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Front and back of the house: socio-spatial inequalities in food work

Author

Listed:
  • Carolyn Sachs
  • Patricia Allen
  • A. Terman
  • Jennifer Hayden
  • Christina Hatcher

Abstract

Work on farms and in restaurants is characterized by highly gendered and racialized divisions of labor, low wages, and persistent inequalities. Gender, race, and ethnicity often determine the spaces where people work in the food system. Although some research focuses on gendered divisions of labor in restaurants and on farms, few efforts look more broadly at intersectional inequalities in food work. Our study examines how inequality is perpetuated through restaurant and farm work in the United States and, specifically, how gender and race/ethnicity influence where people work, their tasks and responsibilities, and their work experiences. In describing restaurant work, people in the restaurant industry typically refer to the front and back of the house to distinguish between different working spaces, jobs, and workers. We use this spatial metaphor of front and back of the house to analyze intersectional inequalities of food work in restaurants and on farms. The data derive from conversations with 63 restaurant and farm owners, managers, and workers in California and Pennsylvania. Our findings suggest that gendered and racialized bodies often define who works in the front and back of the “house,” and that owners and workers often naturalize gender and racial divisions of labor in food work. Despite these patterns, we found evidence of attempts to reduce these inequalities on farms and in restaurants. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Carolyn Sachs & Patricia Allen & A. Terman & Jennifer Hayden & Christina Hatcher, 2014. "Front and back of the house: socio-spatial inequalities in food work," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(1), pages 3-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:31:y:2014:i:1:p:3-17
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-013-9445-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Amy Trauger & Carolyn Sachs & Mary Barbercheck & Kathy Brasier & Nancy Kiernan, 2010. "“Our market is our community”: women farmers and civic agriculture in Pennsylvania, USA," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 27(1), pages 43-55, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sandra Contzen & Jérémie Forney, 2017. "Family farming and gendered division of labour on the move: a typology of farming-family configurations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 27-40, March.
    3. Wendy Harcourt, 2017. "Gender and sustainable livelihoods: linking gendered experiences of environment, community and self," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 1007-1019, December.
    4. Douglas H. Constance, 2023. "The doctors of agrifood studies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 31-43, March.
    5. Jill Harrison & Christy Getz, 2015. "Farm size and job quality: mixed-methods studies of hired farm work in California and Wisconsin," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 617-634, December.
    6. Joshua Sbicca, 2015. "Food labor, economic inequality, and the imperfect politics of process in the alternative food movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 675-687, December.
    7. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    8. J. Adam Perry, 2019. "Images of work, images of defiance: engaging migrant farm worker voice through community-based arts," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 627-640, September.

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