National Farmworker Awareness Week Is March 25-31

Equitable Food Initiative, the workforce development and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer advocacy groups, is reminding retailers to help celebrate National Farmworker Awareness Week March 25-31 by sharing messages honoring the essential workers who provide fresh food every day of the year.

The past two years have brought growing awareness of the reality of essential workers and the challenges of supply chain woes, including the role of agriculture's front-line farmworkers. 

According to Equitable Food Initiative, nearly 2.5 million people work on farms and ranches and in greenhouses and packing facilities across the United States, performing hard and skilled labor and helping American farms add $136 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product.

"Although supply chain challenges have wrought havoc on every industry, the skilled men and women of the food industry, including farmworkers, have shown us their fortitude and ability to rise to the occasion every day and keep our grocery store shelves stocked," said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, director of marketing communications for Equitable Food Initiative. "The men and women of agriculture and the food industry bring a level of skilled professionalism that is truly essential and should be valued and celebrated by every consumer."

Farmworker Awareness Week is the ideal opportunity to satisfy consumers' growing interest in where their food comes from and the people who help get it from farm to table. Food retailers can bring attention to the millions of essential workers who grow, care for, harvest, pack and ship agricultural products, highlighting the important and #AlwaysEssential contributions they make to the food supply chain. 

The organization is encouraging food industry peers and consumers alike to speak with one voice and continue to amplify the message that farmworkers are #AlwaysEssential by:

• Using the communications toolkit, which includes ready-to-use graphics, logos, hashtags and messages.
• Creating unique content or videos for social media highlighting Farmworker Awareness Week and using the #AlwaysEssential hashtag.
• Providing "live" content for social media channels featuring farmworker interviews detailing their jobs, safety precautions they take, and the skills and knowledge they bring to their work.
• Asking state governors or legislative officials to draft a proclamation supporting Farmworker Awareness Week.
• Hosting events in celebration of farmworkers.
• Contacting local media and asking them to share information about the role of agriculture and farmworkers in local economies during Farmworker Awareness Week.

Washington D.C.-based Equitable Food Initiative is a nonprofit certification and skill-building organization that seeks to increase transparency in the food supply chain and improve the lives of farmworkers through a team-based approach to training and continuous-improvement practices.