Farm workers are often disenfranchised migrants with little political sway, facing long hours, dangerous working conditions, and underpayment. The Campaign for Fair Food was founded to raise public awareness of the problem and to persuade major food buyers to commit to only buying from farms willing to be monitored to ensure they were treating their workers fairly. These standards represent the most comprehensive social responsibility program in US agriculture.

For Fair Food to find success and educate consumers, they needed a visual identity and branding elements which would communicate the campaign as succinctly as possible. We were thrilled to be able to help. Our design team focused on creating art that felt true to the mission of elevating laborers, eventually arriving at an image of a female farm worker carrying freshly picked produce in a field. The logo was going to be used on everything from murals to fruit stickers, which meant we had to think big about going small. We experimented with a variety of fonts to make sure the name of the campaign and its slogan, “Consumer Powered, Worker Certified,” would be legible at every size. And once we locked in a visual look, we helped expand the branding to make sure the online presence and print materials all felt coherent and cohesive.

The resulting campaign helped Fair Food reach millions of Americans. Participating buyers now include McDonalds, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. An editorial for The New York Times encouraged more businesses to join. President Jimmy Carter honored Fair Food, saying, “My hope is that this will become a model for social responsibility within the agricultural industry.” And the MacArthur “Genius Grant” called out the work as “visionary strategy… with potential to transform workplace environments across the global supply chain.” It’s an honor to have played a part of this social movement.