Frontline Food Workers

Recently I was talking to my cousin, who is a nurse in the Raliegh area, about how things have finally slowed down a little bit since the pandemic and how crazy it was to be a front lineworker when covid first hit. When many of us hear the term “Frontline Worker” or “Essential Worker” we typically think about the obvious examples like doctors, nurses, government workers, etc. Many of us fail to recognize food workers, like those who work in a grocery stores, or farmworks as “frontline workers,” even though they continued to work during the pandemic. When covid first hit, left and right things like schools, work, businesses, and more were shutting down, Yet one thing that was staying open all across the country was grocery stores. We all rely on grocery store workers in order to provide food for ourselves and others. Since we rely on grocery stores, we are also relying on farm workers to harvest the food that we buy at the store. In the article The US food system creates hunger and debt — but there is another way, the author Michael Fahkri discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic was not only just a health crisis, but it also created a food and hunger crisis. Grocery store workers faced getting exposed to void every day and people who worked in food plants are fields worked in such terrible conditions that it was impossible to wear a mask. Fakhri stated, “The pandemic has made it clear to everyone that people who work in the fields, factories, markets, and kitchens are essential for everyone’s well-being. But those food workers are treated like they are expendable.” I want to know why these workers make nowhere near a livable wage, yet we couldn't survive without them. Reading this article and seeing grocery store workers put their lives on the line really brought to my attention how desperately the food system needs to be changed.