The Issue Of Exploitation And Inhumanity Within The United...

The seventh week of classes dove into the issue of exploitation and inhumanity within the U.S. food system. This system relies heavily upon the underpaid workers that make up a significant proportion of the United State’s labor force. Joann Lo provides an in depth view into the treatment of U.S. food chain workers, showing clear signs of discrimination through financial and racial inequalities. Nelson Carrasquillo describes the historical events and past actions that have allowed the flawed U.S. food system to operate in the racist manner it does today. Both Lo and Carrasquillo provide insight on this systemic issue that has taken root in the nation’s food systems. Racism, Gender Discrimination, Food Chain Workers in the United†¦show more content†¦This shows two things. First, a major portion of farm workers are being paid unfair wages for their labor. Secondly, these workers do not have a high level of security for their jobs. Given the importance of this work force, it seems as if the wages and level of security fail to match the level of reliance that the food system has on this portion of the food chain. The rate of illness and injury among workers within the food chain is dangerously heightened. Specifically, the rate of injury is twice as high as the national average among food-processing workers, and as much as ten times as high for rate of illness (Lo, 65). These workers are subjected to these negative conditions without much hope of implementing real change to this system. The reason behind this inability to institute change lies in the constraints revolving around unionization among this workforce. Within the distribution sector of the food chain, temporary workers make on average half as much as directly hired warehouse workers (Lo, 67). This can be accounted for by this lack of unionization. Due to a lack of job security, temporary workers have a hard time increasing their hourly wages and work conditions. Thi s discrimination is having a more profound effect on minority races within the United States. According to Lo, â€Å"High numbers of of African American and Latinos work in the