Farm work is the most dangerous and lowest-paid occupation in the whole country. “Farmworkers labor long hours to earn more money,” Kathia says, “despite the toll it takes on their bodies, which can later lead to long-term illnesses. Common health risks are work-related musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to pesticides.”

Low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions mean the opportunity and security that migrant farmworkers seek often remains out of reach.

This publication honors and amplifies the voices of women around the world who are fighting for food sovereignty and creating just, sustainable communities that benefit all.

This publication summarizes the overarching framework, practices and experiences of the protagonists of the People’s Agroecology Process. 

Food Justice Coordinator Kathia Ramirez shares her perspective on the journey of immigrant farmworkers pursuing the American dream and shares why food justice is important on every level.

The Bridgeton Organic Community Garden, founded in 2012, is a key part of a strategy by one grassroots organization to ensure that the region’s farmworkers have affordable access to fresh produce for themselves and their families.

Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems (Nyéléni 2007).

By Kathia Ramirez
Organizer, CATA (Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas/ The Farmworkers’ Support Committee) 

At the Closing the Hunger Gap conference in 2015, more than 500 food access organizations representing 41 different states and Canada came together to call for a strategic shift from charity to justice in our collective approach to ending hunger. This is their story, presented by WhyHunger