there is Giving Tuesday, created by the 92nd Street Y's Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact in New York City.

Today, we remind you to think not only about where you might give money, time or other resources toward cultural, political and climate change...but consider where you are purchasing the gifts that you plan to give this year, and how you might divert your shopping expenses toward those same needed areas of change.

In the last few weeks, we have devoted space to the impact of how Job Descriptions are written, including EOE Statements, Job Requirements (which always seem to take up more space than expected), and a Company Description. 

We have heard from many of you with feedback and support. Your job descriptions are impactful tools, and it's worth the time and energy to make them speak for you and for your future team members. 

Over the last ten years, we have heard from so many job seekers who ask for transparency around job Compensation. Compensation is a necessary and vital piece of information that communicates to the potential candidate whether it is even feasible for their individual livelihood to spend time applying to a job. We ask employers to be as up front about compensation as they can, even when the potential payment for a job can vary within a certain range. 

We have also heard from job seekers who notice when a job's description and responsibilities outweighs the compensation provided. We welcome the opportunity to reach out to employers and ask for more information or consideration.

But one of the biggest shifts in our policies has been choosing not to post jobs that do not provide an hourly minimum wage or better. This decision was formed over the course of years, taking in feedback from job seekers as well as job posters, and trying to strike a balance between publicizing opportunities for work and ensuring that the work was beneficial for everyone involved. This year, we finally came to the conclusion that the larger cultural shift in valuing human labor is a battle that we can choose to fight from our own small platform. 

Choosing not to post unpaid or low-paid internships and apprenticeships, including Americorps positions, was both swift and painstakingly slow, decisive and filled with conflict. We are posting fewer jobs right now because of the pandemic, and we are also actively choosing to post fewer jobs.

Our push toward valuing labor, combatting racism in the hiring process, and improving access to jobs has created hardship for some organizations that rely on GFJ to find passionate team members. It seems like no industry has been impacted by this specific decision as much as small farms, where a non-monetary payment structure is the norm - farm apprenticeships and internships sometimes offer a stipend or housing, and almost always offer fresh food. The valuable experience and learning opportunity on farms is inherent, and uniquely tied into the fact that most small farms operate on thin or nonexistent profit margins. So many small farmers are overworked and underpaid, themselves. Yet with farm work, there is a sense of service to the earth, to the good health of other people, and to one's own individual health - working actively, eating well, and reaping the benefits of being in nature. 

When systems are so intertwined, the pain of transformation can be most intense. By standing up for a world we envision, where farm products and service are truly valued, and employees compensated to reflect that, we withdraw one aspect of support for those small farms, which is helping them find quality team members who truly care about the work.

Although it may seem obvious, the problems woven into the farming system in America are far bigger than we could claim to solve on our own. We do not yet have the answer as to how to adjust our policy to make it equitable to both the small farms AND to the marginalized communities our policy aims to support. We only know that it's uncomfortable not to be able to help everyone in equal measure, and that discomfort reminds us that the White supremacist values of people-pleasing and perfection (especially for those who identify as women) as well as supreme confidence and all-knowing, are worth standing up against. We continue to work at letting go of guilt and shame so that we can divert our energy toward solutions. As we reimagine how to move forward together, it's not as sure or tidy as we'd like - it's just the truth. 

In the words of writer and civil rights advocate Michelle Alexander: "Work is deemed so fundamental to human existence in many countries around the world that it is regarded as a basic human right." Making your job post more equitable means making it more human.

We are here to help. Questions? Roadblocks? Pain points? Please reach out.

. . .

In our ongoing work to provide resources for Writing an Equitable Job Post, we invite you to get in touch if you have thoughts on any areas of a job post you'd like us to delve into. In the coming weeks, we look forward to covering Application details. 

In food, justice, and food justice, 

Dor + Tay

photo by Roxsand King for GFJ Stories