Seventeen Blueberry farmers have recently been charged to pay thousands in fine by the Department of Labor for "substandard migrant housing, and ordered to pay tens of thousands more in back pay to workers who were short changed. They were underpaid in just about every way they could be cheated."
Wednesday
Disconnected
I recently handed out small fliers that asked people if they know where they food comes from and listed several facts about migrant farmworkers in Michigan. I used facts that have already posted to the blog and can be found in the post about migrant workers in Michigan. I passed them out on campus in the areas where people eat their lunch or dinner. Most people just took the fliers (and probably threw them away later) and walked away. Others I heard made comments, revealing how they didn't know that Michigan was the 4th largest employer of migrant labor and that 38% of Michigan's agricultural crops depend on hand-harvesting or processing. Although it didn't surprise me that these facts surprise other people, I was glad that people at least thought about the information, which I guess is something. There was one particular comment that was made that reminded me of how disconnected we are, as a society, from the earth. As Americans we are afraid to get our hands dirty and actually understand where our food comes from. Our Capitalist society keeps us complacent through consumerism and consumption, where questioning the process of manufacturing and production is not encouraged. We are too consumed by the next best electronic or fashion trend to understand where our food comes from.
"Harvest of Shame" Revisited
CBS aired a program about Migrant workers, 50 years later after first premiering "Harvest of Shame". Fifty years later, the conditions and experiences of migrant farmworkers have not changed dramatically. They continue to live in poverty and struggle to bring food to their own kitchen tables, while they work in horrible conditions to harvest the food that is brought to your kitchen table.
Conference on the Americas
As part of the Latin American Studies program at Grand Valley, the Conference on the America "Creating Agents of Change: Facing Challenges in our Community " was an opportunity to engage with others about various issues related to the Americas. I was particularly interested in a presentation by an Argentinean woman about democracy and the women's movement in Argentina. However, afterwards, I went to the Labor and Immigration panel, which I thought would be interesting for the purpose of this project. A student at Grand Valley gave a presentation about his investigation of the treatment of Mexican Labor in the U.S. Most of the information he presented I had already known, but he raised several points that I would like to mention here. The treatment of migrant workers is connected to immigration and reflects the way the United States views others, specifically Mexicans and people from Latin America. The United States has the ability to hire workers from other countries, such as Mexico during a "time of need" and then make them leave when they no longer need them anymore (See post about the Bracero Program!). In other words, the government has the ability to control when they want workers and when the don't. Although they are not U.S. citizens, they essentially have no rights in this country, yet they can be punished and deported when the government chooses to do so. This raises questions about who is and who is not a part of a community, which sheds light on the Immigration debate and who the United States allows into this country. Even more, who they allow into the country and for what reasons.
Something the United States needs to realize is that they stole this land from the Native Americans and Mexican peoples who resided here before they immigrated. They were the aliens of this land.
Slavery Still Exists!!
An organization that has made efforts for farm worker rights is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in Florida. Their efforts include building strength “as a community on a basis of reflection and analysis, constant attention to coalition-building across ethnic divisions, and an ongoing investment in leadership development to help our members continually develop their skills in community education and organization” (CIW). CIW have made a difference through various campaigns, including the Anti-Slavery Campaign, and their Campaigns for Fair Food, which has included boycotts of major fast-food corporations, such as Taco Bell and McDonalds. Their efforts of organizing and campaigning have raised public awareness of the exploitation and injustice of farm workers in the United States.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/help_end_modern_day_slavery/
The story of the Immokalee Workers in Immokalee, Florida only brushes the surface of the modern-day slavery that exists in the agricultural industry. In 2008, one of the largest slavery prosecutions was brought to the public's attention in Southwest Florida. Mexican and Guatemalan workers were found to have been held in involuntary servitude, where they did not receive money for their work and were beaten if they tried to leave. The Coalition of Immokalee workers has brought attention to modern-day slavery through their Anti-Slavery campaign. As an organization of Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants, the Coalition of Immokalee workers "helps to fight this crime by uncovering, investigating and assisting in the federal slavery rings preying on hundreds of farmworkers" (CIW).
Why should you care about Immokalee Workers? If you care about the lives of people, you should care about people who are enslaved. Most people do not know about the lives of migrant workers and their experiences and even more, people are not aware that slavery still exists today. In order to address the various problems migrant farmworkers face, we need to end slavery in the United States. Problems of forced labor without pay and inhumane living and work conditions should be enough reasons to create the change that is desperately needed for farmworkers. Systems of oppression, including Patriarchy and Capitalism need to be dismantled in order to address these problems since they are the root of the inequality and injustice that exists today. They allow slavery to continue.
To hear the story of the Immokalee Workers in their own words watch this video.
Tuesday
Let's get talking about migrant workers rights!
Many Americans think that farmworkers come to the United States to take the jobs of Americans. How many people would actually take the job of picking fruit for 10-12 hours a day in the stifling heat for a small piece-rate? In order to find out, the United Farm Workers labor union has initiated a campaign called "Take Our Jobs", where individuals can sign up to replace the hardworking people in the fields. For more information or to sign up, go here. Would you take the job of a farmworker for a day?
Back in September, Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central testified before the .U.S. Congress. Through humor, Colbert raised several issues regarding migrant farmworkers in America. After spending a day as a farmworker, he expressed the horrendous conditions farmworkers face and urged Congress to act now. Read more.
Pesticides: A deadly weapon
Source: http://coloradofarmworkers.com/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Legal%20Rights%20of%20Farm%20Workers
I first started researching about harmful chemicals and toxins after learning about Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The U.S. military and government weaponized harmful chemicals, like Agent Orange, to use for mass destruction during the Vietnam War. The U.S. government continues to condone the usage of these harmful chemicals in food production, which puts the laborers (i.e. farmworkers) at risk. The health of farm workers is most affected by handling pesticides and herbicides directly or handling the fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed. Exposure to pesticides is particularly important for women and women who may become pregnant. Chemicals in the bodies of women end up also in the bodies of fetuses and their newborn babies. Pesticide exposure has been linked to birth defects and is evident in the case of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
While working this summer, a co-worker of mine, whose family were migrant workers told me about a horrific experience she had dealing with pesticides. She recalls being in the fields with her family members as they worked. Although she was only a few years old, she remembers distinctly seeing the airplane fly over her, her family and the other workers, covering the fields with harmful chemicals. The next day she awoke crying with both eyes swollen shut. The pesticide exposure had affected her eyes and she was rushed to the hospital. As a grown woman today she told me how lucky she is to have her vision, but also how traumatizing the experience was for her mother and the rest of her family. Listening to her story made me realize how many farm workers out there are exposed to harmful chemicals in the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on crops and what health issues have affected them, including blindness, respiratory and skin problems, and even death.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, chemical exposures of agricultural workers is one of the most significant environmental hazards affecting human health in the U.S and “farmworkers suffer up to 300,000 acute illness and injuries from exposure to pesticides” (EPA, 3). Even more, federal laws and regulations do not ensure that farmworkers are protected. Although companies are required to label the pesticide’s contents, including the active ingredient and warnings about the product, farmworkers do not have access to the label and thus, are not informed about its hazards. They are not always provided the protective care and safety that are needed when handling different pesticides and given adequate field sanitation, such as toilets, clean drinking water and handwashing facilities. These basic sanitation facilities do not have to be provided on small farms where there are 10 or fewer workers with the current regulations. In other words, basic sanitation facilities do not have to be provided where 10 farmworkers are working. The importance of the health and well-being of farmworkers is extremely revealing.
The following video explains more about pesticides and the experiences of migrant farm workers in North Carolina, where 62 billion pounds of pesticides are applied each year. Watch here.
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