Forced labour risk is pervasive in the US land-based food supply

Blackstone, Nicole Tichenor; Rodríguez-Huerta, Edgar; Battaglia, Kyra; Jackson, Bethany; Jackson, Erin; Benoit Norris, Catherine; Decker Sparks, Jessica L.

Abstract

Social risk assessments and case studies of labour conditions in food production primarily focus on specific subpopulations, regions and commodities. To date, research has not systematically assessed labour conditions against international standards across diverse, complex food products. Here we combine data on production, trade, labour intensity and qualitative risk coding to quantitatively assess the risk of forced labour embedded in the US land-based food supply, building on our previous assessment of fruits and vegetables. We demonstrate that animal-based proteins, processed fruits and vegetables, and discretionary foods are major contributors to forced labour risk and that 62% of total forced labour risk stems from domestic production or processing. Our findings reveal the widespread risk of forced labour present in the US food supply and the necessity of collaborative action across all countries—high, middle and low income—to eliminate reliance on labour exploitation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 25, 2023
• Journal: Nature Food
• Print ISSN: 2662-1355
• Electronic ISSN: 2662-1355
• Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 596–606
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00794-x
• Keywords: Agronomy and Crop Science; Animal Science and Zoology; Food Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/21906674
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00794-x
• Additional Information: Received: 16 December 2022; Accepted: 12 June 2023; First Online: 24 July 2023; : C.B.N. declares that she was a Research Scientist in Social Responsibility with Amazon, Inc. for part of the time this research was in progress and began a role with Target as Senior Social Sustainability Manager when this project was close to completion. C.B.N. is also co-owner of NewEarth B and the Social Hotspots Database project. Data from the Social Hotspots Database were provided free of charge for academic use in this research. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.