Celebrating the Hands That Feed Us

On November 18, we launched Voices of the Food Chain with nearly 175 people, joining us to “Celebrate the Hands That Feed Us” at the David Brower Center in Berkeley.  

Voices of the Food Chain, a collaboration between us (Real Food Media!) and Food Chain Workers Alliance, amplifies the voices and personal stories of food workers around the country. As guests entered the space they were greeted by oversized portraits of workers from across the food sector, with links to their intimate StoryCorps conversations about the challenges they face on a daily basis.  

Joining us at dinner was the one-and-only restaurateur Alice Waters, journalist Eric Schlosser, Joann Lo of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, Dominic Ware, an OUR Walmart member; and Laura Lopez, a food processor worker from Taylor Farms who has been organizing with the Teamsters for better wages and working conditions.

I was on hand to moderate and was moved by the passion and personal stories sharing why justice and equity for workers across the food system is not just the right thing to do, but essential to everything we all care about, including fairness, sustainability and a viable food system today and in the future.

We are thrilled with the launch and excited for you to check out the resources at Voices of the Food Chain’s website.

Here’s how you can get involved:

  1. Listen to the StoryCorps conversations and share them with your friends and colleagues (we think they will resonate with anyone who has worked in the food industry!)
  2. Share the workers’ portraits on social media.
  3. Sign up to take action with us for International Food Worker Week, starting this Sunday
  4. Check out the traffic on Twitter and share your thoughts via #foodworkersunite

Thanks for taking action, joining us to stand in solidarity with workers and get involved in the fight for fairness along the food chain!

— Anna