The reach and impact of our food systems—that is, the complex, interconnected and globalized web of institutions, resources, and processes that bring food from the farm, to the table and into the waste stream—is universal: every single one of us has either worked in ourselves, or known people who work growing, raising, producing, processing, packing, transporting, preparing or serving the food we all eat.

In the food we consume, we become connected to the conditions, the labor, and the people of the food system that produces it. There are massive implications for schools as well, as they participate in the food system directly to bring literally billions of meals to children each year.

Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of geography and the environment, discusses her co-authored book, Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food Chain (University of California Press, 2025), on the Human Restoration Project podcast.

The book captures the grim realities faced by food workers alongside the opportunities for solidarity at every point in the system while amplifying the successes and challenges faced by movements to make food work, good work.