There is nothing more American than apple pie. The proof is trivial. Apple pie a La Mode is delicious. Did you ever stop to think about how apple pie comes out to your diner booth table steaming hot avec vanilla ice-cold ice cream on the side?

First there are the ingredients of pie: mostly flour, sugar, apples, cinnamon, and butter. Next is the ice cream, mostly ice cranked milk. I was raised to always pray over my food before eating by my family and traditionally we always “bless the hands that prepared the meal.” Extended out to all the labor involved in the supply chain of food, the hands that brought the meal into fruition, we have a deep appreciation for what both the labor market and service industry is…

We should be concerned about the health and safety of all human lives. We care about all those who work in the agricultural industry. Food procurement is the second most dangerous job in America, second only to coal mining according to Miloehner and Calvo 2006 report on Worker and Safety in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. They cite statistics, claiming, “an average of 21.3 fatalities occur per 100,000 U.S. farm workers annually,” causing this health scientist from the mid-western state of Wisconsin some pause before eating that first savory bite of warm apple pie (p. 167). If farming is the second most dangerous occupation, what other privilege do I benefit from without a second thought?

Thankfully, in my area, we are not as reliant on coal energy as we once were, but across the United States, many homes, buildings, and restaurants are still burning coal for their electricity. That means the freezer that keeps ice cream cold, and the oven that makes apple pie hot, is all thanks to coal. Wisconsin ranks the tenth most coal dependent state in the nation. Surely if these jobs are so dangerous, so hazardous, and so important in the lives of Americans there would be some protections over health and safety. One would assume correctly, there is oversight within the U.S. government to protect workers in these industries. This protection, rather the enforcement for safe work environments relies on accurate reporting, and meaningful resolution from infractions.

“Unionization also predicts higher total and nontraumatic injuries, suggesting that injury reporting practices differ between union and nonunion mines.” (Morantz p. 88).

According to a literature review, and deep investigation in Coal Mine Safety: Do Unions Make a Difference, author Alison Morantz hints at confounding data prior to the Coal Act. Morantz theorizes, “the union safety effect on traumatic injuries seems to have escalated just before the turn of the millennium,” which is likely related to increased improvements overall to workplace safety (p. 109). When it comes to public health and safety in the workplace of these two integral industries, farming and coal mining, one thing remains clear. Workplace health and safety should concern everyone, and it follows that multiple entities should be involved in both regulation and reporting.

The truth about pie is that it is sweet as it is satisfying to eat. We cannot enjoy it without the labor of love. Therefore we must consider the lives of others along the food supply chain.