Understanding and Expanding Job Quality for the Michigan Food System

Michigan’s food system is made up of a diverse number of industries that span the production-consumption lifecycle of food grown in Michigan—from the farm to processors and ultimately grocery stores and restaurants. Despite the importance of these industries, most workers face low wages, poor job quality, and limited opportunities for equitable, family-sustaining career advancement.

Over the years, CSW has researched employment patterns, wages and benefits, workforce demographics, occupational segregation, and future growth opportunities for Michigan’s food system to help policymakers, advocates, workforce professionals, and educators better understand where improvements are needed to expand economic mobility. This work has also focused on documenting where better career opportunities exist for workers in this field and how to get there. Please see more about our work and findings below.

The Michigan Agriculture and Food Systems Workforce Advancement Initiative (MAFSWAI) Project

Since 2021, CSW, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has led The Michigan Agriculture and Food Systems Workforce Advancement Initiative (MAFSWAI) in partnership with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity; the Institute of Agriculture Technology, Center for Regional Food Systems, and Migrant Student Services at Michigan State University; and Michigan Food and Farming Systems.

MAFSWAI seeks to help migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) access the supports and skills needed to understand and access advanced and higher quality agriculture and food system employment opportunities, thereby supplying Michigan food growers, processers, and distributors with the workforce they need to fill critical jobs at all skill levels.

This work involves convening partners, conducting labor market information research, surveying and interviewing MSFWs and regional employers, as well as developing tools to support workers, employers, and educators in expanded awareness of these higher quality careers and how and where workers can receive the training and supports needed to access them.

Michigan Agriculture and Food Systems Workforce Advancement Initiative Career Pathway Maps

As part of this project, CSW updated the 2021 Food System Occupational Pathways in Michigan (documented below) and translated them into Spanish to increase their accessibility. The pathway maps provide employment statistics from 2023 and 2024, projected five-year growth, top skills requested in job postings for each job type, and other position requirements for six food system subsectors. Learners, workers, career counselors, and career navigators can use these maps to both identify accessible points of entry into food system careers as well as to understand which future opportunities exist to move into higher skilled, higher paying jobs aligned to their current role.

Food System Occupational Pathways in Michigan

In 2020, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Michigan State University Extension, CSW and  Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems  released Food Systems Career Pathways in Michigan, which outlined accessible career opportunities and pathways in Michigan’s food system. The career pathway maps illustrate how food system employees change careers or move into higher skilled, higher paying jobs – and how associated businesses or workforce agencies can help individuals develop their careers. This report also includes employment statistics from 2019 and 2020, projected five-year growth, level of demand for each job type, and what educational programs are available for career advancement.

This resource is an overview of the jobs that exist, the skills and education required, and the respective wages for six food system subsectors:

• Food Production
• Food Inputs and Services
• Food Manufacturing and Processing
• Wholesale Food Distribution or Storage
• Retail Food Distribution
• Food Preparation and Service

The career pathway maps illustrate how food system employees change careers or move into higher skilled, higher paying jobs – and how associated businesses or workforce agencies can help individuals develop their careers. This report also includes employment statistics from 2019 and 2020, projected five-year growth, level of demand for each job type, and what educational programs are available for career advancement.

Michigan Local and Regional Food Systems Workforce Assessment

In 2019, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Kalamazoo Valley Community College,  Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems  and CSW authored the “2019 Workforce Assessment of Michigan’s Local and Regional Food System.” The goal of this analysis was to better understand:

• the local and regional food system job categories that represent the most significant areas of employment within the food system,
• the wage data associated with those jobs,
• the skills that are required to fulfill those jobs, and
• growth projections in specific fields of employment.

This job scan analyzed the following core industries within local and regional food systems:

• Food Production,
• Farm Inputs,
• Wholesale Distribution,
• Manufacturing and Processing, and
• Food Retail

Allied industries were also included in data analysis.

2019 Workforce Assessment of Michigan’s Local and Regional Food System – A scan of jobs in Michigan’s food systems: employment, wages, the future, and more.

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