The trajectory of farming as essential work during the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr Bethany Robertson, Research Fellow on the Feeding the Nation project, University of Leeds charts the shifting position of farming during the trajectory of the pandemic.
Prior to COVID-19, agriculture may have been hidden from public view. Yet the importance of the farming sector became visible during COVID-19 when the government identified it as ‘essential work’. This meant the farming workforce could continue with travel-related to business activities during lockdowns and that their children could go into school. Being tied to the land as part of a primary industry involves outdoor and indoor work, commuting and meetings beyond the confines of the domestic setting. Connecting on Zoom from a tractor was possible, but when working with nature, a visit in person to check crops or the labour of fruit and vegetable picking could not be substituted for a remote experience.
Why is farming essential work?
From March 2020 British farming was deemed essential for food security to feed the nation, given the international travel on which imports relied were disrupted. The government responded to media hysteria around empty supermarket shelves and panic buying by prioritising British grown fresh produce. This seems to contrast with one of the options for tackling the current labour shortage in UK edible horticulture which is to rely on imported food (Barbulescu, Vargas-Silva and Robertson, 2021). In other news, the 2021 National Food Strategy recommends social prescribing of fruit and vegetables which are produced in a sustainable way and the IPCC would also discourage international food miles. Here we start to see the inconsistencies within responses to a fragile food system as the pandemic progressed.
The focus on farming as essential work has been based on food production and recent government priorities have also highlighted the role that farmers play in sustaining the environment. For example, the move by DEFRA (2021) to subsidy systems based on rewarding farmers for public goods is indicative of the management of the countryside as a safe space for humans and non-humans alike. The wider importance of this became apparent as people fled densely populated areas and sought a rural retreat for their exercise and leisure. Urban and rural audiences became proximal through the symbolism of essential work which emphasised a unifying connection as consumers of food.
Who in farming is essential?
Farmers, such as a landowner and/or decision-maker, may spring to mind upon consideration of the people behind farming. However, in 2020 the Pick for Britain campaign illuminated that labour needs also consisted of seasonal farmworkers, particularly those tasked with the picking and packing of fruit and vegetables. The scheme was framed akin to a national war effort with locals deemed as heroes for filling the shortage of workers as many of the migrants who usually make up over 90% of seasonal workers in UK fruit and veg could not arrive. The reliance on seasonal migrant workers is acknowledged and their contribution to farm businesses and food supply is recognised as a result of their relative absence following COVID and changes to immigration policy since Britain leaving the EU.
How has the status of farming shifted?
Fast forward to July 2021 and the ‘pingdemic’ started. Increasing cases of the Track & Trace app alerting close contacts of COVID to self-isolate led to places of work becoming short-staffed. In the case of haulage, this meant a lack of deliveries to supermarkets and in farming, it could mean crops rotting. As a result, an exemption for food workers was introduced, so they did not have to isolate if they took a COVID test, which proved negative. There was confusion over which roles were included in the category of ‘food workers’ and the National Farmers’ Union responded that farmers were not included on the basis that the impact is further down the food chain. For this exemption, farm production was not considered ‘food work’ which instead focuses on haulage and retail and excludes packers, growers and pickers who had been prioritised earlier in the pandemic.
The self-isolation exemption from July 2021 for food workers appeared a month prior to the blanket policy across those double vaccinated without consideration for the timing; namely during harvest season for some arable and edible horticulture crops. Farm staff can be difficult to replace at short notice owing to the rural locations, time specificities and specialist roles.
The visibility thrust upon agriculture as essential during COVID-19 may be a renewed opportunity to attract people into the food and farming industry as a career by highlighting the necessary skills, range of roles available and their ability to make a difference.
As part of the Feeding the Nation project we explore whether the work conditions and policies for seasonal migrant workers and growers affirm the elevated status of essential work.
