May 1st – A Day for Workers, A Call for Food Justice

International Workers’ Day, celebrated each year on May 1st, is a tribute to the laborers, movements, and collective struggles that have shaped fairer societies across the world. It is a day to recognize the courage of those who fought for rights many of us now consider essential—fair wages, humane working conditions, social protections, and dignity in work.

But May 1st also reminds us that the fight for justice does not end at the workplace. One of the most profound—and often overlooked—achievements of labor movements is the recognition of food as a fundamental human right. It is through the lens of labor that we understand how the right to food intersects with the right to live and work with dignity.

From factory workers to farm laborers, cooks to delivery drivers, countless individuals dedicate their lives to growing, producing, preparing, and distributing food. Yet, many of these same workers struggle to access the very nourishment they help provide. Around the world, food insecurity disproportionately affects those who are essential to the food system—those whose hands harvest crops, whose feet carry deliveries, whose labor fuels global supply chains.

This contradiction is not just unjust—it reveals deep fractures in the systems that govern our economies and societies. Food insecurity is not caused by scarcity, but by inequality. It is the result of policies and structures that prioritize profit over people, and efficiency over equity.

On this May 1st, we must ask: What does it mean to honor workers if they are still hungry? What does it mean to celebrate labor if the most essential laborers cannot afford a decent meal? The struggle for labor rights and the fight for food justice are inseparable. Just as workers once organized to secure time to rest, we must now organize to ensure everyone has access to healthy, culturally appropriate food—regardless of income or employment status. True justice means no one works full-time and still goes to bed hungry. It means that the right to food is protected not only in law, but in practice, through fair wages, social safety nets, and inclusive food systems.

May 1st is not just a commemoration of past victories—it is a call to continue the work. To build economies that serve people. To support policies that address hunger at its root. To recognize that food is not a privilege, but a right—one earned not only through labor, but owed by virtue of our shared humanity.

Today, we honor workers of every kind—those in the fields, the factories, the kitchens, and beyond. We stand in solidarity with their struggles, and we carry forward their vision: a world where everyone is fed, valued, and free.