This week, my focus will be on migrant farm workers. I’m certainly not an expert on this topic, but I think it’s a really important aspect of the food system that should be discussed.
There are many directions we could go, but first it’s important that we all have a baseline level of knowledge. Please look over each of the Farm Worker Issues on this website: http://nfwm.org/education-center/farm-worker-issues/. Although this information is referring to farm workers in general, note that almost 80% of farm workers are foreign-born and virtually all of those 80% are from Mexico.
Michigan is quite agriculturally diverse, and Southwest Michigan actually has a large concentration of migrant workers. Michigan Radio did a documentary called “Voices from the fields: a story of migrant workers in Michigan.” I’m only posting two short segments, but if you’re curious, here is the full documentary: http://michiganradio.org/post/voices-fields-migrant-workers-michigan
Please listen to these! They’re short!
1) A segment about housing conditions for migrant workers: http://michiganradio.org/post/what-home-looks-migrant-worker
2) A segment about some of the issues with undocumented migrant workers: http://michiganradio.org/post/what-happens-when-more-half-migrant-workers-are-undocumented This segment is particularly interesting because it explores the employers' viewpoints on undocumented workers while showing how policy changes can trickle down and affect migrant workers.
Also, this is the organization in Kalamazoo, Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan, that the story references: http://www.farmworkerlaw.org/advocacy2014
So, I’ll ask you to think/write about:
What, if anything, did you know about migrant workers rights before reading this blog post?
What, if anything, were you surprised to find out?
Of all the complex issues related to migrant workers (labor laws, low wages, health & safety, housing conditions, child labor, education, women’s issues, etc.), what stood out to you? Are any of these more easily addressed/fixed than others?
I don’t know much about immigration policy, and I suspect many of you might not either. Still, what might an ideal immigration policy look like? How can we give migrants more power so that they can speak out in the face of injustice?
Finally, I want to try to keep this solution-based. How can we, as consumers, help protect the people who are picking so much of our food?
We’ve talked about the importance of buying local, but is that enough? Buying locally may be better for the environment and even for your body, but we can’t forget the human component of how our food was produced.
Finally, on a more broad scale, how do we deal with all these intersecting issues? It can be exhausting to consider every aspect of the food we purchase (Is it local? Is is organic? How was it produced? Who produced it, and how were they treated?, etc.), but it’s crucial if we want to revolutionize our food system. I know I get frustrated and overwhelmed at times, so feel free to share any feelings you have about this.
Thanks everyone! Can’t wait to read all your blog posts!
Thanks for bringing this topic up, Emily. I think it is vital that we consider who produces the food in large-scale agriculture. Sophomore year I worked closely with MiRA (Migrant Rights Action), a former civic engagement program at Kalamazoo. That year I learned a lot - especially about how invisible migrant farmworkers are in discussions of food justice. Working on Kalamazoo College's food policy and dining service provider change, there was a lot of support on having sustainable and local food, but not a lot of attention paid to justly produced food. For me, I think this speaks to the intersection of numerous issues - especially race and class interacting within a capitalist system. The majority of migrant farmworkers are people of color, large numbers Latino, who are economic migrants. Many times, as one of the articles pointed out, farmworkers often are undocumented, though this isn't always the case. However, I point out these complexities because I think it helps explain why migrant farmworkers don't receive a lot of attention. To address the root issues surrounding migrant farmworkers requires addressing systems of white supremacy, classism, and worker exploitation - which the capitalist system is built off of.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do know a couple of innovative ways that have tried to address abuses against farmworkers. Fair Food Standards Council (http://fairfoodstandards.org/about.html) and Food Justice Certification (http://agriculturaljusticeproject.org/?page_id=13) are two organizations/coalitions that are helping farmers become certified as just employees, meaning that consumers are ensured that the food produced was humanely raised/harvested. Of course, as with all certification programs, there are issues like farmers having to pay for certifying, that complicated the programs. However, I think these are good steps.
I think it's important to comment that many of the farmworker abuse occurs on huge corporate farms, and is less likely to occur on smaller farms. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen - systems like racism impact all farms. I think that with smaller farms and with farmers that one is able to build a relationship with, it is possible to discuss worker conditions and guidelines face-to-face. In these cases certification may not be necessary. But I think it's still an important consideration and area to ask farmers about - especially in MI where so much fruit that must be handpicked is produced.
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ReplyDeleteI worked as an intern with Farmworker Legal Services this past summer and I think that it is great that we are discussing this topic because one of the most important things we can do to combat this oppressive and exploitative system is to educate ourselves and refuse to ignore these realities that are so often intentionally hidden from our view. I think, as Mariah pointed out, an important step in this is to grapple with the complexities of this issue, (racism, classism, xenophobia etc.) and our own prejudices and preconceived notions. I think that along with this, we can be listeners and amplify the voices of migrant farmworkers and their families. We also can be actors and hold growers accountable for their actions. We can work to change the legal and cultural climate that dehumanizes migrant farmworkers and their families through activism and civic engagement.
ReplyDeleteOn a smaller scale, we can educate ourselves on company policies and boycott and pressure companies that are condoning slave conditions for the sake of profit. One example is the Coalition of Imokalee workers and their campaign for fast food chains to raise their purchasing price of tomatoes by 1 cent. They have had a number of successes with Burger King, Walmart, Whole Foods and others signing a Fair Food Agreement and are still asking Wendy’s and Publics among others to sign as well. Consumers can make a huge difference by supporting these movements with their purchasing power and by supporting them politically and socially as well.
Thanks for providing these links, Emily, and for bringing this topic to our class discussion. This is such a challenging and complex issue that is so hard to untangle and see potential solutions.
ReplyDeleteFirst, a few things that surprised me: I hadn't thought of the implication of so many kids not having access to education because of this system, and how that enables it to keep functioning.
I found the timeline really useful. In 1930 - "Finally, in this period, the U.S. government also passed a series of labor laws to protect workers, but that excluded farm workers and domestic laborers, the jobs that were historically held by African Americans and immigrants. These laws specifically exclude farm workers from basic labor protections such as overtime pay, workers’ compensation, protection for unionizing and collective bargaining, workers’ compensation, and child labor laws." We can see where so many of the issues stem from.
Thinking of solutions is difficult. We demand cheap food in our country, and most Americans don't want to do this kind of work under terrible conditions without adequate pay. So this system has formed where - like one of the workers said in the clip - laborers are coming from places with nothing, and this job is better than nothing. No one should be working in these conditions, and it seems like that is the ultimate issue - that so many of these workers do not have any alternatives. So the system is perpetuated. And like Kacey mentioned, so much of the responsibility for the poverty of Mexican cities is on us, because of NAFTA and US injection of cheap corn into their communities.
I agree, Emily, this can be so overwhelming! And sometimes I feel like opting out of the system (growing your own food, or buying strictly locally) isn't enough…how do we work towards broader, systemic change?
I think, like many people have said, awareness and education throughout the general public is key on this issue. I find it very frustrating that many people look at migrant workers and illegal immigrants in a negative light and portray them as taking jobs away from "true" Americans. But the jobs they take are jobs nobody wants, and their reason for coming is because of the US having taken away so much of Mexico's agricultural economy through NAFTA.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by the living conditions provided at farms as portrayed in the Michigan Radio segment. I always pictured that migrant workers would have sub-par housing, but I never imagined it to be that bad. I think the shock value of those photos - especially the kitchen and bathtub - would really make people stop and listen. Exposing the harsh realities of the living and working conditions is one way to catch people's attention and force them to confront how our food is grown. Then, I would hope people would get in touch with their humanity and try to further understand the legalities of migrant workers and what can be done to improve their conditions.
Emily, thank you so much for bringing this topic to our class discussion. I think that I was very surprised about the conditions of living for migrant workers just because I haven’t listened to anything quite like the excerpts from NPR that you posted. Of all of the issues related to migrant workers I was incredibly disturbed by the health and safety issues. Every person deserves to be treated like a person and after reading and listening to the articles that you posted I know that migrant workers are not treated as people, they are treated as a commodity, a way in which people can gain more profit. Health and safety are things that everyone should have and so this is particularly shocking.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about how we cannot forget about the human component in how our food is produced. That is something that is so, so important and difficult for people to come to terms with. While I don’t have any solutions coming to my mind at this moment, I am incredibly excited to have this discussion in class on Thursday. Thank you, again, for bringing this to our class.
I'm really interested to learn more about this and to discuss on Thursday. I had definitely heard of poor working conditions on farms, mostly in the context of internationally traded crops, like chocolate, and the importance of buying Fair Trade. I wasn't as aware of the large number of migrant workers that are employed in the U.S., however, so I'm definitely glad that we will be talking about this.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good point Emily, that it can be really difficult to consider every aspect of the food we purchase, but I think it's really important. One of the biggest impacts we can make is as a consumer - making it a priority to seek out and support farms that are doing all the right things by the environment and by their workers. I think that buying local and getting to know your farmers or better yet, visiting their farms to see their growing practices and working conditions is the best way to ensure that we don't support the oppression of migrant workers.
Thank you for bringing this topic into conversation, Emily. I remember going to a few lectures freshman/sophomore year put on by the Migrant Rights Action (MiRA) and being shocked at the harsh realities of migrant farm workers—particularly in regards to the underreporting of pesticide exposures to these workers. The NPR excerpts put everything in even more perspective for me. I completely agree with Mariah; I think the root of this problem lies within the disregard associated with white supremacy. The selfishness within our capitalist society is apparent, as we often ‘look the other way.’ I agree with you, Emily. Buying local is extremely important but it’s not enough! I think it is imperative that we continue to push our society to make those relationships with farm workers in order to attempt to discuss their working conditions, etc. How do we do this besides purchasing locally? I think there are a lot of great organizations around that strive to raise awareness on migrant farm workers, like MiRA. Not only is it an organization that educates the Kalamazoo community on migrant civil rights, but also it also gives migrant farm workers a podium to speak from that can help form relationships with community members. As I don’t have as much experience in this field as perhaps many others in the class, I’m really looking forward to Thursday’s class as I’m sure we can all find more ways to become more proactive!
ReplyDeleteI am very happy you chose this topic and are specifically focusing on workers issues in Michigan. I do think the first step in bettering conditions for migrant workers is educating people on who it is picking their food. Many individuals, like myself, would be surprised to find that 80% of farm workers re foreign born. Looking at the timeline, it is astonishing how little has change it terms of treatment of migrant workers. I agree with your frustration on this issue and I think this quote from the NFWM sums up that frustration nicely: “The role of farm workers is one of the most vital jobs, and yet it’s also one of the most dangerous and least adequately compensated”. Many seem to have turned a blind eye to the harsh conditions and mistreatment that goes on within seasonal farms. Since workers are brought over with a contract to a specific employer it makes workers susceptible to exploitation and unable to freely change jobs. The constant threat of deportation makes it easy to further take advantage of workers. I think the website is right in saying that we have not come a long way at all since the days of indentured servitude.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that organizations like NFWM exist as well as the initiatives that Annie mentioned are great and can serve to bring attention to these issues. Hopefully as people strive to better understand where their food comes from they can see the human labor aspect of the industry. I think Amy had a great point on the farm today in saying that replacing more efficient technology with human labor should not be the greater solution but instead having more small farms where workers are treated fairly.
Before this post I had very limited knowledge of migrant workers' rights, so thank you for bringing this to our attention. The first thing that sticks out to me is how terrible it would be to be an illegal migrant worker working hard to stay alive while your employer constantly holds your deportation over your head. It is just wrong that many of these workers can't stand up to their mistreatment out of fear that they will be sent home. And it means that employers can take advantage of their workers because they know that they have something to hold over their heads. That is some psychological abuse coupled with physical abuse and mistreatment and the overall picture is not a pretty one.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that struck me is the conditions the migrant workers work in and especially live in. For an entire family to have to use a lake to bathe in is just unacceptable. One time outside of bottom's up I saw a homeless man ask a guy for some change, and the guy replied "I worked for this money, get a job." That is a common thread in our societies villainization of our poor - that they are lazy and need to help themselves by working (there is so much wrong with this but I digress). In the case of migrant workers, they came to this country to work. They work hard. A lot harder than lots of people who eat the food that the migrant workers pick and produce. A family that works hard should be able to shower after a hard days work. And they should have heat in their homes. It's just shocking that the people who do the work that is most essential to keeping people fed in our country are struggling to feed themselves and their families.
How can we, as consumers, help protect the people who are picking our food? That is a great question that I don't have an answer for at this moment. If we know that a particular employer mistreats his/her workers, would boycotting their goods be of any help? Surely the workers would just be treated even more unfairly if the revenue of the employer declines. I'm curious to talk about some solutions in class tomorrow, because based on the history of migrant workers that I read about on the link, things are still bad and little progress has been made to make conditions better. I think a collective change in mindset that pays attention to what you said: "We can't forget the human component of how our food is produced," would be a major step in the right direction.
I was really struck by the Timeline of Agricultural Labor on the National Farmworker Ministry site. It provided a snapshot of the underpinnings of this problem for me--how our agricultural system in this country is built on exploitation and oppression. Though the demographics of the exploited have shifted over the centuries, we've always had a population of individuals who've been forced either through physical force (slavery) or economic force (poverty) to do hard and dangerous labor in our agricultural fields. Our farming system doesn't function without these people. This just reinforces for me the need for us to make a radical change in how we live and how we relate to each other. We can't just keep trying to tweak the current system to make it less exploitative. The current system is only possible if through exploitation.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to choose one farmworker issue to focus on as especially problematic because I think they are all intertwined, but the issue of pesticide exposure is a real hot button one for me, I guess because I've been in one way or another trying to deal with the issues of human-created toxins in our ecosystems for a long time now. One real irritation I have with our society's ongoing conversation about "organics" is that again it is so frequently focused on eaters rather than on the producers of food. There are websites that will list for you which foods are most likely to contain pesticide residues so that you as an eater can choose to avoid conventionally grown versions of that produce. But where are the guidelines that tell you which crops are the most dangerous for farmworkers in terms of pesticide exposure? Because it is the person out working in the field all day after the crop has been treated with chemicals that's going to bear the brunt of the toxin--not you the eater. And it might be that person's kid who is helping them in the field or hugging Mom or Dad when they come home covered in toxic dust. Sandra Steingraber makes the point in one of her books that she sources organically grown food because she doesn't want the food that she feeds her children to be making other people's children sick.
And that's part of the change I think we need. We need to start caring enough about other people--people we don't even know--that we are willing to sacrifice our own luxuries. Buying local in and of itself isn't enough--there is all kinds of exploitation going on in our backyards. But I do think the change we need can start with local communities becoming more self-sufficient and resilient. If we can meet our own needs for food and shelter within our local communities with a fair exchange of energy and respect, perhaps we can build a new system that isn't fueled by exploitation. This is hard, of course, because we're all stuck inside this exploitative system like fish in water. We take it for granted, like it's reality. But it isn't reality--it's something that humans created and we can create something different.
What would a truly fair and self-sufficient community look like? What principles would it be built on? What would happen if we truly valued fairness and the well-being of others? What labor would we be willing to undertake ourselves if it meant that one less farmworker would have to suffer to produce our food? What would we be willing to do without if it meant that one mother could give birth to a child without pesticide-induced birth defects? These aren't rhetorical questions. Our actions have effects, whether we see them or not.
Thank you Emily for bringing up this very important topic. Living in a first world country, I think migrant labor is a very important issue extending to our agricultural systems. The Timeline of Agricultural Labor on the National Farm Worker Ministry really put into perspective how our food system has its roots in racial oppression. It shows how throughout America's history, the times have changed however the way our food system functions has not. Our food system still very much runs on the exploitation and oppression of minority groups as illustrated by some of the facts mentioned in Emily's post. We see a very similar trend in the production of our clothes, electronics, and everyday tools and objects that we take for granted. It is the big corporations that are exploiting these individuals living in poverty by paying them extremely low wages and created extremely poor and hazardous working conditions for the sake of profit. In our food system, the big culprit is the corporation that comes up everyday in class, Monsanto. Monsanto makes it possible to grow hundreds of acres of crops with the use of pesticides. These giant farms that are providing for feed for animals that will be sold to companies such as Walmart and McDonald's hire children and migrant workers as mentioned in the articles Emily posted. Again, a reoccurring solution to the problems we have been talking about in this class is to return to a community-based social system, which was used in indigenous cultures in Africa and the Americas before European invasion. Small steps towards this social structure can be made by buying food from local farmers such as Amy and John and the farmers we had dinner with in the Arcus center. By getting to know these farmers and buying their crops, we are supporting food being grown in a sustainable and humane way and decreasing the demand for food harvested by slave labor. Another step would be to grow one's own food. Unless you live downtown or in an apartment, there is no reason why we should not being utilizing the land for growing our own food. It does not make any sense that we are working to make money to buy food from companies that exploit people all the while we are maintaining a lawn that could be used to grow our own food to make us not so reliant on those companies. Those hours working to make the money for the food are not necessary in the first place. I am looking forward to our discussion tomorrow. Should be a good one.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your post Emily. This introduces so many valued conversation about exploitation in general. As many have said, I also do not think that buying local is enough even if we are just talking about food. Actively educating ourselves and others about the exploitative nature of some of these companies could lead to boycott and other forms of rejection. This also makes me think about so many of the other "things" that I own. Some, or many of these "things" were produced and manufactured by underpaid and ill-treated workers (clothes, furniture, jewelry etc.). I am forced to ask myself the question: what do I really need to live a wholesome life? How can I envision myself in a community where there are shared burdens and benefits? There are many questions at this time of my life but I am grateful for these discussion as I weed my way through.
ReplyDeleteEmily thank you for bringing this topic to the discussion! It's something that is so important, but I think is often overlooked. I think one thing that was most surprising for after reading the articles was the lack of housing security that is provided for migrant workers.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a direct experience with agricultural migrant labor in this country. While we were in Thailand I was shocked to learn about the slave fishing boats that forced refuges from Myanmar into labor for no wage. Often these workers were threatened with their own lives. Learning about the forced fishing that was occurring off the Thai coast was something that I couldn't believe and many of my peers also felt strongly about. But to some extent the same thing is happening in this country, but so little is being done about it. I have trouble understanding this paradox and I feel it is likely due to the fact that we benefit as country from migrant labor in the production of our food. I'm looking forward to our class discussion and trying to decipher possible ways to move forward in our agricultural production!