Lives of farm workers Part II

Click here to read the Lives of farm workers Part I.

After spending some time at the home of the strawberry worker, we drove to a nearby labor camp. If you are like me, the first image you have when you read “labor camp” is that described in John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath (an amazing book). I figured it must be better than that, and I have to admit, I didn’t even think labor camps existed anymore; yes, it was better than what I expected.

Here was a tiny community nestled between the dump and a correctional facility. It illustrated perfectly what environmental racism is all about. If you have ever seen military housing (meaning two tiny apartments next door to each other), this is kind of like what it was.

The building we met in was a school for the children. It was filled with bilingual books and learning games. But the testimonials we were going to hear definitely were not fit for children.

Six out of 10 women who cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. are sexually assaulted. As more women have become aware of this vicious act, they are actually starting to take birth control pills before they cross.

One of the young women we met, from Oaxaca, was raped during the crossing. This beautiful, young girl now has a baby boy. We were told that she has been learning to cope with the help of a nun. She had traveled back and forth with her father when she was 16 or 17 years old. They would travel as far as Michigan to help pick apples, blueberries and cherries and also go to Indiana – where they would pick corn.

But her father died while still in his 50s, and this time she traveled alone and unprotected. When she got here she slept outside in the wilderness because she had no place to stay. Then she went to a women’s shelter and eventually moved into a house with other women. Because of her son, she no longer has any plans to migrate back and forth.

We met other women who work in the strawberry fields – many have children. One had worked in the strawberry fields for 19 years. She spoke about extortion at the border, where gangs demand money for safe passage. She talked about a car full of people trying to cross the border, and when they refused to pay, one man was beaten and had his wallet stolen.

She works 7am – 4pm and has to produce 25-30 cases of strawberries (one case equals 12 baskets of strawberries). One of the women sustained an injury and suffers from excruciating pain doing this work.

She also discussed the problem of wage theft, which is very common for farm workers. A contractor will disappear when it is time for them to get paid. The growers blame it on the contractors and the workers have no recourse to collect payment for all of their work.

One of the questions brought up during the tour was why are the workers coming here? One of the main reasons discussed was NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), which basically serves to benefit the United States. According to Dr. Lopez, millions of subsistence farmers were driven out of Mexico because of NAFTA. These are farmers who were able to grow enough food to feed their families and sell enough of the surplus to make a living. And a majority of these farmers grew corn, which was (and still is) a vital part of the diet in Mexico. However, with NAFTA, the U.S. was able to export much cheaper corn (which is subsidized by our government and was more plentiful due to GMO corn). Unfortunately, the introduction of GMO corn by the U.S. can literally wipe out the various strains of corn that have existed in Mexico for centuries.

In addition to this, I contend that corporations (from the U.S. and elsewhere) also go into Mexico for production of products (some of which are toxic, such as televisions from Panasonic) where they pay the workers less than they would be making in the U.S.

In the next and final section on the lives of farm workers, I will discuss in more detail about another form of corporate welfare – labor camps.

Lives of Farm Workers Part I

I don’t consider myself to be an expert on farm workers, though I do feel I am pretty educated on the issue and on some of the history. And, of course, it is part of Food Empowerment Project's outreach efforts because of how passionately I feel about it.

In the 1970s, my mom participated in the first boycott of grapes organized by the United Farm Workers, so I was exposed to the issues of farm worker justice at a young age. Then, in the 1980s, I joined the grape boycott when it started again.

In Austin, Texas, I attended St. Edward’s University, which has a program called CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program). I remember learning about it when I started my work study job my first year there – they told me about the program, and my response was, “But we don’t have migrant farm workers anymore.” Unfortunately, this offended my boss, who actually had been a recipient of the program many years before. (She never did like me, but I think it was because of my involvement in animal rights which was pretty unheard of to many at the school.)

I had no idea. I thought that certainly the U.S. had found a way to give permanent jobs to those who grow our food. Not so. By the time I was graduating, I was doing papers on farm worker issues as I was going to school with them and was learning directly from them.

I remember one of the students who truly opened my eyes as she told me about her family and their experiences on the farms. Her mom would have sores on her body due to the agricultural chemicals, and although she was a little girl, she was the only one in her family who spoke English so the foreman would yell at her. How many times does a grown man get away with yelling at a young girl?

Fast forward to where I am now. As most of you probably know, justice for farm workers is a big part of Food Empowerment Project's mission. And I have done my best to stay informed on these issues; admittedly, I usually feel as if I have a good handle on it. You can read some of what we have been talking about on these pages of our website:

http://www.foodispower.org/produce_workers.htm
http://www.foodispower.org/slavery_usa.htm
http://www.foodispower.org/importing_slavery.htm

And yet, I continue to learn more and, well, none of it is good.

Several months ago I was contacted by an amazing high school student in Gilroy, Calif. I had the opportunity to meet her and her wonderful group. She was so incredibly informed on these issues – more so than even many college students I speak to.

But in addition to her desire to volunteer with us, she also wanted to connect us with the Center for Farmworker Families. Through this, I met the founder and an inspiring woman named Dr. Ann Lopez. She has studied farm worker issues in the Salinas area (this is near Santa Cruz and a strawberry-growing region) for more than 15 years.

One of their projects is to conduct Farm Worker Reality Tours. A few Food Empowerment Project volunteers and I had the opportunity to join one of these tours before my speaking engagement in Vancouver.

We were able to go out with a farm worker to a strawberry field where he showed us how he works, and then we were able to take a tour of the “house” that he shares with his wife and seven children (and at least one dog).

We found that strawberry workers like him (to protect him and his family, I will not even use an alias) can only expect to live to be 49. He spends 13 hours a day bending over, picking strawberries. The top salary is about $9 an hour, and they will earn .70 cents per 12 baskets they are able to fill. Incentive to work quickly means workers (who don’t earn a lot) are less likely to take breaks.

According to Dr. Lopez, this is one of the few families she has ever met where the whole family is still intact -- where the father didn’t come alone to the U.S. to send money back home. He brought the whole family with him.

Their house is a converted shack. It has one bedroom with a small kitchen and an even smaller living room. The bathroom is incredibly tiny as well. They have lovely portraits of the family up on the walls. But the place seriously looked in desperate need of repair and they pay $900 a month for it. In downtown San José (about 1 hour away) you can get a nice apartment for about a hundred dollars more. And yet, here are workers who get paid doing back-breaking work and essentially being gouged financially at the same time. Their water? It is contaminated – full of nitrates. He doesn’t complain as he doesn’t want to get in trouble and lose his job.

The houses in the surrounding hills are large and look down on the fields. These are owned by the people who make the money off the fruits of land and the backs of the workers.

When we asked for the name of a strawberry company that treats its workers well, we were told Swanton: http://www.swantonberryfarm.com/.

Part II will include testimonials of the farm workers and their stories of crossing the border and their work.

Eating healthy is a disorder?

Last week some articles posted on the internet explored new eating disorders. I always try to have a glance at these just to see if any pro-animal ag person brings up vegetarianism or veganism as they have in the past.

I was pleased to see that none of them did; however, there was a term I found pretty troublesome: Orthorexia nervosa. Why did it bother me? Partly because most of my friends, myself included, have some measure of this disorder. I worried for them and for me.

And yes, I am being sarcastic.

According to the simplest definition: “What is orthorexia? Identified in 1997 by Colorado physician Steven Bratman, MD, orthorexia is Latin for ‘correct eating.’ Here, too, the focus isn’t on losing weight. Instead, sufferers increasingly restrict their diets to foods they consider pure, natural and healthful. Some researchers say that orthorexia may combine a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder with anxiety and warn that severely limited ‘healthy’ diets may be a stepping stone to anorexia nervosa, the most severe -- and potentially life-threatening -- eating disorder.”

Yup, they said it: healthful eating: -- it isn’t even about losing weight!

But here is the worst part – what they eat:

• Orthorexics: Those affected may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides. Beyond that, orthorexics may also shun caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, wheat and dairy foods. Some limit themselves to raw foods.

Hmmm….now, I can’t completely fit in that category, but, umm….not eating processed foods. Really? I believe it is pretty much universal that we know that eating processed foods is a huge problem with our diets today.

And what? They don’t want to consume chemicals? Now I am sure the chemical industry finds this outrageous and a definite affront to how people in this country should be eating.

I mean, if people who are trying to eat healthy are called Orthorexics, than what are most people in the U.S. called? There is no disorder related to people who consume processed foods, eat at McDonald’s every day and dine on the bones and veins of chickens at KFC? Why is that?

I didn’t bother to look up the doctor who coined the term “Orthorexics,” but I am just absolutely shocked that any doctor would align people who are trying to improve their health with some sort of eating disorder.

The good news, of course, is that this term has been around since 1997 and maybe people haven’t heard of it. The bad news is I have no idea what is happening when a 13-year-old girl who wants to eat healthy because of all that she has learned about process foods, agricultural chemicals in her foods and what happens to animals who are raised for food walks into her doctor’s office and tells her/him of this “disorder.”

Some even refer to this disorder as “righteous eating.” Umm…if that is the case, then I think Food Empowerment Project should be the poster child as we do believe in protecting the rights of those when it comes to food.

Now my understanding is that some people with obsessive compulsive disorder suffer from something like this; however, the media are not doing them or healthy eating a service with the current run of articles on this issue.

In case anyone thinks I am making this up, check out http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real

Crushed by the Rolling Stone

I have been debating on writing this blog because, if you are like me, some things are just too horrible to bear. It has taken me about two weeks to write this because this blog might have a two-fold effect: one positive and one negative. The positive effect is that you will read the article in question, and the negative effect is that you will read the article in question.

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article in Rolling Stone magazine about a number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who went on a killing spree. Earlier this year when the shootings took place in Arizona and Australia was hit with major floods, I went on a hiatus from reading the news as sometimes it is so incredibly disturbing that I can’t sleep.

But when I saw this article in Rolling Stone, I thought, as I often do, that I need to have a good understanding about the horrors that the U.S. military (among our other entities) perpetuates against innocent people – aside from the war we ravage against them.

Admittedly I was not completely prepared for the physical and emotional reaction I would have. The images of the bloody body of the fifteen-year-old child who was murdered were chilling. Though when I got to the pictures of the soldiers (despicable, murderous psychopaths) posing with the young boy’s body as if he were a deer killed in a hunt, I had to stop, as my stomach was sick and I was short of breath.

I had viewed these images while at work, and I had to step outside the office to get some air. All I wanted to do was go home and cry. At the same time, I had to question why I looked at those images. And why did some bother me so much more than others?

I knew why I looked at the images. For the same reasons that I investigated factory farms, slaughterhouses and auction houses: the need to bear witness. The need to speak with some authority and, of course, the need to understand…or at least try to.

It took me a while to really analyze myself – my stronger reaction of the humans involved who perpetuated the savage act– the undeniable, unbearable acceptance of our utter cruelty. For some reason having the killers there made it unavoidable to accept how despicable we as a species can be. Filming pigs, chickens, ducks and cows in factory farms was difficult, but watching the majestic and beautiful black Angus slip at the auction house was painfully intense. It was hard to see a huge, strong animal fall and have some idiot poke and prod at him to get him to stand. The human participates in this act. Or to watch the ducks at the slaughterhouse struggle to upright themselves as they have been shackled upside down. The people there were hanging them, watching them.

These soldiers, murderers in Afghanistan, took delight in their killing spree. Like some serial killers, they took pieces of the bodies of their victims.

Sigh…. I write this knowing I have no solutions, and the only thought that I can cling to is relishing the fact that I can’t understand this--that I can’t relate to it-- and I am proud of that. That this type of wickedness is beyond my comprehension.

Thankfully, many of you reading this are on the other side of the wretched coin I saw exhibited in Rolling Stone – you, like me, are doing what you can to turn the tide. To expose these types of horrific acts and do what we can to end them.

Reading the article left me feeling a bit powerless and in anguish. I guess that is why so much of my energy is spent working on issues that I know I, and we together, can have a positive impact on. After spinning in my mind on how to fix the military – I decided it was a bigger task than I was capable of.

Kind of like when I was younger and overwhelmed with apartheid in South Africa, animal suffering, war and the death penalty. I realized that with certain issues – not eating animals and at the time honoring the boycott of grapes (on behalf of the farm workers)— I could do my part.

It’s not too difficult a task to not contribute to the slaughtering of animals for food, to encourage others to not buy “meat,” eggs and dairy, to work for justice for farm workers and an end to slavery in the chocolate industry – these are relatively simple ways we can all help to make the world a better place.

Speak out Reach out for Meatout

The “Great American Meatout” (as it was called when I first got involved in the late ‘80s, when it always fell on March 20th) is one of my favorite events. Organized by FARM, a group in our movement, Meatout is an incredibly positive event that can be done in a big or small way.

This year, Food Empowerment Project is a proud co-sponsor of the event!

When I was introduced to the concept of Meatout, it was equated with the “Great American Smokeout.” I hope I am not showing my age by mentioning that… I remember being in elementary school wearing a sticker of a frog with big red lips and “The Great American Smokeout.” The point was to encourage kids to not smoke and we wore our stickers with pride.

Seems like it should not be our job to teach children to eat healthier (and obviously more compassionately), but it seems to be now. You don’t see the schools doing it – but wouldn’t it be great to hear them talk about Meatout over the loudspeakers and have a week of animal-free meals in the cafeterias? I would like to think this will eventually happen, sooner rather than later.

It seems to me that kids would understand this issue more easily than smoking. Most children have a strong love for animals; wouldn’t this be the perfect time to take advantage of children’s innate sense of compassion while at the same time helping them understand the importance of eating healthy?

Okay, back from my dream and back to why I love Meatout.

I have been participating in Meatout for more than 20 years. I remember organizing an “Adopt A Carnivore” week for Meatout with my university group. We set up a table for a week and had people pledge to give up eating “meat” for the week and people who were vegetarian pledged to go vegan. Everyone got a bag filled with cookies, a tiny statue of a farmed animal, literature, etc ., and then at the end of the week we all went to eat at a vegetarian restaurant (no vegan restaurants in Austin back then). Years later I heard from people who had actually stopped eating animals due to their one-week pledge.

Over the years, I have served veggie burgers at various State Capitols, restaurants and universities. Not long ago, I started a new job and moved to a new area so I knew I couldn’t do a big event. Instead, I bought everyone at my office a veggie burger. None of them were vegetarian, so it was a good test. One of my colleagues now only eats veggie burgers and has been taste testing some vegan cheeses!

So big or small, it doesn’t matter what you do. We should treat every day like Meatout and always use it as an opportunity to speak out for the animals around the world. But hey, this day is the time for special emphasis, when more people will notice it!

I just got back from handing out 200 vegan burgers at the great San Jose State University with my local group, Santa Clara County Activists for Animals. Students were eager to give the meatless burgers a try and learn more. Such a positive feel good event – for everyone involved. Our St. Patrick’s Day slogan: Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Be Green – Go Vegan!

So please, Speak out and Reach out this Meatout!

For more details: http://www.meatout.org/

Don’t Cry Me a River—Coke Might Buy It

In 2006, I had the honor of speaking at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. I spoke on corporate animal factories and the devastation they were having on animals, workers and the environment and how many of these factories were coming from the U.S. In attendance were activists from Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, the U.S., Venezuela and a number of other countries. Afterwards, we all ate at a vegetarian restaurant nearby.

As some of you know, this experience is what inspired me to create the Food Empowerment Project. So many the issues close to my heart were discussed—environment, labor, water, immigration—and I was there to help bring up the animals. Another incredible part of the conference was that we were able to take tours to see some of the progress that was being made in Caracas.

One of the speakers I was privileged to hear when I was there was Oscar Olivera, the coordinator of the Defensa del Agua y de la Vida (“The Coalition in Defense of Water and Life”). I had already seen him in the movie The Corporation and was familiar with the famous story of how he and others in his community of Cochabamba, Bolivia, eventually stopped the billion-dollar U.S. corporation Bechtel from privatizing their water.

This was the first I had heard of a corporation literally buying the rights to water. You can read more about this issue on a new section of our website: Water Usage & Privatization.

Even after I started to pay attention to the issue, I truly thought that this injustice was only taking place overseas, that somehow corporations were exploiting developing countries – and charging them for water. I knew Coke was privatizing water in India (and mostly recently I learned they are also doing this in Chiapas, Mexico). Luckily, in both Bolivia and India, activists have been successful in stopping it.

But did you know it was happening in the U.S. as well? Yes, even our water supply is being bought up. How short-sighted is this?

This is when I wish Alan Shore were real! (Okay, I just started watching Boston Legal and wish he could take on some of these corporations that I vent about.)

A corporation owning water? I don’t mean they have water on their property and they own it; I mean they want to own rivers, and they want the water in our aquifers. We already lose so much of our water to animal agriculture, but now we are losing it to the likes of corporations like Nestlé and Coca Cola? How dare they. And how dare any government allow this to happen.

How did it come to this? How can we get out of it?

We have all been hearing for the past decade that water is going to be the precious fluid that wars are fought over in the future – not oil. And I guess these companies are getting a head start?

One might think that nothing can be done living in a community not currently affected by water privatization. But everyone should be on the lookout for these corporations seeking to privatize our water, and remember that we can all boycott companies such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola for their participation in depriving people of water. Water is a natural resource that we all need to live, and yet they've turned it into a commodity from which they make a huge profit.

Furthermore, we can avoid buying bottled water. Yes, I know, this is not the solution, but it is a small step that each of us can take to not support this form of exploitation. You can buy stainless steel reusable bottles—like those from our friends at Food Fight! or Herbivore (please do not buy Nalgene as they make equipment used in animal experiments).

Thanks to Mat Thomas for his research and work on the following sections: Water Usage & Privatization and Pollution.

And if you haven’t yet had a chance to check our other new section on our website about Farmers’ Markets, please do! Thanks goes out to Katie Cantrell for volunteering her time to write this section!