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10 State Crime J. 80 (2021)
Violating Food System Workers' Rights in the Time of COVID-19: The Quest for State Accountability

handle is hein.journals/stecrjl10 and id is 77 raw text is: VIOLATING FOOD SYSTEM WORKERS' RIGHTS IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: THE QUEST FOR STATE ACCOUNTABILITY Hilal Elver and Melissa Shapiro Abstract: Food system workers, accounting for nearly one-third of the global workforce, are vital to the universal realization of the right to food, yet face formidable barriers to the realization of their own rights. Despite state obligations to protect, respect, and fulfil the rights of workers under international human rights law, gaps in legal frameworks and lack of political will have left food system workers exposed to discrimination and abuse at the hands of private actors. Migrant workers, as well as racial and ethnic minorities, in particular, face targeted exploitation without redress. Case studies demonstrate the extent of this harm, even as governments designate workers as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors of this article argue that deliberate inaction by states to extend meaningful protections to workers or indict exploitative actors demonstrates the need for a new state crime-one that holds accountable governments that are complicit in the grave violations of workers' fundamental rights. Keywords: rights; food; workers; COVID-19 Introduction Food system1 workers are an underappreciated but vital part of food security that support state efforts to guarantee the realisation of human rights, including the right to food.2 At the same time, food system workers tend to be among the most food insecure, facing formidable barriers to the realisation of their own rights (Elver 2018). Migrant workers, especially those who are undocumented, and workers who are racial and ethnic minorities, are more likely to be subject to precarious conditions. These workers are exceptionally vulnerable, lacking ade- quate safeguards administered at state and local levels (Elver 2018). This reality suggests that states are failing to satisfy the standards set forth in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which obligates states to guarantee fundamental human rights without discrimination of any Hilal Elver, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (2014-2020); UCLA School of Law Melissa Shapiro, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic STATE CRIME 10.1 2021

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