"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. 

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.

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.