cross posted on LaVida Locavore
The name Immokalee Florida has come up many times, just another place where migrant workers were paid low wages for doing work, very hard work, that "Americans won't do". I farm, so hard physical work has never bothered me, and I know the work migrant laborers do is hard, never ending and it is done for very low pay. It all goes to the society we live in and the economy that makes it possible.
On March 3-4, I was part of a delegation http://www.ciw-online.org/... of food justice advocates to Immokalee. I'll keep this post short because the best way to see what is happening there is by viewing the photos, videos and comments on the CIW website. Just Harvest did a great job of organizing the "Food Justice Tour" and it did exactly what it was designed to do, show those of us who traditionally work in the local/organic food movement how injustice is so pervasive in the industrialized food system.
I guess I always knew this, and that was one of the reasons why I shifted to organic production, but the treatment of workers in Immokalee speaks volumes about what we are doing to the farmworkers, the landless of the world and our fellow humans in general with our expectation of cheap food. We seldom think of how it is produced, much less who suffers in its production.
I can't say my eyes were opened by the trip, I knew what to expect, just not the magnitude of the problem. I thought slavery was against the law in the US, but it still exists. I thought there were housing standards too, but if there are and if they were enforced in Immokalee there would be no housing left for the farm workers.
Finally and perhaps most disturbing to me were the comments posted on most of the articles and op-eds that were run in Florida newspapers after our press conference. I guess an expose' of the abysmal working conditions of non-white workers really brings out the racists. The usual comments of "they are taking jobs away from good Americans" ; "we didn't ask them to come here"; "why don't they clean up" and "they are a criminal element" were all over the Florida press.
Yes the jobs are there, anyone who wants to pick 4 tons of tomatoes a day for $100.00, go for it. If you have the energy to try and clean up an overpriced broken down trailer-house (that may not have running water) after working and riding a bus for 14 hours a day and getting up at 3 am every morning), go for it. If you can figure out how to make a living in Mexico or Central America where the economy has been ruined by globalization and US agricultural dumping, go for it.
I spent the better part of three days with the workers in Immokalee (wish I knew Spanish!!) and was so honored to speak in solidarity with them at the Capitol in Tallahassee. I found them to be proud, caring and unbelievably hard working. They would do anything for you and accepted me as family. (the beans and rice were phenomenal!!)
So we will see what the Governor has to say, he cannot ignore the slavery, the worker degradation and abuse any more. He must take a stand on the Tomato growers withholding the additional worker payments from McDonald's, Taco Bell etc. The family that owns the vast majority of worker housing in Immokalee has taken the concept of slumlord to new heights will that change?. I've said enough, see for yourself. http://www.ciw-online.org/...