Justice Analysis: Within The Food System Supply Chain

The principles of social justice, defined by Rawls (1999, p.4),  “(provide) a way of assigning rights and duties… they define the appropriate distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation”. This theory outlines a just society that provides opportunities of equal measures to everyone regardless of race, gender, age etc. and, perhaps most importantly in this context, warrants the equitable distribution of resources throughout (Bhugra, 2016). Many definitions of social justice, including Rawls, have a clear connection to distributional justice, as they emphasise the importance of distributing resources fairly across society (Israel & Frankel, 2018., Martens, 2006., Burton, 2003). Moroni (2020, p.257) argues that the issues around distributive justice can only arise to resources that are “a) assignable b) privative c) transferable”. If this is applied to the context of the food system, food is able to be obtained by an individual, the enjoyment of food by certain individuals prevents others from the same enjoyment, and food can physically be reallocated from one individual to another. This demonstrates how the food system can be subject to distributional injustice as well as wider societal injustice. Gottlieb and Joshi (2013, p.6) identify food justice in two ways, first “ensuring that the benefits and risks of where, what, and how food is grown, produced, transported and distributed, accessed and eaten are shared fairly”. Second, “by elaborating what food justice means and how it is realised in various settings… and how they can be challenged and overcome”. Again, we see emphasis on the fair distribution of resources but also, more specifically, the food system supply chain. 

 

Social and distributional injustices are present throughout the food system supply chain. A key area of injustice within the UK is the relationship between producers and retailers, as the government relies on just eight retailers to control 90% of the country's supply of food (Rayner, 2020). This results in primary producers only receiving 5-6% of the value of the food that is in supermarkets (Rayner, 2020). Distribution injustices within the food system is not a new issue, while laying out the ‘Goals of Agriculture’ Aiken (1982, p.47) recognised a prominent injustice of the 1980’s was dominance of the market and farmlands by a select few decentralised businesses (Clancy, 1994). Being the last stage in the supply chain, supermarkets and retailers have created consumer expectations of “low prices, unparalleled year-round choice and ‘just in time’ convenience” (Gore and Willoughby, 2018, p.10). This means they are able to exert constant pressure on suppliers to produce more, while cutting costs and expecting the same quality of the produce (Gore and Willoughby, 2018). Not only does this drive deeper injustices for the suppliers, but it also forces them to flow these injustices onto the upstream stages of the supply chain. Another key example of injustice, raised by Coulson and Milbourne (2020), is that of migrant workers on farms. They point out the irony of the agricultural system heavily relying on migrants for work while simultaneously leaving them mostly voiceless when it comes to important debates over policy changes and the overall future of the industry. 

 

It is clear that the food system supply chain houses systemic inequalities regarding social and distributional justice. The dominance of corporations in the supply chain forces a lack of participation and voice for minorities as well as disproportionate economic distribution. Coulson & Milbourne (2020) argue that to overcome the fragmented organisation of social movements, collective momentum is required to create political spaces where a range of voices and values can be heard. 

 

References: 

-Aiken, W. 1982. The Goals of Agriculture. Agriculture, Change, and Human Values: Proceedings of a Multidisciplinary Conference. Gainesville: University of Florida. p: 47

-Bhugra, D. 2016. Social Discrimination and Social Justice. International Review of Psychiatry. 28(4). pp: 336

-Burton, E. 2003. Housing for an Urban Renaissance: Implications for Social Equity. Housing Studies. 18(4), p: 539

-Clancy, K. 1994. Commentary social justice and sustainable agriculture: Moving beyond theory. Agriculture and Human Values. 11. pp: 78

-Coulson, H. and Milbourne, P. 2020. Food justice for all?: searching for the ‘justice multiple’ in UK food movements. Agriculture and Human Values. 38. pp: 43-58

-Gore, T. and Willoughby, R. 2018. Ripe for Change: Ending human suffering in supermarket supply chains. [Online]. Oxfam. [Accessed 4th November]. Available from: Ripe for Change: Ending human suffering in supermarket supply chains 

-Gottlieb, R. and Joshi, A. 2013. Food justice. [Online]. Cambridge: MIT Press. [Accessed: 4th November]. Available from: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/6/monograph/book/22133/pdf 

-Israel, E. and Frenkel, A. 2018. Social Justice and Spatial Inequality: Toward a conceptual framework. Progress in Human Geography. 42(5), p: 648

-Martens, K. 2006. Basign Transport Planning on Principles of Social Justice. Berkeley Planning Journal. 19, p: 3

-Moroni, S. 2020. The Just City. Three Background Issues: Institutional Justice and Spatial Justice, Social Justice and Distributive Justice, Concept of Justice and Conceptions of Justice. Planning Theory. 19(3). pp: 251-267

-Rayner, J. 2020. Diet, health and inequality: why Britain’s food supply system doesn’t work. The Guardian. [Online]. 22 March. [Accessed 4 November]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/22/tim-lang-interview-professor-of-food-policy-city-university-supply-chain-crisis 

-Rawls, J. 1999. A Theory of Justice- Revised Edition. [Online]. Harvard University Press. [Accessed 4th November]. Available from: https://giuseppecapograssi.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rawls99.pdf