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Farmworkers: Ethical Issues

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics
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Synonyms

Agriculture; Distributive justice; Farming; Labor; Slavery

Introduction

Farmworkers are among the most marginalized and underserved groups in the United States. While they make up a large and economically significant portion of the US population and workforce, and they provide a valuable and vitally necessary social service, they are chronically underpaid and underserved and are regularly exposed to serious risk of injury and sickness. This has been true for generations. This situation is the product of a complex set of immigration and labor laws, economic interests, and deeply embedded attitudes about race and ethnicity.

This entry divides the ethical issues surrounding farmworkers into two categories: distributive justice and humanitarian crises. The first category, distributive justice, focuses on unfairness and inequity in the distribution of economic wealth, social influence, and political power to farmworkers. Poverty, access to social services, and political...

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Correspondence to Daniel Pilchman .

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© 2019 Springer Nature B.V.

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Pilchman, D. (2019). Farmworkers: Ethical Issues. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_569

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