Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
processing workers also increased slightly
during this time. By 2008, the percentage of
Hispanic meat processing workers hovered
around 37% - slightly surpassing the total num-
ber of white workers (Kandel, 2009).
The changing population of farmers, agri-
cultural workers and meat processors presents
many potential challenges including language
barriers, information access, immigration status
and visas, and even marketing opportunities
(Swisher
et al
., 2007). Farm-workers and pro-
cessors may not speak English and may not have
adequate information about health and safety at
the farm and factory level. They may also not
have resources for understanding their legal
rights. From the context of food access, chang-
ing demographics in agriculture also suggests
that there are changing food needs to ensure
that available food is culturally appropriate.
Unfortunately, though farm-workers and
processors work with food, they are also at a high
risk for being food insecure. In California, it is
estimated that 45% of agricultural workers
surveyed were food insecure with nearly half on
food stamps (Wirth, 2007). In North Carolina, it is
documented that nearly two-thirds of migrant
and seasonal farm-workers are food insecure
(Borre
et al
., 2010). These rates are significantly
higher than the average in the USA, making agri-
cultural workers and processors a high-risk popu-
lation for food insecurity. These demographics
indicate that the agricultural industry is changing
quickly and programmes and education designed
for the agricultural community may also need to
change. Cooperative Extension programmes are
beginning to publish their materials in Spanish
(Extension en Espanol, 2012) and many organiza-
tions now exist for women in agriculture. Recently,
in conjunction with a lawsuit, the USDA estab-
lished the Council for Native American Farming
and Ranching to assist in USDA and Native
American relations and resources. Many states
also now offer information about their WIC and
SNAP benefits in Spanish or other languages to
cater to many races and cultures. Challenges still
remain: the documented number of farm-workers
lacking food security is cause for considerable
concern. Ensuring that living wages are paid and
that farm-workers have access to food and services
continues to be a challenge throughout agricul-
tural regions. This idea will be discussed further
in the section on social-economic sustainability.
Social-Environmental Sustainability
in Animal Agriculture
Social sustainability also encompasses other
aspects of sustainability including an overlap
with environmental issues. Social-environmental
sustainability in animal agriculture involves
issues related to both the environmental impacts
of agriculture and the social components of food
access, well-being and diversity. Issues related to
social-environmental sustainability can provide
both challenges and opportunities for producers,
agricultural communities, the agricultural indus-
try and policy makers. At the same time, social-
environmental sustainability also considers the
potentially unequal environmental impacts of
agriculture on certain socio-economic groups
or races of people.
Environmental justice
The US Environmental Protection Agency
defines environmental justice as, 'the fair treat-
ment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, colour, national origin, or
income with respect to the development, imple-
mentation, and enforcement of environmental
laws, regulations, and policies.' The federal
definition notes that environmental justice is
comprised of two parts: fair treatment and mean-
ingful involvement. Fair treatment ensures that
no group of people is burdened by an unequal
share of environmental or human health impacts
because of business or government policies.
Meaningful involvement means that individuals
have the opportunity to participate and be con-
sidered in decision making that will affect their
environment, health or both (CDC, 2011). In
1991, the First National People of Color
Environmental Leadership Summit adopted
17 principles of environmental justice, which
broadened the movement's focus to include all
people, not only communities of colour. Three
years later President Clinton signed an Executive
Order (12898) on 'Federal Actions to Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations
and Low-Income Populations'. The order man-
dated that federal agencies develop strategies to
manage environmental justice issues by identi-
fying adverse programmes and policies that
