Labour, Livelihoods and Wellbeing in the Food Sector
Exeter Food research on this theme encompasses work on migrant and domestic labour forces in the United Kingdom, including people working in fisheries and agriculture as well as those working on food in processing, food service and the domestic sphere. This work looks not only at labour markets and practices, but also at the wellbeing of those involved in food work, whether historically or in the present day.
Environmental Social Scientist Rachel Turner works with fisher folk in Cornwall, studying a range of topics including women’s contributions to resilience in fisheries, fishers’ responses to weather, the health of fishers and constraints to their access to health care, and the health and wellbeing of fisher communities more broadly.
Constantine Manolchev—who lectures in Sustainable Futures—conducts research on the everyday experiences of migrant workers in entry-level agri-food sector jobs in Cornwall and job progression opportunities. Matt Lobley, Caroline Nye and Rebecca Wheeler have been studying a cluster of farm labour issues in the UK farm sector, including: farmer collaboration; migrant, seasonal, and contract labour; farmer physical and mental health; loneliness and social isolation in farming communities; farmer resilience; and civil society's role in supporting vulnerable rural communities through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Anthropologist Celia Plender is researching community food projects as spaces of care and mutual aid in the face of a range of social and financial challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Historian Jane Whittle’s work focuses on gender and wage labour in English agriculture c.1300-1700, as well as work in food processing and cooking in England c.1550-1700; her interest in sugar production and consumption includes study of its connection with slavery in the English Caribbean.
