{"id":162822,"date":"2024-07-17T12:04:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=162822"},"modified":"2024-08-30T00:44:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T04:44:27","slug":"who-is-feeding-americas-farmworkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2024\/07\/who-is-feeding-americas-farmworkers\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Feeding America\u2019s Farmworkers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by <\/span><\/i>Grist<\/span><\/i><\/a> and co-published with <\/span><\/i>Modern Farmer<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Standing knee-deep in an emerald expanse, a row of trees offering respite from the sweltering heat, Rosa Morales diligently relocates chipil\u00edn, a Central American legume, from one bed of soil to another. The 34-year-old has been coming to the Campesinos\u2019 Garden run by the Farmworker Association of Florida in Apopka for the last six months, taking home a bit of produce each time she visits. The small plot that hugs a soccer field and community center is an increasingly vital source of food to feed her family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It also makes her think of Guatemala, where she grew up surrounded by plants. \u201cIt reminds me of working the earth there,\u201d Morales said in Spanish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tending to the peaceful community garden is a far cry from the harvesting Morales does for her livelihood. Ever since moving to the United States 16 years ago, Morales has been a farmworker at local nurseries and farms. She takes seasonal jobs that allow her the flexibility and income to care for her five children, who range from 18 months to 15 years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, she picked blueberries until the season ended in May, earning $1 for every pound she gathered. On a good day, she earned about two-thirds of the <\/span>state’s minimum hourly wage of $12<\/span><\/a>. For that, Morales toiled in brutal heat, with little in the way of protection from the sun, pesticides, or herbicides. With scant water available, the risk of dehydration or heat stroke was never far from her mind. But these are the sorts of things she must endure to ensure her family is fed. \u201cI don\u2019t really have many options,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s grappling with rising food prices, a burden that isn’t relieved by state or federal safety nets. Her husband works as a roofer, but as <\/span>climate change diminishes crop yields<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>intensifies extreme weather<\/span><\/a>, there’s been less work for the two of them. They have struggled to cover the rent, let alone the family\u2019s <\/span>ballooning grocery bill<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really, really hot \u2026 the heat is increasing, but the salaries aren\u2019t.\u201d The <\/span>Campesinos\u2019 Garden<\/span><\/a> helps fill in the gap between her wages and the cost of food.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Rosa Morales, left, and Amadely Roblero, right, work in the Apopka garden in their free time. Ayurella Horn-Muller \/ Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her story highlights a hidden but mounting crisis: The very people who ensure the rest of the country has food to eat are going hungry. Although no one can say for sure how many farmworkers are food insecure (<\/span>local studies suggest it ranges from 52 to 82 percent<\/span><\/a>), advocates are sure the number is climbing, <\/span>driven in no small part by climate change<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>2.4 million or so farmworkers<\/span><\/a> who are the backbone of America\u2019s agricultural industry earn among the <\/span>lowest wages in the country<\/span><\/a>. The average American household <\/span>spends more than $1,000 a month<\/span><\/a> on groceries, an almost unimaginable sum for families bringing home <\/span>as little as $20,000<\/span><\/a> a year, especially when food prices have jumped <\/span>more than<\/span><\/a> 25 percent since <\/span>2019<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Grappling with these escalating costs is not a challenge limited to farmworkers, of course \u2014 the Department of Agriculture says getting enough to eat is a financial struggle for <\/span>more than 44 million people<\/span><\/a>. But farmworkers are particularly vulnerable because they are largely invisible in the American political system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about supply chains and food prices going up, we are not thinking about the people who are producing that food, or getting it off the fields and onto our plates,\u201d said Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiuhtecutli works with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition to protect farmworkers from the occupational <\/span>risks and exploitation<\/span><\/a> they face. Few people beyond the workers themselves recognize that hunger is a problem for the community, he said \u2014\u00a0or that it\u2019s exacerbated by climate change. The <\/span>diminished yields<\/span><\/a> that can follow periods of extreme heat and the disruptions caused by floods, hurricanes, and the like <\/span>inevitably lead to less work<\/span><\/a>, further exacerbating the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t a lot of aid available, either. Enrolling in federal assistance programs is out of the\u00a0 question for the roughly <\/span>40 percent of farmworkers without work authorization<\/span><\/a> or for those who <\/span>fear reprisals or sanctions<\/span><\/a>. Even those who are entitled to such help may be reluctant to seek it. In lieu of these resources, a rising number of advocacy organizations are filling the gaps left by government programs by way of food pantries, collaborative food systems, and community gardens across America.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven though [farmworkers] are doing this job with food, they still have little access to it,\u201d said Xiuhtecutli. \u201cAnd now they have to choose between paying rent, paying gas to and from work, and utilities, or any of those things. And food? It’s not at the top of that list.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A migrant worker works on a farm land in Homestead, Florida on May 11, 2023. Chandan Khanna \/ AFP via Getty Images via Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2234<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, hunger rates among farmworkers, as with other low-income communities, <\/span>have been at their worst during the winter<\/span><\/a> due to the inherent seasonality of a <\/span>job that revolves around growing seasons<\/span><\/a>. But <\/span>climate change<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>inflation<\/span><\/a> have made food insecurity a <\/span>growing, year-round problem<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In September, torrential rain caused heavy flooding <\/span>across western Massachusetts<\/span><\/a>. The inundation decimated farmland already ravaged by a series of storms. \u201cIt impacted people’s ability to make money and then be able to support their families,\u201d Claudia Rosales said in Spanish. \u201cPeople do not have access to basic food.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As executive director of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Rosales fights to expand protections for farmworkers, a community she knows intimately. After immigrating from El Salvador, she spent six years working in vegetable farms, flower nurseries, and tobacco fields across Connecticut and Massachusetts, and knows what it\u2019s like to experience food insecurity. She also understands how other exploitative conditions, such as a lack of protective gear or accessible bathrooms, can add to the stress of simply trying to feed a family. Rosales remembers<\/span> how, when her kids got sick, she was afraid she\u2019d get fired if she took them to the doctor instead of going to work. (Employers harassed her and threatened to deport her if she tried to do anything about it, she said.) The need to put food on the table left her feeling like she had no choice but to tolerate the abuse.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI know what it’s like, how much my people suffer,\u201d said Rosales. \u201cWe’re not recognized as essential \u2026 but without us, there would not be food on the tables across this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
A young girl carries a \u2018We Feed You\u2019 banner as she shows support for farmworkers marching against anti-immigrant policies in the Central Valley agriculture town of Delano, California, on April 2, 2017. Mark Ralston \/ AFP via Getty Images via Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The floodwaters have long since receded and many farms are once again producing crops, but labor advocates like Rosales say the region\u2019s farmworkers still have not recovered. <\/span>Federal<\/span><\/a> and state disaster assistance <\/span>helps those with damaged homes, businesses, or personal property<\/span><\/a>, but <\/span>does not typically support workers<\/span><\/a>. Under <\/span>federal law<\/span><\/a>, if agricultural workers with a temporary visa lose their job when a flood or storm wipes out a harvest, <\/span>they are owed up to 75 percent of the wages<\/span><\/a> they were entitled to before the disaster, alongside other expenses. They aren\u2019t always paid, however. \u201cLast year, there were emergency funds because of the flooding here in Massachusetts that never actually made it to the pockets of workers,\u201d Rosales said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The heat wave that recently <\/span>scorched parts of Massachusetts<\/span><\/a> likely <\/span>reduced worker productivity<\/span><\/a> and is poised to <\/span>trigger more crop loss<\/span><\/a>, further limiting workers\u2019 ability to make ends meet. \u201cClimate-related events impact people economically, and so that then means limited access to food and being able to afford basic needs,\u201d said Rosales, forcing workers to make difficult decisions on what they spend their money on \u2014 and what they don\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The impossible choice between buying food or paying other bills is something that social scientists have been studying for years. Research has shown, for example, that low-income families often <\/span>buy less food during cold weather to keep the heat on<\/span><\/a>. But climate change has given rise to <\/span>a new area to examine<\/span><\/a>: how extreme heat can trigger <\/span>caloric and nutritional deficits<\/span><\/a>. A <\/span>2023 study<\/span><\/a> of 150 countries revealed that unusually hot weather can, within days, create higher risks of food insecurity by limiting the ability to earn enough money to pay for groceries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a trend Parker Gilkesson Davis, a senior policy analyst studying economic inequities at the nonprofit Center for Law and Social Policy, is seeing escalate nationwide, particularly <\/span>as utility bills surge<\/span><\/a>. \u201cFamilies are definitely having to grapple with \u2018What am I going to pay for?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cPeople, at the end of the month, are not eating as much, having makeshift meals, and not what we consider a full meal.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are designed to help at times like these. More than <\/span>41 million people nationwide<\/span><\/a> rely on the monthly grocery stipends, which are based on income, family size, and some expenses. But <\/span>one national survey<\/span><\/a> of nearly 3,700 farmworkers found just 12.2 percent used SNAP. Many farmworkers and migrant workers <\/span>do not qualify<\/span><\/a> because of their immigration status, and those who do <\/span>often hesitate to use the program out of fear<\/span><\/a> that enrolling could jeopardize their status. Even workers with temporary legal status like a working visa, or those considered a \u201c<\/span>qualified immigrant<\/span><\/a>,\u201d typically must wait five years before they can begin receiving SNAP benefits. Just <\/span>six states<\/span><\/a> provide nutrition assistance to populations, like undocumented farmworkers, ineligible for the federal program.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Los Angeles Food Bank workers prepare boxes of food for distribution to people facing economic or food insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic on August 6, 2020 in Paramount, California Mario Tama \/ Getty Images via Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The expiration of COVID-era benefit programs, surging food costs, and international conflicts last year forced <\/span>millions more Americans<\/span><\/a> into a state of food insecurity, but no one can say just how many are farmworkers. That\u2019s because such data is almost nonexistent \u2014 even though the Agriculture Department tracks annual <\/span>national statistics on the issue<\/span><\/a>. Lisa Ramirez, the director of the USDA\u2019s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, acknowledged that the lack of data on hunger rates for farmworkers should be addressed on a federal level and said there is a \u201cdesire\u201d to do something about it internally. But she didn\u2019t clarify what specifically is being done. \u201cWe know that food insecurity is a problem,\u201d said Ramirez, who is a former farmworker herself. \u201cI wouldn’t be able to point to statistics directly, because I don’t have [that] data.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without that insight, little progress can be made to address the crisis, leaving the bulk of the problem to be tackled by labor and hunger relief organizations nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy guess is it would be the lack of interest or will \u2014 sort of like a willful ignorance \u2014 to better understand and protect these populations,\u201d said social scientist Miranda Carver Martin, who studies food justice and farmworkers at the University of Florida. \u201cPart of it is just a lack of awareness on the part of the general public about the conditions that farmworkers are actually working in. And that correlates to a lack of existing interest or resources available to build an evidence base that reflects those concerns.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The lack of empirical information prevented Martin and her colleagues Amr Abd-Elrahman and Paul Monaghan from creating a tool that would identify the vulnerabilities local farmworkers experience before and after a disaster. \u201cWhat we’ve found is that the tool that we dreamed of, that would sort of comprehensively provide all this data and mapping, is not feasible right now, given the dearth of data,\u201d she noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Martin and her colleagues did find, in a forthcoming report she shared with Grist, that <\/span>language barriers<\/span><\/a> often keep farmworkers from getting aid after an extreme weather event. Examining the <\/span>aftermath<\/span><\/a> of Hurricane Idalia, they found cases of farmworkers in Florida trying, and failing, to get food at emergency stations because so many workers spoke Spanish and instructions were written only in English. She suspects the same impediments may hinder post-disaster hunger relief efforts nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin also believes there is too little focus on the issue, in part because <\/span>some politicians demonize immigrants<\/span><\/a> and the agriculture industry <\/span>depends upon cheap labor<\/span><\/a>. It is easier “to pretend that these populations don’t exist,\u201d she said. \u201cThese inequities need to be addressed at the federal level. Farmworkers are human beings and our society is treating them like they’re not.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A warming world is one amplifying threat America\u2019s farmworkers are up against, while a growing anti-immigrant rhetoric reflected in exclusionary policies is another. Ayurella Horn-Muller \/ Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2234<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tackling hunger has emerged as one of the biggest priorities for the Pioneer Valley Workers Center that Claudia Rosales leads. Her team feeds farmworker families in Massachusetts through <\/span>La Despensa del Pueblo, a food pantry <\/span>that distributes food to roughly 780 people each month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The nonprofit launched the pantry in the winter of 2017. When the pandemic struck, it rapidly evolved from a makeshift food bank into a larger operation. But the program ran out of money last month when a key state grant expired, sharply curtailing the amount of food it can distribute. The growing need to feed people also has limited the organization\u2019s ability to focus on its primary goal of community organizing. Rosales wants to see the food bank give way to a more entrepreneurial model that offers farmworkers greater autonomy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the long term, I\u2019d like to create our own network of cooperatives owned by immigrants, where people can go and grow and harvest their own food and products and really have access to producing their own food and then selling their food to folks within the network,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

M\u00f3nica Ram\u00edrez, founder of the national advocacy organization Justice for Migrant Women, is developing something very much like that in Ohio. Ram\u00edrez herself hails from a farmworker family. \u201cBoth of my parents started working in the fields as children,\u201d she said. \u201cMy dad was eight, my mom was five.\u201d Growing up in rural Ohio, Ram\u00edrez remembers visiting the one-room shack her father lived in while picking cotton in Mississippi, and spending time with her grandparents who would \u201cpile on a truck\u201d each year and drive from Texas to Ohio to harvest tomatoes and cucumbers all summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The challenges the Ram\u00edrez family faced then persist for others today. Food security has grown so tenuous for farmworkers in Fremont, Ohio, where Justice for Migrant Women is based, that the organization has gone beyond collaborating with organizations like Feeding America to design its own hyperlocal food system. These hunger relief efforts are focused on women in the community, who Ram\u00edrez says usually face the <\/span>biggest burdens<\/span><\/a> when a household does not have enough money for food.<\/span><\/p>\n

Migrant women, she said, \u201cbear the stress of economic insecurity and food insecurity, because they are the ones who are organizing their families and making sure their families have food in the house.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later this month, Ram\u00edrez and her team will launch a pilot program out of their office that mimics a farmers market \u2014\u00a0one in which farmworkers and migrant workers will be encouraged to pick up food provided by a local farmer, at no charge. That allows those visiting the food bank to feel empowered by choice instead of being handed a box with preselected goods, and they hope it will alleviate hunger in a way that preserves a sense of agency for families in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although federal lawmakers have begun at least <\/span>considering<\/span><\/a> protecting workers from heat exposure and regulators are making <\/span>progress on a national heat standard<\/span><\/a>, so far there\u2019s been no targeted legislative or regulatory effort to address food insecurity among farmworkers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, legislators may be on the verge of making things worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

In May, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee passed a draft farm bill that would <\/span>gut SNAP and do little to promote food security<\/span><\/a>. It also would bar state and local governments from adopting farmworker protection standards regulating agricultural production and pesticide use, <\/span>echoing legislation Florida recently passed<\/span><\/a>. The inclusion of such a provision is “disappointing,” said DeShawn Blanding, a senior Washington representative at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy organization. He hopes to see the version that eventually emerges from the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it <\/span>remains stalled<\/span><\/a>, incorporate several other proposed bills aimed at protecting farmworkers and providing a measure of food security.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those include the <\/span>Voice for Farm Workers Act<\/span><\/a>, which would shore up funding for several established farmworker support initiatives and expand resources for the Agriculture Department\u2019s farmworker coordinator. This position was created to <\/span>pinpoint challenges faced by farmworkers<\/span><\/a> and connect them with federal resources, but it has not been \u201cadequately funded and sustained,\u201d according to a <\/span>2023 USDA Equity Commission report<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Another bill<\/span><\/a> would create <\/span>an office within the Agriculture Department<\/span><\/a> to act as a liaison to farm and food workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

These bills, introduced by Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California, would give lawmakers and policymakers greater visibility into the needs and experiences of farmworkers. But the greatest benefit could come from a third proposal Padilla reintroduced, the <\/span>Fairness for Farm Workers Act<\/span><\/a>. It would reform the <\/span>1938 law<\/span><\/a> that governs the minimum wage and overtime policies for farmworkers while <\/span>exempting them from labor protections<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Migrant workers pick strawberries during harvest south of San Francisco in April 2024. Visions of America \/ Joe Sohm \/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images via Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs food prices increase, low-income workers are facing greater rates of food insecurity,\u201d Padilla told Grist. \u201cBut roughly half of our nation\u2019s farmworkers are undocumented and unable to access these benefits.\u201d He\u2019d like to see an expedited pathway to citizenship for the over 5 million essential workers, including farmworkers, who lack access to permanent legal status and social safety benefits. \u201cMore can be done to address rising food insecurity rates for farmworkers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, none of these bills squarely addresses farmworker hunger. Without a concerted approach, these efforts, though important, kind of miss the point, M\u00f3nica Ram\u00edrez said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just don’t think there’s been a fine point on this issue with food and farmworkers,\u201d she said. \u201cTo me it\u2019s kind of ironic. You would think that would be a starting point. What will it take to make sure that the people who are feeding us, who literally sustain us, are not themselves starving?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2234<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For 68-year-old Jes\u00fas Morales, the Campesinos\u2019 Garden in Apopka is a second home. Drawing on his background studying alternative medicine in Jalisco, Mexico, he\u2019s been helping tend the land for the last three years. He particularly likes growing and harvesting moringa, which is used in Mexico to treat a range of ailments. Regular visitors know him as the \u201cplant doctor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook around. This is the gift of God,\u201d Morales said in Spanish. \u201cThis is a meadow of hospitals, a meadow of medicines. Everything that God has given us for our health and well-being and for our happiness is here, and that’s the most important thing that we have here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jes\u00fas Morales views plants like moringa, which is used in Mexico to treat a range of ailments, as \u201cthe gift of God.\u201d Ayurella Horn-Muller \/ Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He came across the headquarters of the state farmworker organization when it hosted free English classes, then learned about its garden. Although it started a decade ago, its purpose has expanded over the years to become a source of <\/span>food security and sovereignty<\/span><\/a> for local farmworkers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The half-acre garden teems with a staggering assortment of produce. Tomatoes, lemons, jalape\u00f1os. Nearby trees offer dragonfruit and limes, and there’s even a smattering of papaya plants. The air is thick with the smell of freshly dug soil and hints of herbs like mint and rosemary. Two compost piles sit side by side, and a greenhouse bursts with still more produce. Anyone who visits during bi-monthly public gardening days is encouraged to plant their own seeds and take home anything they care to harvest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who come to our community garden, they take buckets with them when they can,\u201d said Ernesto Ruiz, a research coordinator at the Farmworker Association of Florida who oversees the garden. \u201cThese are families with six kids, and they work poverty wages. \u2026 They love working the land and they love being out there, but food is a huge incentive for them, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the week, the nonprofit distributes what Ruiz harvests. The produce it so readily shares is supplemented by regular donations from local supermarkets, which Ruiz often distributes himself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But some of the same factors driving farmworkers to hunger have begun to encroach on the garden. Blistering summer heat and earlier, warmer springs have wiped out crops, including several plots of tomatoes, peppers, and cantaloupes. \u201cA lot of plants are dying because it\u2019s so hot, and we\u2019re not getting rains,\u201d said Ruiz. The garden could also use new equipment \u2014 the irrigation system is manual while the weed whacker is third-rate, often swapped out for a machete \u2014\u00a0and funding to hire another person to help Ruiz increase the amount of food grown and expand when the garden is open to the public.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demand is rising, and with it, pressure to deliver. Federal legislation addressing the low wages that lead to hunger for many farmworkers across the country is a big part of the solution, but so are community-based initiatives like the Campesinos\u2019 Garden, according to Ruiz. \u201cYou do the right thing because it\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always the right thing to feed somebody. Always.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ernesto Ruiz, pictured, oversees the Farmworker Association of Florida\u2019s garden in Apopka. Ayurella Horn-Muller \/ Grist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by Grist and co-published with Modern Farmer. Standing knee-deep in an emerald expanse, a row of trees offering respite from the sweltering heat, Rosa Morales diligently relocates chipil\u00edn, a Central American legume, from one bed of soil to another. 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