Protecting workers in the food chain | Joann Lo | TEDxFruitvale

In the U.S., 20 million people work throughout the food supply chain. Who are these people? At lower end of the system are people of color, immigrants, and female workers. These low-wage workers subsidize corporate profits and cheap food. Many organizations have come together in the Food Chain Workers Alliance to transform the food system by learning from each other, building more power together, and inserting workers' rights into the increasingly influential food justice movement. About Joann Lo, executive director, Food Chain Workers Alliance: In 1997 Joann became an organizer on campaigns with two Service Employee International Union locals in Los Angeles, which resulted in hundreds of workers at Catholic Healthcare West and Argenbright Security becoming new union members. In early 2001 she co-launched the Garment Worker Center, where as lead organizer, she supported garment workers in Los Angeles who led a successful boycott against young women's retailer Forever 21, a campaign memorialized in the Emmy award-winning documentary Made in L.A. In November 2009 Joann joined the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a coalition of worker-based groups organizing to improve wages and working conditions for all workers along the food chain. This talk is part of Session Two: Movement for TEDxFruitvale, which was held on October 14, 2011 at Mills College in Oakland, CA. The conference's theme was Harvesting Change, and it focused on farmworkers, labor and other social justice movements, and fair labor practices in business. http://www.tedxfruitvale.org/ About TEDx, x = independently organized event: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)