Civil Eats

I recently had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion put on by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) about farmworker justice entitled, “The Fruits of Their Labor.” (Listen to the audio of the event here) We’ve read about modern slavery in the tomato fields in Immokalee, Florida. You might ask why the situation in Florida would be any different than, for instance, the large farms in California’s Central Valley.

Turns out, what happens in Florida isn’t unique. Sexual harassment and abuse, non-payment, being forced to drink water from irrigation ditches, having no access to the fresh food harvested for others’ consumption, constant pesticide exposure, heat-related deaths, 12 to 14 hour work days and child labor are all routine in our agricultural system. Read More