Few Grist readers need an introduction to Eric Schlosser. His 2001 book, Fast Food Nation, helped galvanize interest in the politics and ecology of food production. Since that time, he’s used his increasingly high profile to illuminate one of the most shadowy crannies of the food system — working conditions in the vast monocropped fields where most of our fruits and vegetables grow.

In this short interview recorded last week at Slow Food Nation, Schlosser talks about why he thinks labor issues have to be a central concern for the sustainable-food movement going forward.

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