As part of a recently announced $50 million USDA grant, the Fair Food Program says 27 new farms have joined the program, which now spans 23 states. The worker-led human rights program received $15 million of the grant, according to a news release.
“The USDA’s FLSP financial incentives are intended to support for growers who to commit to the Fair Food Program, and take measures to improve farmworkers’ wages and working conditions,” Fair Food Program said in a statement.
The program said the USDA recognized it as having the highest level of rights protection in U.S. agriculture. USDA also said participation in worker-driven social responsibility programs is a proven model for improving workplace environments.
“As farmworkers face the ongoing threats of climate change, wage theft, harassment, and exploitation, it is a matter of national importance to expand the FFP to every corner of the agricultural industry, in order to guarantee farmworkers can harvest with dignity,” said Mike Rios, executive director of the Fair Food Standards Council, the independent monitoring body that oversees and implements the Fair Food Program. “As this announcement from the USDA shows, the Fair Food Program is leading the way for forging best practices in agriculture, which in turn helps inform government policy.”
Related: USDA awards $50M to support farmworkers and agricultural employers
