed, and the death of a coworker, suspected from aforementioned conditions, which caused 70 employees to go on a one day strike and subsequently get fired. The farm was expected to pay a lawsuit settlement of $149,800, but a judge later cut that settlement cost in half.

These are just three examples of severe injustice and racism faced by foreign farm workers in the US food system, but it’s a systemic problem that infects every part of the country. Until we can strictly enforce basic human rights and regulations in the farming system, these injustices won’t stop. It’s one of the real costs of cheap food.

Response to Undocumented Farmworkers are Left at High Risk for COVID-19

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    When I think about food I don’t normally think about where it comes from, I have the privilege of doing this. After reading this blog post I started thinking about the supply chain and how many people my food interacted with before getting to me. The first person was most likely a migrant worker, then people that work in a warehouse, to finally a grocery store stocker. This is just the beginning but it shows that there are many people that will essentially touch my food. Now why am I mentioning this? When thinking about policy and safety during COVID-19, the amount of hands that my food touched is disconcerting when talking about a transferable illness. While this doesn’t necessarily matter in regards to a COVID-19 there is still the issue that farm conditions breed bacteria and illnesses. I specifically think about E.Coli and the amount of outbreaks that cause farms to shut down each year. This happens because of poor conditions, lack of sanitation and bathrooms for farmworkers. Outbreaks like this can easily be stopped by improving conditions and the safety of the laborers. When there is an individual approach to these issues, without overarching changes to the system and conditions, then the trend will just continue and the safety of the whole food system will continually be compromised. 

    Migrant farmworkers have been a staple in this country since the 1800s, the U.S promises a decent job and opportunities that these migrants wouldn’t have in their own country. However, these undocumented workers have always faced harsh conditions and the threat of being deported. Another issue is how many farms call ICE after the work has been finished and the workers don’t ever receive pay for their work. This is obviously extremely unethical but migrant farmers have no federal rights and state rights are far from guaranteeing their safety. Migrant farmers are the backbone of this country and when the country’s food supply relies heavily on this labor, yet they are treated as if they are inconsequential. COVID-19 has shown that essential workers are rarely the ones paid the most, and are the most overlooked. 

Undocumented farmworkers are left at high risk for COVID-19

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/meeting-seasonal-labor-needs-age-covid-19

The Root Cause of Our Mistreatment of Immigrants

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This is a response to Sydney’s post “Migrant Workers Have Always Been Essential, So We Should Be Treating Them Like It” found here: https://sites.uw.edu/pols385/2020/05/19/migrant-workers-have-always-been-essential-so-we-should-be-treating-them-like-it/

While I agree with Sydney’s point that migrants have served in essential roles throughout our nation’s history, I would like to challenge the idea that the migrant workers themselves are essential to those roles. Let me be clear: I completely disagree with the notion that immigrants are “stealing our jobs.” Most Americans are unwilling to fill those positions as they currently operate, and we absolutely should not blame the immigrants for seeking a better life. But I believe that calling immigrant labor itself “essential” only serves to excuse our luxury-obsessed culture and the costs it imposes on immigrant workers.

As Sydney points out, immigrant labor is used because they are one of our most vulnerable populations so they will accept dangerous conditions at low wages. The key point there is the low wages: agricultural work is not the most dangerous job out there, but it is certainly one of the lowest paying dangerous jobs. Looking at other, more dangerous jobs like garbage collectors or construction workers, their average salaries are considerably higher than agricultural work and they subsequently have much lower undocumented immigrant participation.

Source: USDA, Pew Research Center
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/illegal-immigrants-us-jobs-economy-farm-workers-taxes/

It is not that Americans are entirely unwilling to do the work; they are simply unwilling to do the work below a certain salary. The way I see it, our agricultural industry has convinced us that immigrant labor is essential to our food system in order to keep payroll artificially deflated and dissuade investigation of poor working conditions. They are basically using slave labor to keep food prices low and profits high. 

As available undocumented labor goes down, wages must go up to attract legal citizens.

I worry that the discourse around this topic can easily become confused and subsequently counter-productive. Agricultural work is undeniably essential; without our food industry, we (along with many other parts of the world) would starve to death. And our immigrant labor force is essential in order to keep food prices low. But are low food prices essential? They are not only inessential but inherently detrimental, as argued by Michael Carolan in The Real Cost of Cheap Food. Thus, by calling immigrant labor essential in and of it itself, we perpetuate the idea that our food should be cheap and, to a certain degree, excuse the poor treatment of immigrants as a necessary evil to reach those ends.

Sydney calls on the agriculture industry to improve wages and working conditions for undocumented workers. In my opinion, this represents individualization of responsibility to a degree: it fails to address the larger systemic reasons for those wages and conditions, which include America’s love of ultra-cheap food, a difficult-to-navigate legal immigration system, and our willingness to look the other way when our industries abuse desperate populations. Solving this problem will require deep systemic changes to our immigration systems, law enforcement, the agriculture industry, and, most importantly, the way Americans relate to food. We will need to accept spending much more of our income on food, which will require far less discretionary spending: smaller houses, less luxurious vehicles, and significantly less entertainment consumption. We will need to fundamentally alter the typical American lifestyle.

Systemic thinking shows us just how complex the situation is, and reminds us that we cannot just expect the food industry to make things right on its own. We must act as consumers and citizens, as individuals and communities, as social and political entities, in order to institute the massive changes necessary to protect vulnerable immigrant communities and move towards a more ethical and sustainable food system. 

From Texas to Ethiopia: Food Crisis & COVID-19

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The article “Will COVID-19 lead to a food crisis?” the author explores the different ways the pandemic has affected the global supply chain in mid-April while speculating the various ways the possible outcomes of the stress COVID-19 will cause. It has been more than a month since the article was published and the matters of individual diet changes to disparities between the Global North and South have been even more exacerbated as time carries on.

The question has been answered: yes, COVID-19 is leading the charges for reasons why we are entering a period of extremes, intensifying weak links in our food system. Due to a myriad of reasons, the US is seeing overproduction of produce and consequently food waste, worker shortages leading to the bottleneck effect on food items like meat.

The US can no longer run from the detrimental effects of how the pandemic has tested our inefficient food system that favors profit over workers as seen in federal demand for meat factory workers to return to work. From the imperial practice of “free” trade disrupting food sovereignty to depleting natural resources, something as natural as food has become an entirely political entity and can affect food prices.

In the Horn of Africa, COVID-19 is intensifying the situation in a place where 60 million hectares are allotted to land grabs and local farmers battle plagues of locusts. These events have contributed to previous food scarcity within the region. With COVID-19, food access due to distribution delays and the declining market prices for food will affect everyone from farmers to children.

Map of Horn of Africa region showing how land grabbing affect food shortages https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c60c68c9fda947589359fea4633163bf

As the pandemic changes our daily situation, it is clear that what we need as a planet is a systemic approach that has the future of humanity and our planet in mind.