Sharing the struggle for fairness: Exploring possibilities for solidarity & just labour in organic agriculture

Abstract

Despite the organic movement’s early connections to labour advocacy and commitment to the principle of “Fairness”, the evolution of the organic sector has generated questions about the strength of its links to food justice in certified organic farming. Scholar-activists have, in particular, highlighted the problematic nature of labour relations on many organic farms. This article reports on a growing relationship between an organic farming association (the Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia) and a migrant workers justice collective (Fuerza Migrante) with aspirations of alliance building. Drawing from qualitative interviews and participant observation, we examine the extent to which efforts by the organic community towards fairness in labour relations may signal an opening whereby the organic movement may take up the more radical struggle for rights, status and justice for racialized migrant workers. We draw on theoretical work on post-capitalist relations and emancipatory social transformations to provide scaffolding to our assessment, and illuminate the importance of complementary efforts. While the primary demands raised by migrant workers and their allies (e.g. structural changes to temporary foreign worker programs) are not yet mirrored by the organic community’s advocacy, this paper documents preliminary efforts towards centering of migrant worker struggles for justice that may open up spaces for social emancipation for workers in organic farming systems. We also provide recommendations for how the organic community could act in solidarity with migrants and advance migrant justice priorities. En sus inicios, el movimiento orgánico estaba fuertemente vinculado con la defensa de los derechos de los trabajadores y comprometido con el principio de “justicia”. Con el paso del tiempo, la evolución del sector orgánico ha generado cuestionamientos sobre la fuerza de estos vínculos y su relación con la justicia alimentaria en la agricultura orgánica certificada. Académicos-activistas, en particular, han destacado la intrínseca problemática de muchas granjas orgánicas. El presente artículo reporta la creciente relación y aspiración de construir alianzas entre una asociación de agricultura orgánica (Organic BC) y un colectivo de justicia para trabajadores migrantes (Fuerza Migrante). Examinamos hasta qué punto los esfuerzos por parte de la comunidad orgánica hacia la justicia en relaciones laborales puede representar una oportunidad para el movimiento orgánico de asumir una postura más radical por los derechos, estatus y la justicia de los trabajadores migrantes racializados. El análisis se basa en el trabajo teórico sobre relaciones post-capitalistas y las transformaciones sociales emancipatorias que iluminan la importancia de los esfuerzos complementarios. Si bien las principales demandas planteadas por los trabajadores migrantes y sus aliados (por ejemplo, cambios estructurales en los programas de trabajadores extranjeros temporales) aún no se reflejan en la lucha de la comunidad orgánica, vemos esfuerzos preliminares enfocados en la lucha de los trabajadores migrantes por la justicia, los cuales pueden abrir espacios para la emancipación social en sistemas de agricultura orgánica. Concluimos con recomendaciones sobre cómo la comunidad orgánica en Canadá podría actuar en solidaridad con los migrantes y promover prioridades de justicia para migrantes.

Balancing the trade-offs between land productivity, labor productivity and labor intensity

“… 2016 ; Klassen et al. 2022 ). Livelihoods are fundamental to sustainability, and achieving the right balance between productivity, conservation goals and livelihoods is central to creating sustainable land use and achieving lasting sustainable development goals.…”

Towards Just Food Futures:

“…Centering voices and experiences from other movements (see Klassen et al, 2022, this issue) will mean changing how food movements work, what they value, the scope of their work, and their radical potential. It entails understanding the ways that different movements' aims and goals may be "incommensurable" (Tuck and Yang, 2012, p.28).…”

Moving beyond awareness to action and food system transformation: prioritizing labor in food systems governance work

“…We specifically wanted to identify what strengths and limitations were observed regarding CSO engagement with labor issues, what governance mechanisms (if any) were discussed in relation to labor, and what roles CSO actors or groups had. An analysis of the literature that focuses on labor within the food system, particularly from a North American perspective, reveals several focus areas, notably migrant labor policy such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP; McLaughlin and Weiler, 2017;Weiler et al, 2017); health and safety of migrant workers (Preibisch and Otero, 2014;Weiler and McLaughlin, 2019;Weiler and Grez, 2022); migrant worker residency status, worker education, and worker organizing (Grez, 2006;Jayaraman, 2014;Perry, 2019); labor exploitation (Coplen, 2018;Klassen et al, 2022;Reese and Sbicca, 2022); and collective bargaining and unionization (Foster, 2014;Hall, 2015;Sbicca, 2015). Much of the literature identified migrant labor and specifically migrant farm labor.…”

“…In addition, some literature discusses the food movement slowly broadening its focus to look beyond the goal of 'sustainable food' and include workers across the food chain and sustainable food production (Gray, 2013;Lo, 2014). Beyond these focus areas, several themes emerged in the literature, including the invisibility of food and farm workers in food systems discussions (Jayaraman, 2014;Hall, 2015;Coplen, 2018;Lozanski and Baumgartner, 2020); a lack of direct engagement by CSOs with food and farm workers (Lo, 2014;Weiler et al, 2016); initiatives and opportunities for including labor in CSOs food systems work (Lo and Jacobson, 2011;Perry, 2019;Klassen et al, 2023); tensions that influence CSOs in their engagement with workers (Myers and Sbicca, 2015;Perry, 2019); and finally how governance spaces may provide an opening for meaningful action (Klassen et al, 2022).…”

“…The authors suggest other food movement stakeholders can learn from these successes and voice a hope to collaborate with food system transformation activists across class, race, and diverse issues. Several scholars note that opportunities to encourage collaborations and shared points of struggle between farmers and food and farm workers is an important area of further research and presents possibilities for meaningful transformation within food systems (Minkoff-Zern, 2017;Klassen et al, 2022).…”