An Urban's Rural View

If farm workers were paid more, treated better and trained in food safety, would society get safer fruits and vegetables? Would food retailers and consumers be willing to shell out more for the produce? A retailer-farmer-worker alliance in California may soon provide answers to those questions.

According to the New York Times (http://tiny.cc/…), the warehouse-store chain Costco has agreed to pay a bit more for strawberries from Andrew & Williamson farms in California. The farm company in turn has agreed with the United Farm Workers to boost pickers' pay about a dollar an hour and provide them with clean bathrooms, folding chairs for lunch breaks, gloves to protect their hands and water cups.

Most importantly, the workers are trained in practices designed to minimize the risk of the berries becoming contaminated. The fruit they pick is labeled "Limited Edition," certifying to customers that food-safety protocols were followed and workers treated fairly.

The program was hatched in a meeting between Eric Nicholson, a union vice president, and Jeff Lyons, Costco's senior vice president for fresh foods. Costco floated the idea with its suppliers, including Andrew & Williamson.

"Like many growers, Andrew & Williamson says it gets just 9 cents of each dollar that its strawberries sell for at retail," the Times reported. "With most of the revenue going to retailers, the farm workers and the company were eager to increase their meager share. So when Erik Nicholson, vice president of the United Farm Workers, met with Mr. Lyons at Costco, he learned that food safety was a top issue for consumers, and the two embarked on a plan to improve conditions. They brainstormed and came up with a proposal that would increase workers' pay and growers' profits as well as improve safety."

Not only are the workers paid more, they're paid by the hour instead of by the piece. That encourages them to report food-safety problems because they're no longer penalized for taking the time to do so. In the past, according to the Times, "One manager said that if workers spotted animal feces in an area where ripe strawberries were ready to be plucked, they might have still simply picked those berries."

Food safety is top of mind for retailers owing to incidents of contaminated spinach, cantaloupe and other produce sickening consumers with salmonella, listeria and e-coli. The question is how many retailers will join Costco in paying more in the hopes of getting safer fruits and vegetables. So far only one has -- a northern California chain of 500 cafes.

Urban Lehner

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