The Color of Food

PRODUCTION 1 PROCESSING 2

RETAIL & SERVICE 4 DISTRIBUTION 3

February 2011

By Yvonne Yen Liu and

Dominique Apollon, Ph.D.
arc.org
INTRODUCTION
Food justice seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where, what and how food is grown,
produced, transported, distributed, accessed and eaten are shared fairly. Food justice represents
a transformation of the current food system, including but not limited to eliminating disparities
and inequities.1

In the United States, more than 20 million people are workers in the food chain,2 over 11 million of which
are full-time employees earning an income.3 Movements to make healthy food accessible to everyone are
increasing in popularity, which is an important step towards achieving food equity for people of color.
However, more attention must be paid to the often-invisible labor that produces and prepares the food that
we put on the table.

The good food movement (see “The Good Food Movement” sidebar) narrowly focuses on the relationship
between the producer and consumer, and to the environmental benefits of sustainable agriculture.4
Consumers strive to directly relate to the process of food production, getting to know the conditions under
which their eggs or vegetables were raised. They purchase food directly from the farmer or grow the crops
themselves, shortening the time and space between when the food is first planted as a seed and when it is
eaten by the consumer.

The Good Food Movement

Contemporary food production, like much of our economy, is dominated by large corporations, and
these corporations produce edibles through an industrial process.5 The food chain is incorporated
in the world capitalist system, where crops are grown in the global or domestic south, often in
fields of monoculture crops, using bioengineered seeds and subjected to harsh pesticides; then 2
the products are packaged and shipped to the end consumer.6 What we see on the supermarket
shelves or serve to eat is a food product, alienated from the natural and social world.

The good food movement—also known as eco-food, slow food, real food, local food or the
sustainable food movement—is a reaction to the world food system. It’s driven largely by the
middle class, nostalgic for a preindustrial mode of food production, who demand organic
food grown locally by independent farmers. The roots of this tradition stem from Thomas
Jefferson, who believed that a nation of small farmers would be morally virtuous, economically
independent and the citizenry of an equitable republic.7 However, Jefferson’s vision ignored or
glossed over the slave labor that powered agrarian economies, the history of colonization and
the displacement of people of color from their land.8

1. Gottlieb, Robert, and Joshi, Anupama. Food Justice. The MIT Press, October 2010.
2. Based on analysis by the Data Center, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
3. For the purposes of this report, we defined a food worker as someone who was employed in a food-related industry
and earned a positive income in the past year.
4. Personal communication with Saru Jayaraman, Co-Director, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. February 11, 2010.
5. Francis, Charles A. et al. “Agroecology: The Ecology of Food Systems.” Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 22: 99-118 (2003).
6. Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House
Publishing. April 2008.
7. Jefferson, Thomas.“Notes on the State of Virginia.” Published: 1781–1782.
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefVirg.html
8. Personal communication with Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director, Food First / Institute for Food & Development
Policy. January 26, 2011.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

The overarching desire is for a sustainable food system—for the earth, consumers, and family
farmers. Consumers vote with their purchases, favoring produce sold in a farmer’s market over a
chain supermarket, supporting an urban farm in a community of color by subscribing to a monthly
box of vegetables and fruits, or redistributing fruit foraged from backyards to the community.

However, the food chain provides employment for millions of workers in other sectors, some unseen to the
eye of the consumer, such as processing and distribution. A movement based on a holistic understanding
of food justice needs to encompass the chain of food production that connects seeds to mouths. The food
chain includes the workers that help to plant the seeds, harvest the crops, package the food, deliver the
product and serve the meal to consumers. The future of good food must not ignore these workers and their
livelihoods. Food justice must involve increasing their wages and improving their working conditions, so that
they too can enjoy healthy and sustainable lives.

People of color are often limited to low-wage jobs in the food industry, especially recent and undocumented
immigrants who can easily find seasonal work harvesting crops in the fields. At least six out of every
10 farmworkers is an undocumented immigrant.9 Also, the food industry continues to grow even during
economic recession, offering more job opportunities. The nation, as a whole, lost 1.9 percent of jobs
between December 2007 and December 2008, yet the restaurant industry only contracted by 0.5 percent in
the same time frame.10

Often, workers in the food chain suffer low wages and exploitative conditions. Farm labor, for example, has a
higher rate of toxic chemical injuries than workers in any other sector of the U.S. economy, with an estimated
300,000 farmworkers suffering from pesticide poisoning annually.11 Service workers in the restaurant
industry, which serves food to consumers at the end of the chain, face unfair labor practices ranging from
employers withholding wages to not getting paid for overtime.12 Also, many sectors of the food chain are
excluded from the protections of federal labor laws. This includes farmworkers, tipped minimum wage
workers such as those in restaurants, and the formerly incarcerated. These workers fall under the rubric of 3
excluded workers, who lack the right to organize without retaliation, because they are excluded from labor law
protection or the laws are not enforced.13

Food workers also suffer from lack of access to healthy food. Numerous studies document high rates of food
insecurity, malnutrition and hunger among farmworkers. In California, a 2007 study found that 45 percent of
surveyed agricultural workers were food insecure, and nearly half were on food stamps.14 A similar survey in
North Carolina documented that over 63 percent of migrant and seasonal farmworkers were food insecure,
with almost 35 percent experiencing hunger.15

9. Southern Poverty Law Center. “Injustice on our Plates: Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry.” November
2010.
10. Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York and New York City Restaurant Industry Coalition.“The Great Service
Divide: Occupational Segregation and Inequality in the New York City Restaurant Industry.”. March 31, 2009.
11. “Like Machines in the Fields: Workers without Rights in American Agriculture.” OxFam America (2004), p. 2-3.
12. B ernhardt, Annette et al. “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in
America’s Cities.” September 2009. http://www.unprotectedworkers.org
13. “Unity for Dignity: Expanding the Right to Organize to Win Human Rights at Work.” Excluded Workers Congress.
December 2010.
14. Wirth, Cathy et al.“Hunger in the Fields: Food Insecurity among Farmworkers in Fresno County.” California Institute
for Rural Studies. November 2007.
15. B orre, Kristen et al. “Working to eat: Vulnerability, food insecurity, and obesity among migrant and seasonal
farmworker families.” American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 53: 443–462 (2010).
The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
Description of the Food Chain Workers Alliance
The Food Chain Workers Alliance is a coalition of worker-based organizations whose members
plant, harvest, process, pack, transport, prepare, serve and sell food, organizing to improve
wages and working conditions for all workers along the food chain. The Alliance was founded
in July 2009. By coming together in the Alliance, members have greater power to improve the
wages and working and living conditions of food workers and their families. The Alliance also
challenges institutionalized racism and strives to balance the immense corporate power over our
food system in order to work towards ending poverty and therefore hunger, and to truly achieve
food sovereignty, sustainable food production, environmental justice, and respect for workers’
and community rights. Members of the Alliance include Restaurant Opportunities Centers
United, Center for New Community, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Brandworkers
International.

This report brief is intended to support the collaborative efforts of advocates and researchers—such as those
at the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Data Center and Food First—who are working diligently to bring
attention to the invisible labor that populate the food supply chain. Like these advocates, ARC is committed
to identifying solutions through which food workers can make their jobs and lives sustainable for themselves
and their families. The Color of Food explores the universe of workers that populate the food chain, from
food’s inception as seed to when it reaches our plates at home or in restaurants. Generally, such broad
explorations of the color and gender of the food workforce have been rare. This mapping of the race, class
and gender of food workers will be a baseline from which the food justice movement can dream of a new
supply chain, one that sustains and nourishes its labor, as well as its consumers.

METHODS
ARC used economic and demographic data from the American Community Survey (ACS) taken over a three-
year period, 2006 to 2008. We focused on the following five food industries:
• Agriculture, fishing and hunting
• Food Manufacturing
• Wholesale Trade of Groceries and Farm Products
• Retail Trade of Food and Beverages
• Food Services

More than 900 occupational categories populate these five industries (see the ”Food Occupations” sidebar
for a partial list.) This report brief discusses these categories as they relate to four stages of the food system:
production, processing, distribution and service. [see info-graphic]

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 4 STAGES OF THE FOOD SYSTEM
Food passes through many hands before reaching
the consumer’s plate.

PRODUCTION 1 PROCESSING 2
First, a seed is planted and cultivated or Next, the raw materials are processed
an animal is raised for its meat. This food into a form palatable to the consumer.
production stage involves physically The labor in this stage typically 5
strenuous work characterized by involves workers running machines or
hazardous conditions and low wages. other tools in a manufacturing facility.

RETAIL & SERVICE 4 DISTRIBUTION 3

We consumers receive the food The third stage is distribution,
from the hands of service workers where food is transported from
who prepare our food to eat, sell it factories to wholesale centers, and
to us, or serve it to us. then delivered to the retail market.
The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
Food Occupations
Food Preparation and Serving Occupations:
Cooks measure, mix, and cook ingredients according to recipes, using a variety of equipment,
including pots, pans, cutlery, ovens, broilers, grills, slicers, grinders, and blenders.
Waiters and Waitresses take customers’ orders, serve food and beverages, prepare itemized
checks, and sometimes accept payment.
Dishwashers clean dishes, glasses, pots, and kitchen accessories by hand or by machine.

Farming and Fishing Occupations:

Graders and Sorters grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by
size, weight, color, or condition and discard inferior or defective products.
Agricultural Workers, including Animal Breeders, have numerous and diverse duties, including
planting and harvesting crops, installing irrigation, and delivering animals.

Food Production Occupations:

Butchers and Other Meat, Poultry and Fish Processing Workers convert animal carcasses into
manageable pieces of meat, known as boxed meat or case-ready meat, suitable for sale to
wholesalers and retailers.
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders operate or tend cooking equipment, such as
steam-cooking vats, deep-fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers to prepare a wide
range of cooked food products.
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders use equipment 6
to reduce the moisture content of food or tobacco products or to prepare food for canning.

Food Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Drivers/Sales Workers and Truck Drivers are responsible for picking up and delivering freight
from one place to another. Some may have sales responsibilities, such as delivering and
arranging for goods to be sold in grocery stores.
Laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers manually move materials and perform
other unskilled, general labor. These workers move freight, stock, and other materials to and
from storage and production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, and containers.
Hand packers and packagers manually pack, package, or wrap a variety of materials. They may
label cartons, inspect items for defects, stamp information on products, keep records of items
packed, and stack packages on loading docks.
Source: Descriptions from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 edition, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The data was a sample of the general population that would accurately represent currently employed, full-
time workers in the food system. Therefore, only those employed, working over 25 hours a week, and earning
an income from employment were selected for analysis. Farmers and ranchers were filtered out of the
sample, because their income comes not from a salary, but from business revenue. This sample represented
over 11 million workers in the food system, employed from 2006 to 2008. Wages were calculated for the
median salary earned from employment per year and by hour.16

16. The Census reports an interval for the usual hours worked per week. Therefore, we took the median of the interval
and multiplied that by the number of weeks worked to get the total hours worked by the respondent in a year. This figure
was then divided into the annual median wage to obtain the median hourly wage.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

FOOD CHAIN OVERVIEW
AND KEY FINDINGS
The food system provides low-wage employment, often forcing workers to live in conditions that are close to
poverty. The median wage across the food chain is $21,692 or $11.05 an hour. That is well below the self-
sufficiency standards, a measure of how much income is needed for a family in a given location to meet its
basic needs (see “Comparison of Hourly Wages for Food Workers with Self-Sufficiency Standard” sidebar).
Twelve percent of food workers live at the poverty threshold (defined by the federal government in 2008 as
$10,400 for a household of one or $21,200 for a family of four).17

Comparison of Hourly Wages for Food Workers with “Self-Sufficiency Standard”

for Metropolitan Areas18
The self-sufficiency standard was calculated as the wage needed to sustain a family with one
preschool and one school-age child.
Boston, MA $28.83 Cleveland, OH $20.21

San Francisco, CA $26.97 Denver, CO $19.43

Seattle, WA $23.80 Atlanta, GA $18.37

Philadelphia, PA $22.26 Portland, OR $14.83

Sacramento, CA $21.55 Median Food Worker $11.02

7
Figure 3. Comparison of Food Workers to Population by Race
%
70
65.4 %
60 30
57.9 Food Chain
50 25 25.6 General Population

40 42.1 20
34.6
30 15 15.4
20 10 12.1
10.4
10 5 5.3
4.4
0 0
WHITE PEOPLE OF LATINO BLACK ASIANS
COLOR
17. 2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines, http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/08poverty.shtml (accessed 12/17/10).
18. The Self-Sufficiency Standard. Center for Women’s Welfare. University of Washington School of Social Work.
http://www.selfsufficiencystandard.org

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 In our post-industrial society, more jobs are available in the low-wage service sector, which require little to no
skills, than there are in manufacturing and distribution.19 Union membership in manufacturing and distribution
was higher, at 10 and 29 percent respectively, than the national rate of 12 percent in 2008.20 Food
production and service/retail had few unionized labor, at 3 and 2 percent. More than 60 percent of food
workers are employed in the service sector, and less than 15 percent in food manufacturing. Collectively,
people of color are overrepresented in food production and processing occupations (see Figure 4).
Disaggregated, a disproportionate number of workers of color hold these bottom-tier jobs, especially Latinos.
More than 70 percent of workers who grade and sort through farm yields are Latino.

Food service workers labor in a gloves-off economy, where labor abuses are rampant.21 Our findings were
that food service workers as a whole made low wages, but in most of these occupations, people of color
made less than whites (see Figure 5B). For example, half of all white bartenders earned $11.41 an hour,
while the median hourly salary for bartenders of color was 77 cents less per hour than that of their white
counterparts.

Figure 4. Food Sectors by Race

% White People of Color
80
70
64.9 65.4
60
55.0 58.6
50 50.3 49.7
45.0 8
40 41.4
35.1 34.6
30
20
10
0
Production Processing Distribution Service Population

19. Lane, Julia et al. “Too Many Cooks? Changing wages and job ladders in the food industry.” Regional Review, Q4-Q1 2003.
20. Hirsch, Barry T. and David A. Macpherson. “Union Membership, Coverage, Density and Employment by Industry,
2008.” Unionstats.com, union membership and coverage database from CPS.
21. Bernhardt, Annette et al., editors. The Gloves-off Economy: Workplace Standards at the Bottom of America’s Labor
Market. Labor and Employment Relations Association. Cornell University Press: September 2008.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

on
 7
6
Key Finding #1: People of color typically make less than whites in the
food system, including within specific occupations. 5
4
Figure 5A. Median Annual Wage, Population by Race 3
$ $25,024 2
25000 $23,427

$19,349 $19,523
20000 $18,438

15000

10000

5000

0
White People Latino Black Asian
of Color 9

Figure 5B. Racial Wage Gap in the Four Food Sectors

Hourly $ (Median Hourly and Annual Wages)
20 $42,234
$40,122
18.12 18.54
White People of Color

15 $27,452
$27,495 $24,441 13.19 $25,024
12.04 12.08 $20,637 12.42
$19,349
10 $17,312 10.63 $17,949
9.93
8.79 9.31

0 Production Processing Distribution Service Population

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

White men earned the highest wages of all race and Figure 6. Race and Gender
gender groups working in the food system. For every dollar
of median income a white man earned, men of color made in the Food Chain
20 to 40 cents less (see Figure 6). Being a woman posed
Race & Gender Ratio of Median
a severe penalty in wages for food workers. White women Annual Wages
earned 63 cents for every dollar in median wage that a
white man made. Women of color fared much worse: Asian
women made 68 cents, Black women made 53 cents, and White Men
Latina women made 50 cents. $1.00
Asian Men
$0.83

Black Men
$0.71

Asian Women
$0.68

Latino Men
$0.66
White Women
$0.63

Black Women
$0.53 10
Latina Women
$0.50

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 Key Finding #2: Few people of color hold management positions in
the food system.
Whites dominate high-wage jobs in the food system. Occupations such as chief executives and restaurant
managers enjoy higher wages than the rank and file. The median income for management was $40,544,
more than double the $20,608 median income of the rank and file (see Figure 7A).

Almost half of all white men who worked in the food chain were employed as managers (see Figure 7B). A
quarter of all white women performed managerial roles. Across the entire food system, three out of every four White P
managers were white.

Figure 7A. Distribution of Managers and Annual Median Wage

White People of Color

% $116,144
$66,195 $52,792
80 $38,433 84.9
78.3 80.5 $32,731
74
$22,913 67.8
60
55.8 $18,738
40 44.2 $31,675
$33,787
$61,103 32.2
26 $46,845
20 $76,379
21.7 19.5
15.1
11
0
Managers Rank & File Chief Industrial Transport Food Service
Executives Production Managers Managers
Managers

White Figure 7B.

Percentage of Each Race/Gender in Food Chain,
Employed in Managerial Occupations

Latino
Asian Black
47.8% 8.5% 4.3% 3.4%

25.4% 4.5% 2.4% 3.1%

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
Workers of color populated rank-and-file positions at a higher rate than management positions. Forty-four
percent of rank-and-file workers were people of color, while only 26 percent of managers and only 15
percent of managers were people of color.

When gender is considered, the disparities are even more striking. Latina women make up less than 5
percent of all managers in the food chain, while Asians and Blacks are at 3 percent or less.

Key Finding #3: People of color are overrepresented in low-wage

jobs in the food system.
People of color are employed in low-wage sectors at higher rates than their numbers in the general
population. According to the 2008 American Community Survey, 34.6 percent of the general population
are people of color. However, they made up 50 percent of food production workers and 45 percent of the
food processing sector (see Figure 3). On the flip side, although whites make up 65 percent of the general
population, only 50 percent of food production workers, 55 percent of food processing workers, and 58
percent of food service workers are white. More whites are employed in food distribution, which pays a
median wage of $37,273, an income higher than what half of food workers make.

STAGE ONE : Food Production

Food producers carry out a wide range of tasks involved in incubating edibles from its inception as a seed
or animal, ranging from raising plants or livestock to operating large machinery on a farm. Most agricultural
workers learn their skills on the job in under a month, while animal breeders require more education.22 Most
of this work is done outside, in direct contact with the farm or fields. These are land-based occupations,
performed for centuries by people who tilled the land or raised animals for slaughter.

Workers of color comprised almost half of the workers in this sector (see Figure 8). We suspect that the
12
actual numbers may be higher. Historically, the U.S. Census Bureau undercounts migrant and seasonal
farmworkers.23 A study carried out by the Census Bureau in 1992 using alternative counting methods found
that many farmworkers deliberately omitted information about household members to the Census Bureau,
either out of fear of losing government assistance or confusion about what was being asked.24 Our methods
of looking only at workers who are employed full-time in the food chain filters out those who are only working
part-time, and may inflate the wages for farmworkers (see Figure 9). In contrast, the National Agricultural
Workers Survey found that the average salary for farmworkers was between $10,000 and $12,999. 25

The food-production category with the greatest overrepresentation of people of color was Graders and
Sorters, at over 83 percent. Whites comprised only 16 percent of workers in that occupation.

22. Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011. Labor Dept., Labor Statistics Bureau. 2010.
23. Crawford, Benjamin et. al.“Decennial Census: Lessons Learned for Locating and Counting Migrant and Seasonal
Farm Workers.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-03-605. July 2003.
24. Garcia, Victor (1992) Counting the uncountable, immigrant and migrant, documented and undocumented farm
workers in California: results from an Alternative Enumeration in a Mexican and Mexican American farm worker
community in California and Ethnographic Evaluation of the Behavioral Causes of Undercount. Ethnographic
Evaluation of the 1990 Decennial Census Report #12.
25. Personal communication with Joann Lo, Coordinator, Food Chain Workers Alliance. January 28, 2011.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 %
60 $27,497 $17,313
hr: $12.04 hr: $8.08
50 50.3 49.7
44.4
40

30

20

10
3.2 1.3
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

13

% $14,257 White Latino

80 83.8 $14,257
People of Color
$15,837 $17,353
$15,837 70.5 $15,619
60 65.4 64.9
60.7 59.7

40 $20,368 $32,079
34.6 35.1
20 $15,837
16.2
0
Agricultural Workers Graders and Sorters Agricultural Inspectors

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 hr: $7.99 People of Color
$14,257
83.8 hr: $7.87 $17,353
hr: $11.50 $15,619
70.5 hr: $7.65
STAGE TWO: Food Processing 64.9
59.7
$32,079
Processing workers take agricultural materials and convert them into finished food products. The employers
hr: $15.52
in this sector paid higher median wages to their workers than employers in food production. Again, wages
$15,837 were positively correlated35.1
to the number of white workers. Workers of color outnumbered white workers in
all professions, except the one that paid the highest: food machine operators.
hr: $8.80
16.2 Food processing has one of the highest rates of injury and illness incurred in the workplace in 2008.26
Much of the work involves repetitive, physically demanding work and use of dangerous tools and machinery
to cut, slice, or grind.27 However, much of the workforce lacks access to adequate care, one that is
Graders and Sorters and culturally
linguistically Agricultural
competent, toInspectors
treat their work-related injuries. Nor do they receive adequate
training from their employers to operate machinery in a safe manner.

An industrial corridor between the border of Queens and Brooklyn, in New York, is populated with food
factories described by Brandworkers International Executive Director Daniel Gross as “food sweatshops.”28
Workers in these processing facilities are mostly recent immigrants from Latin America and China; they
face wage theft, hazardous working conditions, and abusive management. One worker, Juan Baten, a 22-
year old father of a seven-month old daughter from Guatemala, was recently killed on the job in a tortilla
factory in Brooklyn. He was crushed to death by a dough mixing machine, a loss that could have been
avoided had workplace safety laws been enforced.

Figure 10. Distribution and Median Wages of

Food Processing Workers
% $40,122 14
60 hr: $18.12
55.0 $24,441
50 hr: $12.09
45.0
40

30
27.0
20

13.3
10
4
1.3 3.9
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

26. Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Annual News Release 2008. Bureau of Labor Statistics. October 29, 2009.
27. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition, Food

Figure 11. Distribution and Median Wages of

Manufacturing, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs011.htm (accessed February 4, 2011).
28. Gross, Daniel. “Death in a New York Food Sweatshop: The Killing of Juan Baten.” Counterpunch. February 2, 2011.

Sele ct Food Processing Workers Applied Research Center

The Color of Food | February 2011 | arc.org
% $21,117
White People of Color Black Latino Asian
 % $21,117
White People of Color Black Latino Asian
80 80.4
$21,386
60 $31,454 $24,285
58.3
49.7 50.3
40
$21,693
$23,645 $17,949 $27,116 26.9
20 19.6 16.4 17.8 $19,523
$24,285
4.7 5.6
0
Poultry, Meat, Fish Processing Workers Drying Machine Operators

%
60 $21,693
$31,265
48.7 51.3
40 $28,200 15
34.7
20 $20,368 $20,368
12.4 3.6
0
Cooking Machine Operators

Latinos were highly represented among poultry, meat, and fish cutters, at 58 percent. However, they made
less than whites in comparable positions.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 $14,257
83.8 hr: $7.87 $17,353
hr: $11.50 $15,619
70.5 hr: $7.65
64.9
59.7
STAGE THREE : Food Distribution
$32,079
hr: $15.52
Distribution laborers, such as drivers and material movers, deliver food products to an intermediate or final
$15,837 35.1
destination. This sector offered better pay than others, with three out of six occupations paying higher than
hr: $8.80 the median wage in the food industry. This sector, as a whole, has the highest union density across the food
chain, 29 percent of its workers are members of labor unions, but the low-wage workers in the field are not
16.2 collectively organized. These workers, who labor in jobs such as freight laborers or hand packagers are
mostly people of color and receive wages below the national median.
Graders andWorkers
Sorters Agricultural Inspectors
of color in distribution made significantly less in wages than their white counterparts. Half of
white distribution workers earned $42,234 a year, whereas workers of color took home $27,452, a
difference of $14,782 (see Figure 12). 

The southwest suburbs of Chicago are dotted with warehouses that serve as regional distribution
centers for big box retailers, such as Wal-Mart. Over 150,000 workers are employed in these warehouses,
mostly as “perma-temps”, who are laid off and rehired by temporary staffing agencies.29 These workers
earn a low wage, receive few benefits, and no opportunities for advancement. Employers often stir
racial tensions through discriminatory practices, in order to pit Black worker against Latino, and deter
collective organizing.30

Figure 12. Distribution and Median Wages of

Food Distribution Workers
% $42.234
70 hr: $18.54 16
64.9
60

50
$27,452
40 hr: $13.19
35.1
30

20 21.7

1.3
10 9.4
3.5
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

Figure 13. Distribution and Median Hourly Wages of

29. Lydersen, Kari. “A Thriving Industry Build on Low-Compensated Temp Workers.” New York Times. August 26, 2010.

Sele ct Food Distribution Workers

30. Lydersen, Kari. “The Buzz: Warehouse Workers Bridge Racial Divides, Push Reform Legislation.” In These Times.
%
November 1, 2010.
80 White
The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
hr: $10.63
People of Color
19.6
66.6 hr: $9.73
 3.5
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

%
80 White
hr: $10.63
People of Color
19.6
66.6 hr: $9.73
60 Latino
55.3 hr: $9.67
40 hr: $9.98 44.7
33.4 hr: $9.31
hr: $9.45 24.6
20
18.6

0
Drivers Laborers and Freight, Stock
and Material Movers, Hand

hr: $8.98
%
86.5
80 hr: $8.98 White
70.4 People of Color 17
60
Black
Latino
40
Asian

20 hr: $11.58 hr: $10.32

13.5 hr: $8.25
10.1 5.9
Packers and Packagers, Hand
Although Latinos comprised 70 percent of packers, they made less than whites. The median wage for Latino
packers was $17,787, whereas white packers earned $21,692.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 hr: $7.87
hr: $11.50 $15,619
70.5 hr: $7.65
64.9
59.7
$32,079
STAGE FOUR: Food Service & Retail
hr: $15.52
35.1
$15,837
Service and retail workers serve or sell food directly to the end consumer. This is the most familiar face of the
hr: $8.80 food chain to many of us: the waiter at the restaurant, the cashier at the grocery store, or dishwasher working
16.2 in the back of the house. The Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC) has done extensive research
in different cities across the nation, documenting that restaurants pay their employees low wages, offer
few benefits in a field with dangerous working conditions, and seldom advance or increase pay or advance
Graders and Sorters
workers in their careers.31Agricultural Inspectors
Workers of color in five metropolitan areas were concentrated in these low wage
jobs, whites in the better paying ones.

Our findings based on national data also reveal that retail and service workers of color made less than their
white colleagues. Half of white workers made $10.63 or less, whereas the median hourly wage for workers
of color was $1.32 less per hour (see Figure 14). That’s $2418 less in annual median wage. Workers of
color were also concentrated in low-wage service jobs, such as food preparation workers or fast food, at 53
percent and 39 percent, respectively.

Figure 14. Distribution and Median Wages of

%
Food Service Workers
70
$20,367
hr: $10.63 18
60
58.6
50 $17,949
hr: $9.31
40 41.4

30

23.1
20

10 11.0
6.3
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

Figure 15. Distribution and Median Hourly Wages of

Sele ct Food Service Workers
31. Restaurant Opportunities Center United. “Behind the Kitchen Door: A Summary of Restaurant Industry Studies in
New York, Chicago, Metro Detroit, New Orleans and Maine.” February 9, 2010.
White People of Color Black Latino
The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
% hr: $7.97
 6.3
0 White People Latino Black Asian
of Color

White People of Color Black Latino

% hr: $7.97
60 hr: $7.76 60.9
50 53.1 hr: $7.98
46.9 hr: $7.97
40 hr: $7.98 39.1
30 33.3
hr: $7.97
20 hr: $7.76 20.0
hr: $7.76 14.9
10 11.1
0
Food Prep Workers Fast Food

% 19
hr: $8.78
70 69.4
60
50
40
hr: $8.95
30 30.6
20 hr: $8.62
17.3
10 hr: $8.48
6.8
0
Waiters

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

MOVING FORWARD
For many, the impulse to eat “good food”—be it artisan-crafted bread, goat cheese purchased directly from
the maker, or eggs from a hen in a family’s backyard—is a reaction against the industrialization and corporate
control of the food system. Increasing numbers of consumers are demanding locally grown food, without
pesticides or hormones, and either raising their own food or cultivating relationships with the producers of
their edibles.

A movement for food justice must advocate for the dignity of and respect for the workers who help to
produce, process, distribute and serve us our food. This will require us to build meaningful and durable
bridges between the food, labor and racial justice movements.

This report establishes that racial disparity in wages and representation can be found in most occupations
along the food chain. This is baseline data, which should be tracked both backwards and forwards,
seeing if there are trends in the composition of the food workforce over time. This will be particularly
important when key legislation is implemented that impacts the flow of labor into and out of the food industry.
A pattern of stringent anti-immigration laws —such as the one recently enacted in Arizona—will hinder recent
and undocumented immigrants as well as people of color perceived to be undocumented immigrants from
seeking work in many parts of the country, unless more can be done to articulate and advocate for a
functioning, sane and humane immigration system that respects the human dignity of workers,
including those whose labor is so critical to the food we consume on a daily basis.

More funding is needed for research to establish working conditions and career mobility in
the food chain. Government data cannot help to identify the career pathway of food workers. However,
interviews with workers can be carried out in the four sectors to understand job stability in a food-related
occupation and whether advancement in the food sector is possible. Employers also need to be surveyed to
see what factors play into whether they hire or promote a worker.
20
Food workers need more opportunities to take leadership in defining what is good for them and
their families. Sustainability can take the form of higher wages, health and retirement benefits, safe and
healthy working conditions, and opportunities for advancement. This is action research that needs to be done
in every sector of the food industry to ensure that the entire system sustains its producers, as well
as its consumers.

Special thanks to the Surdna Foundation for its support of this report.

ARC is grateful for the research advice by Annette Bernhardt, National Employment Law Project; Jonathan
Hogstad and Saru Jayaraman, Restaurant Opportunities Center United; Saba Waheed, Data Center; and
Joann Lo, Food Chain Workers Alliance.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 APPENDICES
Appendix A. Latinos Working in Food Chain
Latinos Working Within Sectors
%
60
50
40 44.4

30

DISTRIBUTION
PRODUCTION
27.0
POPULATION

25.6

PROCESSING
20 21.7 23.1

T
A

SERVICE
SYSTEM

15.4
10
FOOD

Latino Food Chain Workforce Most Popular Occupations

Distribution Distribution 15.5% Cooks
21
7.7% Processing
Processing Service Service
13.4% 61.9%
16.9%
Production Production
6.9% Cashiers
13.3% Agricultural Workers

Select Occupations, Annual Median Wages

$ $32,273
35000 Latinos Food Sector

25000 $21,182 $21,182

tion $17,787 $15,837
$14,257
15000 70.4%
62.0% 61.1%
5000
0
Packers Graders and Sorters Agricultural Workers 25

20

15

Latino Median Annual Wages, by Ethnicity 10

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
5
hr: $9.68 hr: $10.35
20000 hr: $9.32 hr: $9.04 hr: $9.57
 62.0% 61.1%
5000
0
Packers Graders and Sorters Agricultural Workers 25

20

15

Latino Median Annual Wages, by Ethnicity 10

5
hr: $9.68 hr: $10.35
20000 hr: $9.32 hr: $9.12 hr: $9.04 hr: $9.57
$19,740 $18,689 $20,368
$18,331 $16,788 $17,949
10000

0
Mexican Puerto Rican Salvadoran Guatemalan Dominican Cuban

13% of food industry

managers are Latino:
66% are men 22
and 35% are women.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 Appendix B. Blacks Working in Food Chain
%
Blacks Working Within Sectors 6
% 13.3
5
12 12.1
11.0
4
10.4
9 9.4 3
2
6

DISTRIBUTION
FOOD SYSTEM

PRODUCTION
POPULATION

PROCESSING

SERVICE
3

U
3.2

0
Black Food Chain Workforce Most Popular Occupations
13.9% Cooks
Distribution Distribution
8.2% Processing
Processing Service Service
16.3% 72.5%
3.0%
23
Production Production
13.0% Cashiers
6.4% Waiters &Waitresses

Select Occupations, Annual Median Wages

Blacks Food Sector
$ $31,675 $31,675
30000 $27,115

$19,005 17.8%
20000 $17,949
on $11,614 16.4%
10000 30.6%

0
Dishwashers Drying Machine Poultry, Meat, Fish
Operators Processing Workers
182
7% of food industry managers are Black:
52% are men and 48% are women.

Workers The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
 Appendix C. Asians Working in Food Chain
Asians Working Within Sectors
% 12
6 6.3
9
5.3
4 4.4 6
3.9
FOOD SYSTEM 3.5

DUCTION

DISTRIBUTION
POPULATION

PROCESSING
3
2

SERVICE
PROD
1.3 0
0

Asian Food Chain Workforce Most Popular Occupations

11.6% Cooks
Distribution
Service Service
Distribution 6.0%
82.2%
Processing
9.4% Processing 24
2.3%
Production
11.5% Cashiers
Production
10.5% Food Service

Select Occupations, Annual Median Wages

Asian Food Sector
$37,273
$ $31,675 $31,675
30000
$19,523 $20,368
on 20000 $15,275
5.6% 3.6%
10000 5.9%

0
Drying Machine Cooking Machine Hand Packers
Operators Operators and Packagers
,182

Asian Median Annual Wages, by EthnicityApplied Research Center

The Color of Food | February 2011 | arc.org 4000
Workers hr: $15.87
$ 3500
 Drying Machine Cooking Machine Hand Packers
Operators Operators and Packagers
21,182

Asian Median Annual Wages, by Ethnicity 40

al Workers hr: $15.87
$ 35
30000 $32,589 hr: $12.67 hr: $12.67 30
hr: $12.23 hr: $11.65 $27,452 $27,452 25
hr: $9.66 $24,179 $24,441 20
20000 15
$21,117
10
10000 5

0
: $10.35 Chinese Japanese Filipino Indian Korean Vietnamese
20,368

Cuban

6% of food industry
25
managers are Asian:
65% are men and
35% are women.

The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org

 Appendix D. Whites Working in Food Chain
Whites Working Within Sectors
12
%
60 65.4 64.9 9
57.9 58.6
55.0
50.3 6
40

DISTRIBUTION
3
FOOD SYSTEM

PRODUCTION
POPULATION

PROCESSING
20

SERVICE
0
0
White Food Chain Workforce Most Popular Occupations
7.4% Cashiers

Distribution
Service Service
Distribution 10.2%
69.3%
Processing 12.1% 26
Processing
8.5% 7.3% Food Service
Production
Production
11.7% Waiters &Waitresses

Select Occupations, Annual Median Wages

$28,515 Whites Food Sector
$
25000 74.4%
$21,183 $20,469 $19,005 $19,005
82.5% $15,275
15000
69.4%
tion

5000
0
Fishing & Hunting Bartenders Waiters
Workers

1,182
74% of food industry managers are white:
65% are men and 35% are women.
300
Workers The Color of Food | February 2011 Applied Research Center | arc.org
250