Interview with Farbest Food Inc. on its Proactive Approach to Preventing Child Labour and Supporting Youth

In 2024, The Centre was contracted by Farbest Food Inc., a U.S.-based company involved in poultry production and processing, to support efforts to strengthen its systems and reduce child labour risks across its supply chain.

Over six months, the engagement was rolled out in three phases:

• Phase 1: The Centre reviewed Farbest’s existing child labour policies and procedures and developed a child labour policy and a child labour remediation policy
  
  

• Phase 2: On-site child labour risk assessments were conducted across two facilities in Indiana, including at the farm level. These assessments evaluated risks and assessed systems for providing decent work opportunities for youth and apprentices
  
  

• Phase 3: Internal staff received targeted training on child labour prevention and remediation, equipping those responsible for recruitment and worker management with the knowledge to identify, prevent, and address child labour risks

What stood out to us at The Centre was Farbest Food’s genuine commitment to strengthening its systems, not just checking boxes. The company went beyond the standard one-off risk assessments, opting instead for a comprehensive and proactive approach. Notably, this was done voluntarily, without legal compulsion, at a time when child labour laws are being weakened both globally and in the U.S.

— Malin Liljert, Director of CRIB Global Consultancy Services

To learn more about Farbest’s motivations and the impact of this project, we spoke with Brittney Kirwer, Farbest Food’s Director of Corporate Human Resources.

Farbest is committed to putting our people first. We would never put a child in harm's way, and we wanted to make sure there were no gaps in our processes that would allow that to happen. We hire a very diverse group and want everyone to have a safe and engaging environment. A child labour case could negatively impact our business and all of our employees.

We learned a lot about how and why child labour could be an issue in the US. Everybody in our organisation must be aware of and be a part of the solution. Training is key. We also learned that some of the technology we had put in place for other reasons is helping us prevent child labour. An example is facial recognition at our entrances. We also learned that restricting our group to only hiring those above 18 is not a good solution. We do have areas in our business that are good opportunities for young workers, and we do not want to exclude them.

Even though we may not see any gaps in our process today, we need to be prepared with a remediation plan and resources for that child. This is an ever-changing environment, and we need to be prepared. It isn’t just about protecting the company but also the child.

We did these trainings virtually and were really happy with the content and interaction. We had several training days to accommodate our groups’ schedules. We also have groups that can hire 16+ and some that can only hire 18+. We split the groups so that the content was valid and accurate for their role. The Centre did a fantastic job of keeping the training interactive and engaging. We had a lot of positive feedback about the training. Our goal is to provide training to our leadership group annually.

Our group came away with a much better understanding of child labour and how to prevent it. More importantly, they now know how to report it and how to interact with a person you may suspect is under the working age. Before the training, I think our team felt like avoiding child labour was an HR function, and after the training, our group understands that everyone needs to be involved.

We were searching online for a partner to help us strengthen our child labour policies. We had contacted a few groups, but The Centre responded quickly and with a very organised and robust approach to help us.