(MENAFN- The Conversation) Canada's ongoing trade dispute with the United States has increased consumer awareness of domestic food products, with some experts arguing that food should be considered a matter of national defence.

While support for buying local food is increasing - one study found two-thirds of Canadians were willing to pay more for local food - there is still much that gets left off the table in conversations about local food.

The“buy local” adage doesn't address the deeper issues with Canada's food production systems. Inter-provincial trade barriers, outdated pesticide regulations, food insecurity and other gaps in Canadian food policy all undermine Canada's ability to build an equitable and sustainable food system.

Most critically, discussions about local food often overlook the very people that make food production possible: farm workers. These workers form the backbone of the agricultural sector, yet many face unsafe working conditions, inadequate pay and exclusion from basic labour protections.

The 'buy local' adage doesn't address the deeper issues of Canada's food production systems. Prepared in Canada signage in a store in the town of St. Andrews, N.B., in May 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes The human cost of agriculture

Improving job quality in agriculture is important not just for the economic viability of regional food systems, but also because agricultural work is notoriously dangerous, dirty, demeaning and devalued.

An increasing proportion of Canada's agricultural labour - about one-quarter - is performed by migrant workers from the Temporary Foreign Worker program. These workers are tied to their employers, and often face dismissal or repatriation if something goes wrong at work. This institutionalized deportability leaves many farm workers vulnerable to exploitation.

Read more: Canada needs to overhaul the Temporary Foreign Worker program, not just tinker with it

Agricultural work in Canada is defined by precarity, suppression and exclusion. Workers often face a lack of access to health care, unhealthy living conditions and unsafe workplaces.

Improving job quality in agriculture is vital. A farmer harvests a soy crop in Levis, Que., in September 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

This is not by chance. Farm work has historically been exempt from labour-protective laws due to a long-standing belief in agricultural exceptionalism - the idea that because it's subject to uncontrollable factors such as weather, and contributes to national food security, agriculture should be afforded special state support and regulatory exemptions.

In practice, many believe agricultural work should not be held to the same standards as jobs in other sectors. Farm workers are often excluded from important safeguards in many jurisdictions, like overtime pay.

When combined with precarious immigration status, even the limited protections that farm workers have access to on paper may not be accessible in practice.

Why organic farmers are struggling

To better understand why some employers provide better conditions for hired farm workers, we surveyed organic farmers growing vegetables - a nutritionally important and labour-intensive industry - in British Columbia.

We asked farmers about what motivates their farming decisions, the characteristics of their farm and about their perceptions of how to improve job quality for hired workers.

We focused on organic farmers because organics are often viewed by consumers as more sustainable, and the industry has aligned itself with the value of fairness in Canada, including worker well-being. In theory, organic farmers should be among the most motivated to provide good jobs for their employees.

Despite this ethical alignment, we found that both certified and non-certified organic farms in B.C. scored poorly on most aspects of job quality that we measured, including employment and grievance procedures, paid time off and extended health benefits.

Organic farms performed better on practices related to occupational health and physical strain, such as using strategies to reduce repetitive motion for workers.

The limits of good intentions

Many farmers reported social justice-oriented motivations for job quality improvement, but they were often unable to translate these ideas into practice.

The most commonly reported barrier to improving job quality was cost, while the strongest predictor of better practices was farm economic size, measured by farm revenue and income.

In larger enterprises, investments in infrastructure and procedural improvements to labour quality can be justified because they are perceived to benefit more workers and support more complex farm operations.

Supporting local food must include the rights, dignity and safety of the workers who sustain them. Potato plants are seen on a farm in Clinton, P.E.I., on July 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

However, the link between larger farms and higher job quality may belie another relationship: bigger farms are better positioned to hire workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which has specific requirements for wages and terms of employment. At the same time, the program produces power imbalances that can lead to the mistreatment and structural disempowerment of migrant workers, which is certainly bad for job quality.

Our results also suggest that the price premiums from selling food organically don't appear to be enough to overcome the perceived financial barriers of implementing job quality measures.

A resilient and affordable food system depends on good quality jobs in agriculture. Failing to address job quality for farm workers is a missed opportunity. Many low-cost improvements to support safe and decent working conditions exist, and programs to ensure living wages for farm workers should ensure organic and ecologically produced food is affordable for all Canadians.

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