Our Best Food & Farm Labor Reporting of 2022

This year, our reporters told stories about people on the front lines of the food system, from food delivery workers and baristas to undocumented workers on factory-scale animal farms. As such, we have sought to shed light on the structural barriers that have allowed the few to benefit from the hard work of the many.

We are also seeing co-operatives gain ground and reach out to more diverse audiences, to restaurant employees banding together to fund collective access to reproductive medicine. I have considered a solution. Law vs Wade overturned. Here are some of the most important work stories for 2022 and beyond.

Farm workers bear the brunt of California’s housing crisis
Despite a recent $100 million investment, many of the state’s 400,000 to 800,000 farm workers live in cramped and unsafe conditions.

Many restaurants tip their employees. Does it violate their civil rights?
EXCLUSIVE: Advocates file lawsuit against Darden, the nation’s largest full-service restaurant company, for racial and sex discrimination as a result of workers being paid tips below minimum wage I got

What the surge in union organizing means for food and farm workers
Amid historic protests, strikes and trade union votes, the pandemic has laid bare the impact of income inequality and revitalized the movement.

“Food Company Didn’t Get Memo” — Steven Greenhouse on New Union Wave
The Father of Modern Labor Journalism explores why food system workers are fed up and why Starbucks unions matter so much.

Fighting over LA’s street food vendors
Mango Vendor’s Maria Falcon talks about the NYPD crackdown on alleged violations by the Eric Adams administration.

What does the rise of giant indoor farms mean for Appalachian Kentucky?
AppHarvest says it’s inventing the industry “from the ground up,” but it’s unclear how the startup will balance promises to rural populations with a move towards automation.