Thousands of individuals work across the food supply chain in different stages and industries. Immigrant community members are among those individuals who help to feed us through their work. Yet, most of them are often invisible to the people and the communities where they work and live.
The Humans Who Feed Us, is a national portrait and narrative project of Justice for Migrant Women, that shares the first-person stories of those community members to highlight and elevate their voices. It was created by Mónica Ramirez, President and Founder of Justice for Migrant Women.
Since its inception, Justice for Migrant Women has collaborated with partners across the nation to ensure that all voices are represented. The project humanizes workers across the food supply chain; shows the interdependence among businesses, the people they employ and consumers; and fosters a sense of belonging for these community members in the places where they live and work. It cements the importance of ensuring that these workers are visible in our communities, protected at their places of employment and guaranteed the dignity that other professions are afforded.
Justice for Migrant Women focuses their work and energy on elevating the millions of migrant women who are making such important contributions to our country, including our economy. Among these are the immigrant community members who labor in agriculture, at grocery stores, in delivery trucks and restaurants around our nation. The Humans Who Feed Us seeks to center these individuals, their stories, their contributions, and their priorities
The Humans Who Feed Us was created through a fellowship provided to Monica Ramirez by Race Forward. The project was ideated and built through the fellowship with a focus on elevating the impactful story of immigrant food supply workers. While identifying the powerful individuals featured in this narrative and portrait project, Justice for Migrant Women collaborated with farm workers, food service workers, and more to hear about their experiences, the challenges they faced, their hopes and dreams, and how the community can make them feel welcomed and supported.
The first iteration of The Humans Who Feed Us had a strong focus on farmworkers from the Northwestern part of Ohio, and was launched at the Sandusky County Fair, in 2021. It featured the stories of 8 incredible local individuals who work in the agricultural sector in the state. In November of that year, THWFU was launched nationally and expanded to incorporate immigrant community members employed across the food supply chain, including dairy, poultry, restaurant and grocery store workers.
The organization has partnered with celebrity chefs like Ingrid Hoffmann, Pati Jinich and Grace Ramirez, as well as others, along with restaurants, universities and corporations across the country, and it works closely with community members. The project is a portrait and narrative project aimed at sharing stories of immigrant community members employed in the food supply chain and uplifting their policy priorities.
The uniqueness of this project lies in the fact that the community members featured are the ones telling their own stories, with their own voices and in their own words. And because the goal is to honor and celebrate them while advocating for policy change, they are always included in the events where their portraits are featured. They are centered in and driving the conversations.
In June 2022, Mónica Ramírez, founder of Justice for Migrant Women, was recognized with the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award for her work on “The Humans Who Feed Us” and her career dedicated to advancing the rights of migrant women. In February, 2023, "The Humans Who Feed Us" was awarded a Gold Anthem Award in the National Awareness Campaign category.
The Humans Who Feed Us Campaign has built strong partnerships, including acclaimed chefs, restaurants, and universities across the 12 states including Florida, Washington D.C., Virginia, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, California, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland and Colorado. It showcases 35 portraits of amazing individuals whose hard work keeps us fed and going. So far it includes people from five different countries (México, El Salvador, Haiti, Nigeria and Bosnia), who speak four different languages (English, Spanish, French-Creole and Bosnian), and live in five different states in the US (Ohio, Texas, Colorado, California, Florida).
As the project has gained notoriety and acclaim from key partners, Justice for Migrant Women created the Champion for Change Award in 2023 to recognize other activists, allies, and leaders across industries who are fighting for the protections of the laborers that keep our food supply chain strong. Inaugural Champion for Change Award recipients include Juanita Gutierrez, Ingrid Hoffman, and Jessie Mindlin, who have shown exemplary commitment to the rights and well-being of migrant workers in the food industry.
