Exploitation on Farm Fields
Generations have passed and there is still a huge amount of injustice taking place in the farm fields. People working in the fields are often treated poorly by low wages, harassment, and by unsafe working conditions, this is significant to bring awareness because all workers should be treated with respect. To make a change for justice, we now have to make a decision. Whether to ignore these occurring issues or to have a solid solution to stop exploitation. I can say that prior to taking this course I did not believe injustice in the fields were still taking place today. My beliefs were proven wrong after watching a documentary called Food Chain's. The film informed me about income for an average farm worker and it began to interest me, which is why I decided to write about it.
Over the past week, I have been researching to learn more information about this problem, and I was surprised with all the statistics I read. For example, “75% born in Mexico, 23% born in the U.S., 2% born in Central America, and 1% else where”(Southern Poverty Law Center).I would think that there would be fewer people who were born in Mexico, due to the percentage being so high. One person who comes to my mind is Cesar Chavez because of his leadership and courage. He fought hard for the rights of farmworkers by taking action in a nonviolent way. Like mentioned on United Farm Workers, “He said, Farm workers everywhere are angry and worried that we cannot win without violence. We have proved it before through persistence, hard work, faith and willingness to sacrifice. We can win and keep our own self-respect and build a great union that will secure the spirit of all people if we do it through a rededication and recommitment to the struggle for justice through nonviolence”(1). Like Chavez has mentioned, I agree that there should be no violence, but I also understand where the workers are coming from. In addition to this, the outcome of a nonviolent movement helped many people have a voice in the United States.
Moreover, I found another statistic indicating their income. Income is an important factor in everyday life because it is a necessity. According to Southern Poverty Law Center what they earn yearly, “The average individual income of farm workers in 2001-2002 was between $10,000 and $12,499, while the total average income for a farmworker family averaged between $15,000 and $17,499”(n.d). Although these statistics are a couple years back, these numbers fall into poverty, in other words, they can not sustain basic needs.
Gender plays a role in farm working, with that being said sexual harassment, is a constant problem on the fields. For the most part, females are most targeted when it comes to sexual harassment. There are many reasons for women to not speak out and say the truth because they are afraid. Liz Jones, a journalist wrote why women are afraid to speak out: “For a woman, reasons for not reporting sexual violence can include the stigma related to sexual violence, fear of her partner’s response, fear of upsetting her children, pressure to be the source of emotional support and stability for her family, and concern about how she will be perceived in her community”. This shows how women are insecure about having a voice. At the same time, I would feel the same way because people may not believe the truth. This causes the person to look bad and they may lose everything they have.
As an employee, one should have a safe environment. Many workers have been affected by chemicals and pesticides added to plants. In a documentary called Bananas, many of the men were unaware of how effective pesticides are. One of the problems they encountered with is not being able to reproduce. At first, the men were not aware of this and the Dole company never cared to inform the men. The film displays the anger and frustration the men experience when they find that they are sterile. This is sad because many of them are undocumented and left their homes to get a better life in the United States. Again, another statistic indicates the amount of people who are out of state and can not be able to communicate to those who speak a different language,“Fifty-three percent of farmworkers are undocumented, 25% are citizens, 21% are legal permanent residents and 1% elsewhere. Eighty-one percent of farmworkers speak Spanish, 18% speak English, and 2% speak other languages ”(Southern Poverty Law Center, n.d). Not to mention, having a voice in the field is a powerful force because it is one of the only ways a person can defend themselves when they are treated wrongly. It is to say that they do not communicate in an efficient matter. Stated on Farmworker Justice, I found that many do not even understand what is being taught because of the way the company present’s the training. A report from Farmworker Justice informed me about how most of the time employee’s do not learn proper ways to work due to the company not caring whether it is understandable or not,“Workers who receive inadequate training may not even realize they have been trained, since information may be presented to workers in fulfillment of WPS requirements, but not in a manner to facilitate learning”(2003). In other words, they do not even know what they are being trained to do because of the lack of making it understandable. One of the men in the film in Bananas began to cry when asked how did he feel when he found that he could not have kids.The biggest problem here is communication with the employer and employee. Other men felt that they were alone and could not give their love to others. These problems have to change in order to keep people safe and healthy.
Overall, finding a final resolution for all of these problems is difficult due to the factors contributing to this issue. Consumers play a part of salaries because we do not want to pay more for food than we already do. The government plays a part as well, because they do not have control over the prices; rather, it is the companies that set prices. My first solution would be to raise awareness of low-wage, sexual harassment, and unsafe working conditions. With this in mind, like myself I did not know these problems were still occurring, and I am sure if others were to know this information they would want to inform others and actually do something about it. By putting it on media, this would grab attention; whereas, if no one talks about it then nothing will change. By this, I do not mean just by publishing an article, or just putting it on air for a couple of minutes. What I am trying to say, is that now a days everyone is using the media to communicate and share information, so why not just share this issue in great depth?In addition to informing people, I believe we should raise taxes to increase the wage of farmworkers and guaranteed they are paid well. Although, people may get angry over this, they are farmers. They are the ones who provide our necessities and should also be able to use those necessities as well.
The solution for sexual harassment would be to have consequences for those who commit these crimes. By confronting the problem it is more likely to stop than for it to keep going, as a person one should talk when one starts to feel uncomfortable. Men and women should be treated with respect and, therefore, should not happen. Another solution would be to train employees and remind them of what they can and can not do. For the most part, people know what they can and can not do, but sometimes they may think it is okay to be as friendly as they are but in reality it is not.
The solution to unsafe working conditions is to protect the workers. For example making them wear gloves, masks, clothing, and proper shoes. I do not mean thin, and cheap material either. For the employer to make sure these employees do wear the proper attire to harmful environment. The risks for many health problems are too high to risk something happening to someone. Yes, it will be more expensive, but that does not mean people’s lives should be in danger. In addition, people should be informed about the chemicals and what they can do to the human body. It is to say, warn them before they know what they are entering into. I would also suggest for the employees not to work right after they have sprayed the pesticides. I know this would decrease the chances of developing a health problem.
My final say in this all is that if this does not end there will be a huge impact in food supply, and human beings. I believe it can go two ways, the population of farmworker employment will decrease because they no longer want to experience these problems, or people will be okay with these working conditions because it is their best and only choice. I also believe the prices of food would go up if employment would decrease. If this situation were to occur the demand of food would be higher because our population is rising. Both of these outcomes would not be good to anyone if no one has hope to challenge what is going on it will keep occurring. Like I mentioned before, if something is not addressed anywhere in time, change is not expected. When employees lose hope there is a great chance that many of the farmworkers will have less confidence, develop health problems, and lose their rights. All in all, we would live in a world with greater chaos.
Work Cited
Bananas!*. Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2009. Film.
"Farm Worker Harassment Draws Increased Scrutiny." Farm Worker Harassment Draws Increased Scrutiny. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
"Southern Poverty Law Center." Who Are Farmworkers? Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
"UFW: The Official Web Page of the United Farm Workers of America." UFW: The Official Web Page of the United Farm Workers of America. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/sites/default/files/aExposed and Ignored by Farmworker Justice singles compressed.pdf>.
"Farm Worker Harassment Draws Increased Scrutiny." Farm Worker Harassment Draws Increased Scrutiny. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
"Southern Poverty Law Center." Who Are Farmworkers? Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
"UFW: The Official Web Page of the United Farm Workers of America." UFW: The Official Web Page of the United Farm Workers of America. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/sites/default/files/aExposed and Ignored by Farmworker Justice singles compressed.pdf>.