This is what Equitable Food Initiative did in 2022

Looking back at its operations during the last year, Equitable Food Initiative is calling 2022 a year of growth, new partnerships and promising tools to transform the produce industry and improve the lives of farmworkers.

The workforce development and certification organization partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer groups, according to a news release.

By the end of 2022, EFI had certified 53 operations in five countries, with another 19 farms in progress. Together, those operations employ almost 60,000 workers, and EFI’s premium program generated more than $3.2 million in worker bonuses in 2022, according to the release.

Learn more: EFI-partnered podcast episodes on The Packer and PMG's Tip of the Iceberg podcast.

The cornerstone of EFI’s model is the training of worker-manager leadership teams in the problem-solving skills they need to keep their farms in compliance with the program’s rigorous labor, food safety and pest management standards.

The ways to do that have diversified too.

The easing of the COVID-19 crisis allowed EFI to return to in-person, on-farm training, while also allowing grower-shippers to choose a completely virtual or hybrid training experience.

“The fresh produce industry has been severely challenged in recent years by the combination of COVID, supply chain disruption, inflation, uneven regulation, labor shortages and more frequent extreme weather events,” EFI Executive Director Peter O’Driscoll said in the release. “As a multi-stakeholder collaboration, EFI’s role is to support the industry to overcome these challenges through workforce engagement, in ways that bring measurable value to workers, employers, retailers and consumers alike.”

EFI facilitators completed 22 team trainings, including a pilot program for farm labor contractors and a partnership with Regenerative Organic Alliance that applies EFI labor standards to smaller producers, such as wineries, that aim to achieve Regenerative Organic Certification.

If training has been the engine, partnerships have been the fuel for EFI’s continued growth and program expansion. In 2022, the release said:

• EFI earned recognition from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) in September, making it the only “one-stop-shop” certification that allows growers to meet most major retail requirements for labor, food safety and integrated pest management through a single audit.
• EFI’s integrated pest management standards were recognized as one of Walmart’s qualified programs for new pollinator health commitments.
• The Walmart Foundation awarded EFI a two-year, $2 million grant to support implementation of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices.
• EFI and Measure to Improve LLC partnered to pilot waste reduction programs on three farms, with support from the California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

The organization continues to promote to the industry how the inclusion of worker voice and agency can help meet both compliance requirements and business performance goals.

Partnering with The Packer and PMG’s Tip of the Iceberg podcast, EFI launched a podcast series to highlight worker-led continuous improvement stories.

Several online issue campaigns helped educate industry members about topics ranging from sexual harassment prevention to worker health and safety. And EFI developed shareable tools for the entire industry to raise awareness and facilitate changes that can have measurable impacts on workers:

• National Farm Safety and Health Week materials included an infographic with risk-related data and recommendations for maintaining safe work environments.
• A toolkit created by University of Washington was shared during Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention Month.
• A communications toolkit was provided to highlight the skilled labor and contributions of essential workers during National Farmworker Awareness Week.  
• The report, 10 Ways to Improve Recruitment of Guest Workers, According to Farmworkers, was released after EFI conducted more than 1,300 interviews with 650 guest farmworkers to understand their challenges and concerns and to highlight potential improvements to the recruitment process.

Expect to see more new programs and educational resources in 2023 as EFI expands to advance responsible labor practices, food safety and sustainability. EFI has a variety of workforce development tools and training modules that grower-shippers can access online at equitablefood.org/resources. View a list of EFI-certified farms at equitablefood.org/farms.