From the Field: Harvest of Ideas
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Farmworkers, Mostly Undocumented, Become ‘Essential’ During Pandemic
Article by Miriam Jordan, New York Times, April 4, 2020 "It’s sad that it takes a health crisis like this to highlight the farmworkers’ importance,” said Hector Lujan, chief executive of Reiter Brothers, a large family-owned berry grower based in Oxnard, California...Mr. Lujan, whose company employs thousands of field workers, described them as unsung heroes for guaranteeing that Americans have food security... About half of all crop hands in the United States, more than one million, are undocumented immigrants, according to the Agriculture Department. Growers and labor contractors estimate that the share is closer to 75 percent. The Atlantic Selects: Who Milks America's Cows? / Los Lecheros
Video by Jim Cricchi in The Atlantic July 2, 2018 "Many farmers attribute the dearth of American-born dairy workers to a cultural shift in the way we view the agriculture industry. "When I was growing up, the people that worked on farms were sons and daughters of other farmers,” says John Rosenow, a dairy farm owner from Wisconsin, in Jim Cricchi’s short documentary, Los Lecheros. Like much of the state’s $43 billion-a-year dairy industry, Rosenow’s farm now relies heavily on immigrant labor." |
The Jamaican Apple Pickers of Upstate New York
Article by Tik Root & photo essay by Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist, in New York Times, October 5, 2017
"The Jamaican government has been sending people here since World War II, when labor was in short supply. The program started with sugarcane cutters in Florida, and has since shifted to predominantly apple pickers...Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, the local air force base provided a steady supply of pickers: both the airmen and their spouses. The orchard also hired migrant laborers. But by the late ’60s, the Forrences said, wages at the base began to rise, and the priorities of workers changed. The Forrences had heard that another local orchard was using Jamaican pickers, and decided to go that route as well...
Today, there are about 3,800 Jamaican H-2A workers spread across 13 different states."
Article by Tik Root & photo essay by Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist, in New York Times, October 5, 2017
"The Jamaican government has been sending people here since World War II, when labor was in short supply. The program started with sugarcane cutters in Florida, and has since shifted to predominantly apple pickers...Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, the local air force base provided a steady supply of pickers: both the airmen and their spouses. The orchard also hired migrant laborers. But by the late ’60s, the Forrences said, wages at the base began to rise, and the priorities of workers changed. The Forrences had heard that another local orchard was using Jamaican pickers, and decided to go that route as well...
Today, there are about 3,800 Jamaican H-2A workers spread across 13 different states."
California Republican Calls for National Immigration Reform Movement
KQED News, September 8, 2017
“California Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said that he supports legislation that would offer a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA recipients...While serving as a state senator, he voted against a bill that would have made undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children eligible for scholarships to state colleges. He defended his voting record, saying that responsibility for immigration reform lies at the federal level — now that he’s a member of the national government, he considers immigration reform an obligation.”
KQED News, September 8, 2017
“California Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said that he supports legislation that would offer a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA recipients...While serving as a state senator, he voted against a bill that would have made undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children eligible for scholarships to state colleges. He defended his voting record, saying that responsibility for immigration reform lies at the federal level — now that he’s a member of the national government, he considers immigration reform an obligation.”
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Jeff Flake: We Need Immigrants With Skills. But Working Hard Is a Skill.
Op-Ed by Jeff Flake, Republican senator from Arizona, in New York Times, August 18, 2017 Speaking of the crucial labor of farmworkers (including the vast number who are undocumented): “Without such work there is no ranch. Without ranches, my town and towns like it falter.” Letters to the Editor in response to Sen. Flake's Op-Ed echoed that position, but Olga Byrne at Human Rights First also challenged the Senator’s support of Operation Streamline, “a system of prosecuting up to 100 immigrants en masse for immigration violations like illegal entry… despite United States treaty obligations that prohibit penalizing asylum seekers for their manner of entry… He can’t promote Operation Streamline while claiming to support a more compassionate and realistic immigration policy.” |
No sanctuary, fewer farmhands: How Dairyland suffers under Trump agenda
Multiplatform piece by Andrew Becker, Patrick Michels and Alexandra Hall at Reveal (Center for Investigative Journalism), August 9, 2017
"Some farmworkers have chosen to return to the country they left many years ago rather than live in constant fear of arrest.
Miguel Hernandez spent 16 years working on a dairy farm in western Wisconsin before deciding to leave the home he has shared with his wife, Luisa Tepole, and two young sons. On a recent afternoon, farm owners Doug and Toni Knoepke stood nearby as Hernandez and several other workers loaded the family’s possessions onto a two-truck caravan.
Doug Knoepke said the scene reminded him of “The Grapes of Wrath,” the John Steinbeck tale of the mass migration from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California in the 1930s.
'We can’t milk the cows anymore by ourselves,” said Knoepke, a first-generation farmer with 650 cows. “It really does concern me as far as who’s gonna fill their shoes.' ”
Multiplatform piece by Andrew Becker, Patrick Michels and Alexandra Hall at Reveal (Center for Investigative Journalism), August 9, 2017
"Some farmworkers have chosen to return to the country they left many years ago rather than live in constant fear of arrest.
Miguel Hernandez spent 16 years working on a dairy farm in western Wisconsin before deciding to leave the home he has shared with his wife, Luisa Tepole, and two young sons. On a recent afternoon, farm owners Doug and Toni Knoepke stood nearby as Hernandez and several other workers loaded the family’s possessions onto a two-truck caravan.
Doug Knoepke said the scene reminded him of “The Grapes of Wrath,” the John Steinbeck tale of the mass migration from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California in the 1930s.
'We can’t milk the cows anymore by ourselves,” said Knoepke, a first-generation farmer with 650 cows. “It really does concern me as far as who’s gonna fill their shoes.' ”
Chester County's immigrants look to Pope Francis for hope as they pray for policy reform
WHYY, Newsworks report on the Pope in Philly, by Elisabeth Perez-Luna, September 17, 2015
"Sixteen-year-old Sammy Placencia performs in a traditional Mexican folkloric group . He lives in Delaware but still comes with his parents to worship in St Rocco. What would he ask the Pope ? 'I'd ask him, what could we do to help with immigration so we won't have trouble with the law .' "
Immigration Reform By Default
Op-Ed by Roberto Suro, New York Times, September 16, 2015
“Across the West, crops rotted for the second summer in a row this year because of a weeks long shutdown of visa processing for seasonal farm workers caused by State Department computer problems. The California Legislature is considering whether to grant work permits for unauthorized migrant farmworkers.”
On U.S. Farms, Fewer Hands for the Harvest
Producers raise wages, enhance benefits, but a worker shortage grows with tighter border
Article by Ilan Brat in Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2015
“Last year, about a quarter of Biringer Farm’s strawberries and raspberries rotted in the field because it couldn’t find enough workers. Samantha Bond was determined not to let that happen again. (She) offered 20% raises to the most productive workers from the last harvest…”
Farm Labor Groups Make Progress on Wages and Working Conditions
Innovative movements to improve what farm laborers earn, how they work and where they live are starting to have success across the country, despite numerous obstacles.
Business Day section, New York Times, July 4, 2015
"Kurt Schweitzer, president of Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, Washington: "I love the whole concept that Costco or Walmart are going arm-in-arm down the aisle, saying we have a responsibility..."
Let’s Help Create More Farmers
Op-Ed by Mark Bittman, New York Times, June 10, 2015
“Farming is — or should be — a social enterprise as much as a business, one that benefits all of us and uses the land conscientiously and ecologically. Thus in the long run we’ve got to expand our vision to include some kind of land redistribution that would give those who want to work the land for our mutual benefit the ability to do so.”
Women are the Past, Present and Future of American Agriculture
Posted on the USDA site by Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, October 17, 2014
"The 2012 Census of Agriculture notes that nearly one million women are working America’s lands. That’s nearly a third of our nation’s farmers. These women are generating $12.9 billion in annual agricultural sales."
WHYY, Newsworks report on the Pope in Philly, by Elisabeth Perez-Luna, September 17, 2015
"Sixteen-year-old Sammy Placencia performs in a traditional Mexican folkloric group . He lives in Delaware but still comes with his parents to worship in St Rocco. What would he ask the Pope ? 'I'd ask him, what could we do to help with immigration so we won't have trouble with the law .' "
Immigration Reform By Default
Op-Ed by Roberto Suro, New York Times, September 16, 2015
“Across the West, crops rotted for the second summer in a row this year because of a weeks long shutdown of visa processing for seasonal farm workers caused by State Department computer problems. The California Legislature is considering whether to grant work permits for unauthorized migrant farmworkers.”
On U.S. Farms, Fewer Hands for the Harvest
Producers raise wages, enhance benefits, but a worker shortage grows with tighter border
Article by Ilan Brat in Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2015
“Last year, about a quarter of Biringer Farm’s strawberries and raspberries rotted in the field because it couldn’t find enough workers. Samantha Bond was determined not to let that happen again. (She) offered 20% raises to the most productive workers from the last harvest…”
Farm Labor Groups Make Progress on Wages and Working Conditions
Innovative movements to improve what farm laborers earn, how they work and where they live are starting to have success across the country, despite numerous obstacles.
Business Day section, New York Times, July 4, 2015
"Kurt Schweitzer, president of Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, Washington: "I love the whole concept that Costco or Walmart are going arm-in-arm down the aisle, saying we have a responsibility..."
Let’s Help Create More Farmers
Op-Ed by Mark Bittman, New York Times, June 10, 2015
“Farming is — or should be — a social enterprise as much as a business, one that benefits all of us and uses the land conscientiously and ecologically. Thus in the long run we’ve got to expand our vision to include some kind of land redistribution that would give those who want to work the land for our mutual benefit the ability to do so.”
Women are the Past, Present and Future of American Agriculture
Posted on the USDA site by Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, October 17, 2014
"The 2012 Census of Agriculture notes that nearly one million women are working America’s lands. That’s nearly a third of our nation’s farmers. These women are generating $12.9 billion in annual agricultural sales."
September 22, 2014:
New York Times special section on CLIMATE CHANGE highlights the impact in various areas.
This article focuses on food security:
Testing Future Conditions for the Food Chain
By Justin Gillis
"If the researchers can figure out the fundamental genetic reasons that some plants do better than others in difficult conditions, those insights could become crucial for plant breeders."
Are Bees Back Up on Their Knees?
Op-Ed by Noah Wilson-Rich in New York Times, September 25, 2014
"Outdated monoculture farming subsidies like those that go to corn growers should be diverted to farmers and growers who are planting a diversity of crops, including wildflowers. Federal tax incentives should go to farmers, beekeepers and everyday citizens who opt for permanent pollinator sources."
More Latinos on Farms Move From Fields to Office
Article by Tanzina Vega in New York Times, August 16, 2014
"The numbers signaled a small but consistent pattern of growth in agribusiness among Latinos, many of whom have gone from working in the fields to sitting in the head offices."
Bees and Colony Collapse
Op-Ed by Mark Winston in New York Times, July 14, 2014
"Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society."
California Farmers Short of Labor, and Patience
Article by Jennifer Medina in New York Times, March 30, 2014
“Industry groups are among the most important forces pressing Congress for an immigration overhaul.”
Farm Bill Reflects Shifting American Menu and a Senator’s Persistent Tilling
Article by Jennifer Steinhauer in New York Times, March 8, 2014
“While still in the shadows of traditional farming, organics are the fastest-growing sector of the food business. Support for that movement has traditionally come from Democrats in Congress, but the organic farming provisions in the bill had broad support from both parties.”
The Seeds of a New Generation
Article by Michael Moss in New York Times, Wednesday, February 5, 2014
“The children of corn farmers are coming back to the farm, and carving out 5 or 10 acres to grow fruits and vegetables…” - Craig A. Chase, local food and farm coordinator at Iowa State University.
Migrants Don’t Need More Rights
Op-Ed by Martin Ruhs in New York Times, Thursday, December 19, 2013
“In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which stipulated a comprehensive set of civil, political, economic and social rights for migrants, including those living or working abroad illegally. But 23 years later, there is no denying the failure of the convention to protect those rights…We need to develop a new approach to the global protection of migrant workers that is based on a clear understanding about what has gone wrong with the 1990 convention.”
Carta del Norte (Letter from the North)
Carta del Norte is a beautifully illustrated book for middle school-age children: it is a letter from a Salvadoran man who immigrated to the U.S. for work, to the son he left behind in El Salvador. Published by the Museum of the Word and Image (Museo de la Palabra y Imagen/ MUPI) in San Salvador, the book includes a conversation guide for use by teachers and parents. The project offers an opportunity for children to talk about the phenomenon of migration that affects so many families in El Salvador, where the lack of jobs and resulting violence has propelled people north in an “American dream” that often disappoints. This migration path begun during the war as people escaped the repressive dictatorship but increased after the war into the present in an unrelenting outmigration. Letter from the North encourages the children to construct a “Salvadoran dream” that would transform their own society to a place with economic opportunities, security and intact cultural roots and family networks. The issues of migration, of immigration reform, of seasonal labor and other temporary jobs, are closely intertwined; even better understood, at this point, as transnational in nature.
Our Coming Food Crisis
Op-Ed by Gary Paul Nabhan in New York Times, Monday, July 22, 2013
“Climate adaptation is the game every food producer and eater must now play.”
Richer Farmers, Bigger Subsidies
Article by James B. Stewart in New York Times, Business Day, Saturday, July 20, 2013
“We subsidize large agribusiness and the wealthy at the expense of the family farmer and the taxpayer…” - Congressman Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin
“The more you produce, the bigger the subsidy and the more you get…This really favors big agribusiness, since they produce and sell the most crops…”
- Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group
“You talk to young farmers, and they don’t want any of this. It’s not helping small farmers. We really need a generational change in thinking on farm subsidies.” - Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth
The Lessons of Belle Glade
Op-Ed by Cindy Hahamovitch in New York Times, Friday, July 19, 2013
“…as long as workers can be threatened with deportation, regulations are unenforceable.”
2012 Census of Agriculture Reveals New Trends in Farming
U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 2, 2014
"Young, beginning principal operators ...increased 11.3 percent;...All categories of minority-operated farms increased;... Hispanic-operated farms had a significant 21 percent increase."
The Feminization of Farming
Op-Ed by Olivier de Schutter in New York Times, March 3, 2013
“Across the developing world, millions of people are migrating from farms to cities in search of work. The migrants are mostly men. As a result, women are increasingly on the front lines of the fight to sustain family farms.”