Statistics show significant inequalities in the U.S. food labor sector and that these inequalities are patterned along lines of gender, race, and class. However, we know little about the meaning behind these statistics, such as the mechanisms through which these patterns of inequality are reproduced, how social disparities are experienced, and how the social categories of class, race and gender interact to produce inequity. This research will address these questions and contribute to the discovery of leverage points for change in systems of inequality in the U.S. food system.
Our methods include individual interviews and group conversations with men and women employed in the food industry, such as farmers, farm workers, and restaurant workers. Our hypotheses are: (1) inequality regimes are powerful yet invisible in food work, (2) particular structures of the reproduction of inequalities in food work are based on the intersections of paid and domestic labor, and (3) practices that support these structures of inequalities can be categorized and leverage points for change can be identified.
The broader impacts of this study include developing both academic and popular learning modalities, including curricula, discussion groups and seminars, informational materials, and a book on gender and food. The integrated, collaborative approach of the research includes an extensive dissemination component that ensures that workers, policy makers, faculty, and students participate in and benefit from the research.
