Tag Archives: COVID-19

A Response to “Migrant workers are the backbone of our food system, why don’t we treat them better?”

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Original Post: https://sites.uw.edu/pols385/2020/04/13/migrant-workers-are-the-backbone-of-our-food-system-why-dont-we-treat-them-better/

The United States has a long history of social inequity and it is coming to light more during the recent events of COVID-19. I do agree with Ag519 with the unjust treatment of migrant workers especially during this time and the fact that things aren’t getting better. I do have an answer to their question on why it is not getting better. Upper class society has a substantial amount of power over what happens in this world, and they do not want to lose this power. With that, all they worry about is how to gain more money and power and finding the quickest way at attaining that. In addition to that, there is barely any media coverage around big social problems in the world, so only a small amount of people knows what’s happening.

The video So Close to America: Undocumented Farm Workers & The Myth of The ‘Free Ride’ illustrates how migrant workers work just as hard, if not harder, than other people in America while doing the jobs no one else wants to do. During this time, migrant workers continue to work in close quarters with each other and do not have resources to stay safe while others can work from home or not work at all. A question that I think Ag519 does not ask that is very important is what can we do as a community to change this. What can we do as allies to support migrant workers and what can we do to change the system? This is an important question because it asks where we go from here. These answers can include educating others about the unjust treatment happening, especially during this pandemic and donating to foundations in support.

Change starts with everyone fighting together against inequity and unjust treatment.

Farmworkers harvesting zucchini in Florida, April 2020

Photo credit: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/04/23/483488/protecting-farmworkers-coronavirus-securing-food-supply/

A Response to “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism”

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Coming across “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism” reinforced many of my frustrations regarding the valoric framing of laborers during the coronavirus pandemic. As more awareness campaigns, often celebrity-fueled, clap from screen to screen in viral transmission, people embedded within the linkages of our global food chain work to ensure the survival of themselves and those who depend on this vast network, not out of charity, but because that’s the way things are. These are real people with a real capacity for exhaustion, illness, and death- not some Marvel character that can recalibrate their cellular composition when compromised. The use of superhero imagery during this time of crisis to encourage productivity and decrease strike sentiment among food workers whose rights are consistently trampled is not surprising, as it has often been used to normalize and increase citizen engagement in the military industrial complex.


In reading the authored recounting of the Mexican Farm Labor Program Act, I am reminded that the systematic legacy of slavery in America has not yet dissapated, but rather, manifested into more obscured, diverse forms (Yes! Magazine). The cultural enclaves we find doting the outskirts of a pricey Seattle, and the pages of our history books likewise, are not out of choice, but a historical attempt by many immigration quotas to ‘cultivate’ a certain workforce with eugenic-like intent, preying on those whose lives have been destabilized in the industrial rat race to the bottom. We live at an ironic intersection, where the wealthiest of individuals are able to buy back the pastoral fantasy that the likes of Earl Butz’ so eagerly destroyed, while those burdened with the task of feeding an ever-growing urban population work to ensure the economic mobility of their children (GRAIN). Rightfully, this post questions the performative support offered by individual actors with real political and economic influence, much like many of us have questioned the performativity of our own green consumer choices within this class; it’s the easiest way to cope in an infrastructure which abhorrently lags behind the needs of the populace. If history taught us anything, it’s that, every once and awhile, a little civil disobedience is necessary, and that efficient industry and equitable economic distribution puts food on the table (not instagram montages).

In Response to “We Are Told Not to Cry Over Spilled Milk” by Carbam

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By focusing on dumped milk, you showed concern in your blog about the food waste before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic. I agree with you that as the coronavirus spread rapidly across the world, it is disrupting our supply chains and making farmers grappling with low prices and an abrupt drop in demand. Because of the lockdown, restaurants and grocery stores are shutting down and farmers are forced to destroy their crops, throw out perishable items, and dump excess milk. According to estimates from the largest dairy cooperative in the US, dairy farmers are dumping out approximately 3.7 million gallons of milk per day due to the pandemic.

Florida dairy farmers dump excess milk amid coronavirus

With restaurants and schools closed because of the stay-at-home order, it is inevitable that we will experience a hard time managing soaring food waste. One way to alleviate this problem, from my perspective, is to donate the excess food to food aid programs such as SNAP. Also, the government should allocate compensation fairly to farmers to help them go through this hard time. As we’ve discussed in class, inequalities in the food system over time are magnified and are especially obvious during this pandemic. While coronavirus is devastating agriculture, the most vulnerable and impacted groups are low-income families and undocumented workers. As they rely more heavily on SNAP and other food aid during the pandemic, donating excess food can not only ensure enough food supply for SNAP but also abate food waste pressures.

Food Security, COVID-19, and the Future of Land Ownership in Yemen

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In response to: “Womxn, Food, and Security Amid COVID-19 in Yemen” by Amber Torell

Amber’s post addressed the impact of COVID-19 on a group of under-represented and vulnerable people in one of the least developed countries in the world. Sadly, Yemen was a country in crisis before COVID-19. To gain a deeper understanding of the food-aid dimension of the global response to the Yemeni crisis, I visited the USAID website. USAID contributes to the UN WFP and supports NGOs in Yemen. Citing the same geo-political concerns as the WFP, USAID announced their reduction in aid to Yemen, specifically in Houthi dominated regions. Food aid represents an immediate desperate need and signifies a systemic failure in the region. Productive assets, including labor and land, are simply not being used to produce food. To be sure, “Land so pervasively underpins human activity that it usually plays some role during war and civil violence.” (Land and Conflict)

Yemen’s civil war is a factional conflict that has evolved into a humanitarian crisis. For civilians, a sustained state of conflict will put the focus on survival and meeting basic human needs, including food and shelter. Disenfranchised groups may be further marginalized and will need to achieve significant gains politically in order to establish power. Specifically, the role of women in poverty-ridden communities connects to my NGO – Landesa. My group is exploring the impact of COVID-19 on women’s land rights, as it is creating additional economic uncertainty. An imbalance we observe is that women farmers comprise a large majority of those who work directly in agricultural, yet only a fraction of those women are actual landowners. While in the short-run, advocating for women’s involvement in the Yemeni government could result in political unrest, having more women as stakeholders could help stabilize the country and its response to the crisis and lay the groundwork for future changes in rural land rights.

From FAO of the United Nations http://www.fao.org/gender/resources/infographics/the-female-face-of-farming/en/

 

 

Climate Change Triple Inequalities: A Worldwide Crisis

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Cameron McElmurry’s blog post describes the locust swarms currently ravaging farms in the Horn of Africa. While reading, I recognized the injustice that many face as they experience crises caused by climate change and are forgotten while the world focuses on COVID-19. Worldwide, millions will face food insecurity and depleted agricultural incomes because of disasters such as this.

Cameron’s post reminded me of the “triple inequality” topic discussed in class. In terms of the current climate crises that are affecting the world, developing countries most often take the brunt of the short term effects. The triple inequality concept includes asymmetric impacts (follow the link for examples), responsibility (those who are most affected by climate change often have the least to do with it), and less capacity to adapt (less infrastructure and ability to rebuild or respond to disasters). 

Climate change is known to increase inequality, so, as developing countries experience more agricultural failure (droughts, pests, etc.) due to new climate disasters, they will have even less money and resources to make further changes, continuing the cycle of this triple inequality. 

Another topic we have discussed in class is the racial disparities present in the food system. A recent article describes the increased inequality of minority Americans during the COVID-19 crisis. It discusses how industrial regions of the country have high populations of minority workers and are disproportionately hit by hurricanes, fossil fuel pollution, cancer and other diseases as result of chemical and pollutant exposure, and now, coronavirus cases. This reveals the reality of triple inequality in America, where particular people groups are systematically affected by the means of production and climate changes that occur as a result of the environmental degradation supported by big business.

It is evident that at home and abroad, we must advocate for those affected by climate change and forgotten during the COVID-19 crisis. 

In response to “How Industries Individualize Responsibility Amid the Covid-19 Epidemic”

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COVID-19 has revealed fundamental cracks in the integrity of the food system. As outbreaks occur in meat packing plants across the country, the supply chain has broken down, revealing how reliant we are on just a few suppliers for our food. Indeed, in the face of a potential meat shortage, Costco, among other retailers, has limited members to three meat items per transaction. Kroger, and its local satellite chain Fred Meyer, temporarily placed restraints on the number of egg and dairy products available for purchase in a single transaction, as well. 

These examples are simply microcosms of the real issue at hand – a society lacking food sovereignty.

On the surface, this breakdown reveals how much agency we have been dispossessed of, as consumers. However, a more judicious inspection shows that those who produce and process the food we eat have also been adversely impacted. 

It’s true, as gstine9 writes: the burden of production and processing has been shifted onto majority minority communities (see Raj Patel:The Color of Food, “Workers of color comprised almost half of the workers in this sector… We suspect that the actual numbers may be higher”(12)). Diffusion of responsibility rides shotgun, while the protection of workers has taken a backseat, during the pandemic. A recent podcast by The Indicator from Planet Money evinces the food production paradox: low-wage farm workers (and meat packers) are essential workers, who are economically obliged to continue their work (not to mention holding the burden of trying to keep the ever fruitful American food cornucopia/system running); however, in doing so, they risk creating even greater contraction/transmission positive feedback loop (remember systems thinking?).  

My week with La Via Campesina | Global Justice Now

Via Campesina. Via Global Justice Now, https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globaljustice.org.uk%2Fblog%2F2017%2Fjul%2F27%2Fmy-week-la-campesina&psig=AOvVaw1-9wdDaxQmpFXbEFW1clFN&ust=1589639795603000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOCi4e-LtukCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

I think the messages of Via Campesina, and Monica White, ought to be heeded. A reclamation of food sovereignty is in line. Monica White’s prescriptions for minority communities are relevant too – regaining economic autonomy, by way of subversion of industrialized food. These might be realized in a switch to more community based farming, in which all inputs are known, and there are fewer middlemen in the production and processing of food.

Some pumpkins I’ve planted recently 🙂
Photo by me.

Raisins are a Cover-Up Story

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When I was young, I would make these raisin apple cinnamon muffins. Biting into the delicious treat I made and tasting the sweet yet sour raisins on my tongue, I never realized how a such a simple food can represent something so immense.

The Sun-Maid Raisins commercial describes their raisin-making process as simply using grapes and sunshine. What they fail to convey, however, is the fact that there are people hard at work doing strenuous labor. If not, the industrialization of agriculture destabilized the the job market for a substantial amount of people. This kind of cover-up has happened and continues to happen all over the world. For example, while the world is focusing on buying toilet paper and stocking up on goods, minority groups are getting their organs harvested forcefully while still being alive. This has further reminded me that the media will do almost anything to create a distraction from things that need to be focused on as well. Some questions I will continue to ask myself from this point on is what other things are going on besides this that deserve attention additionally? How can I help bring these stories out for others to hear and be aware of?

 

This contemplative practice at first felt slightly unproductive to my time. However, creating these connections to the outside world and what I can do to help make this world a better place for everyone living in it. I did not find a lot of linkage between what I have learned in this contemplative practice and what we have learned in this class as a whole. Altogether, although these mediations and contemplative practices may seem ineffective, it can open your mind to a world of new ideas.

Works Cited:

Smith, Saphora. “China Forcefully Harvests Organs from Detainees, Tribunal Concludes.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 18 June 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-forcefully-harvests-organs-detainees-tribunal-concludes-n1018646.

Hunger and the Hungry

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Right now millions of Muslims across the globe are fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting is a time of “spiritual discipline—of deep contemplation of one’s relationship with God, extra prayer, increased charity and generosity, and intense study of the Quran.” Fasting encourages compassion for those without food by reminding you what it’s like to suffer from hunger.

Muslims wait to break their fast on the 21st day of the holy month of Ramadan at Jama Masjid on June 6, 2018, in New Delhi, India.

Breaking fast in Jama Masjid, New Delhi (2018)

Therefore fasting—practiced across many religions and cultures—is a way in which we recognize our common human fragility. From participating in the “Feeling Hunger” contemplative practice I was reminded of how we are all at the mercy of our own bodies. For that day I was forced to confront the discomfort of scarcity. As I focused on the uncomfortable yet grounding ache at my core I realized my dependency on all the interconnected systems I subconsciously rely on—the grocery stores, the truck drivers, the farmers, and the money in my pocket that gives me the power to satiate that hunger. Underneath the inequalities we are all ruled by that most basic instinct of self-preservation.  Reconciliation with that feeling, then, should underpin our decision making in the realm of world food system’s political ecology.

Heartbreaking' scene in Iowa as mountains of potatoes are laid to ...

A mountain of dumped potatoes in Picabo, Idaho

During the contemplative practice I found my mind wandering to the events of these past few months. It’s hard to ignore the mounting concern about COVID-19’s impact on food systems. The pandemic could cause a colossal spike in hunger—hunger not out of spiritual or religious practice but out of a failure to connect the surplus potatoes being dumped and families struggling to put food on the table. On a global scale, developing countries are expected to be hit hard with widespread food shortages, creating a “crisis within a crisis” of coronavirus outbreaks compounded by hunger.

Hunger is not an issue of the past but an issue of today. Some people are stuffed while others are starved. Food waste, population growth, price fluctuations, distribution networks, natural disasters, and power disparities combine to perpetuate hunger. Remembering the pain of hunger highlights the injustice of a world food system that still leaves millions hungry. We all know the feeling of hunger, but only some of us are the 820 million suffering from undernourishment—the hungry.

A Symbol of Resilience: Urban Gardens Amidst a Pandemic

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In response to: “Urban Gardens Combat COVID-19 Virus” by ari3

Your post peaked my interest as the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated how crucial food sovereignty is in the face of a crisis; even Amartya Sven, someone that has claimed food sovereignty to be a “a peculiarly obtuse way of thinking about food security”, admits that in time of crisis and instability self-sufficiency is valuable.

As we’ve discussed in class, urban gardening can be used as a source of empowerment and can ensure that disenfranchised groups have access to healthy food. It is important to note that the same health issues exacerbated by living in a food desert, such as obesity and heart disease, have also led to a disproportionate amount of COVID-related deaths amongst African Americans. As the fight for a more equitable and just food system continues, the value of, and need for, urban gardens and farms has never been more evident.

With that being said, your post does bring up the important point that although the need for urban gardens is unmistakable, current public health precautions make maintaining urban gardens increasingly difficult. As a result, I have decided to highlight instances where urban gardens have demonstrated resilience in the face of the pandemic.

I would be remiss not to address my own experience with the local community garden in my neighborhood. Eager to continue operations, the volunteer coordinators quickly adapted to the developing situation, requiring all volunteers to bring a mask, their own gloves, and hand-sanitizer, while also limiting work parties to 5 people and enforcing social distancing guidelines. Food that is harvested is currently being donated to a local food pantry and is available to any volunteers in need. Other urban gardens like, Sprout Nola in Louisiana, have identified another solution by delivering seedlings started by seasoned gardeners to members of the community. Our own UW Farm, a typically student-powered operation, has continued to function on our student-less campus, thanks to the dedication of full-time manager Perry Aceworth and AmeriCorps volunteer Adam Houston.

What a work day looks like in the era of coronavirus at the Sustain DuPage garden. Photo by: Anya Gavrylko

Although current conditions are less than ideal for urban gardens and farms, these food systems have been a symbol of social-ecological resilience in the face of a crisis, and will hopefully strengthen our food system for years to come.

Sources

Amartya Sven quote: https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211/44284.html

Contemplative practices highlight the lack of compassion in America in the time of COVID.

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Amidst the uncertainty and frustration in the time of COVID, I found my reactions to our contemplative practices to reflect these emotions. During the “like a raisin in the sun” exercise, I felt agitated by the Sunmaid Raisins Hollywood commercial. The commercial associated California raisins with the glamour of Hollywood, but much like its’ glowing description of Hollywood, it failed to account for their deeply troubling underlying issues. As we learned through our coursework, the modern production of raisins relies on the routinization of labor, including the exploitation of migrant workers. One of the raisin production videos showed individual workers harvesting raisins, but the subsequent video depicted the Korvan mechanical grape harvester doing the work instead. This made me consider the fate of the migrant worker, while their jobs may be unpleasant, they are still being displaced by the mechanization of labor and are losing what little work they can find.

Direct capture

Finally, hearing Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” written in the face of horrific oppression during the Civil Rights movement made me think about the bravery exhibited by black activists during that time and made me frustrated with the rampant anti-quarantine protests occurring today. Privileged people throughout our country are protesting for their “freedom” amidst lock-down orders, and what saddens me is that they have mistaken science-based, lifesaving measures as oppression and are mobilizing against it while many of them stand idly by while our political system facilitates hunger amongst racial and economic minorities. I am especially disturbed by these issues now with the virus exacerbating the systemic food insecurity of vulnerable people. Though I am hopeful that one day we will remedy these issues, I am disappointed in the priorities of our fellow Americans, and know we have a ways to go.

Link to Sunmaid Raisins Hollywood commercial: https://youtu.be/cJZcFq8ige8