Value beyond toil

Last Monday Victoria celebrated a group of stonemasons who went on strike 169 years ago at a Melbourne University construction site, winning the right to work an eight hour day for the first time anywhere in the world.

The recognition of eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest was recognition that working people’s lives had value beyond the toil we could provide.

This was a very, very big thing back then and so each year since on the second Monday in March we’ve celebrated the belief that our work cannot be separated from our humanity.

Living more and more online so much of the work we do has become hidden, making it hard for us to see who does what and how much effort goes into the products and services we consume. 

As a grocer I often wish we had psychic powers, so that when we picked up a peach or a potato, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a bag of coffee we could see back and back down the supply chain to all the people who grew, harvested, milled, dried, processed, trucked, baked, packed and delivered those everyday items we grab without a second thought.

At Fair Food we do our best to celebrate farmers like Madelaine Scott who provides us with her wonderful eggs, but there also are lots of hidden hands behind Madelaine’s eggs we don’t tell stories about.

There’s the grain grower who supplies the feed, the breeder who hatches chicks, the box makers, the truckers, the grocery packers, shelf stackers and home delivery drivers not to mention the buyers, accounts officers, logistics managers etc etc whose hands all go into helping Madelaine’s eggs find their way to our breakfast tables.

We may not have psychic powers but with a little time and imagination we can begin to piece together the dozens of workers behind a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk.
 
And though we may not know who they are, we can still recognise each other’s humanity with a quiet thanks and a nod of recognition before we tuck into our meal.

Have a great week

Chris