At its worst, it can be a source of violence, destruction, and trauma. Our food system holds infinite potential for enriching lives, communities, and the environment; it also remains entrenched in racist legacies.
We cultivate colonized land first stewarded by Indigenous Peoples. While 95% of farm owners are white, less than 2% of farmers are Black. The percentage of land owned by Black farmers has fallen 90% since 1910.
Most of the food eaten in the U.S. has been harvested by immigrants, who are essential to the security of our food system. An estimated 73% of farmworkers are immigrants and nearly 50% of farmworkers are undocumented, often lacking basic health and safety protections and subjected to exploitation.
Climate change is only making things harder on outdoor workers, many of whom are farm workers. The Centers for Disease Control found in 2008 that U.S. crop workers are 20 times more likely to die from illnesses related to heat stress than U.S. civilian workers overall.
Pasa is committed to an ongoing process of examining our organization’s role in sustaining colonization culture and racism in all its forms. We support accessible paths to citizenship and legal worker status for farmworkers. We are investing in meaningful action and collaboration to repair relationships and improve the circumstances of and opportunities for historically oppressed communities to advance a healthy and just food system for all.
