Overview

Finding fresh fruits and vegetables is as easy as going to the supermarket for most Western Europeans - which makes it all too easy to forget that our food is cultivated, harvested, and packaged by farmworkers who labor for less pay, fewer benefits, and under more dangerous conditions than workers in almost any other sector of the world economy. Seeking to end the public's ignorance and improve workers' living and working conditions, this book addresses the major factors that affect farmworkers' lives while offering practical strategies for action on farmworker issues. The contributors to this book are all farmworker advocates - student and community activists and farmworkers themselves. Focusing on workers in the Southeast United States, a previously understudied region, they cover a range of issues, from labor organizing, to the rise of agribusiness, to current health, educational, and legal challenges faced by farmworkers. The authors blend coverage of each issue with practical suggestions for working with farmworkers and other advocates to achieve justice in our food system both regionally and nationally. Charles D. Thompson, Jr., is Director of Curriculum and Education at the Center for Documentary Studies, as well as an adjunct assistant professor in the Departments of Cultural Anthropology and Religion, at Duke University. Melinda F. Wiggins is Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers in Durham, North Carolina.

Full Product Details

Author:   Charles D. Thompson ,  Melinda F. Wiggins
Publisher:   University of Texas Press
Imprint:   University of Texas Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780292781788

ISBN 10:   0292781784
Pages:   357
Publication Date:   01 August 2002
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations Preface AcknowledgmentsLucas Benitez: Sowing Seeds for Change symposium address Charles D. Thompson Jr.: Introduction Wendy Daniels Ibarra: The Virgin of Guadalupe, interview of Carmen Tomas Alejandra Okie Holt and Sister Evelyn Mattern: Chapter 1. Making Home: Culture, Ethnicity, and Religion among Farmworkers in the Southeastern United States Lucas Benitez: Sowing Seeds for Change symposium address Charles D. Thompson Jr.: Chapter 2. Layers of Loss: Migrants, Small Farmers, and Agribusiness Rachel LaCour: Life on Easy Street Cindy Hahanovitch: Chapter 3. Standing Idly By: Organized Farmworkers in South Florida during the Depression and World War II Joe Bayby: Rifare mi suerte/I'll Raffle My Luck, interview of Humberto Zapata Alvizo Garry C. Geffert: Chapter 4. H-2A Guestworker Program: A Legacy of Importing Agricultural Labor Roman Rodriguez: Testimony at Hearing before the Commission on Agricultural Workers Greg Schell: Chapter 5. Farmworker Exceptionalism under the Law: How the Legal System Contributes to Farmworker Poverty and Powerlessness Rachel Avery: Wells Farms Kris Adams: The Conditions at the Camp Are Not Great, interview of Vanessa Christopher Holden: Chapter 6. Bitter Harvest: Housing Conditions of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Anonymous: The History We Wrote This Summer Colin Austin: Chapter 7. The Struggle for Health in Times of Plenty Marcella Hurtado Gomez: That Summer Gloria Velasquez: Bella Juventud/Wonderful Youth Ramiro Arceo, Joy Kusserow, and Al Wright: Chapter 8. Understanding the Challenges and Potential of Migrant Students Melinda Steele: I Don't Think People Give Up, interview of Sheila Payne Paul Ortiz: Chapter 9. From Slavery to Cesar Chavez and Beyond: Farmworker Organizing in the United States Lucas Benitez: Sowing Seeds for Change symposium address Melinda F. Wiggins: Conclusion. An Invocation to Act Appendix I. Developing a Syllabus on Farmworker Advocacy Appendix II. Farmworker-Related Organizations and Agencies Appendix III. Recommended Readings Works Cited Contributors Index

Reviews

"""This is an excellent book, well-written, thoughtful, and scholarly, in a field which has very few overviews accessible to non-specialists. It is definitely a contribution to the literature and will fill a large gap in existing materials, especially in its emphasis on farmworker issues in the Southeast United States."" Cynthia A. Wood, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Appalachian State University"

""This is an excellent book, well-written, thoughtful, and scholarly, in a field which has very few overviews accessible to non-specialists. It is definitely a contribution to the literature and will fill a large gap in existing materials, especially in its emphasis on farmworker issues in the Southeast United States."" Cynthia A. Wood, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Appalachian State University

This is an excellent book, well-written, thoughtful, and scholarly, in a field which has very few overviews accessible to non-specialists. It is definitely a contribution to the literature and will fill a large gap in existing materials, especially in its emphasis on farmworker issues in the Southeast United States. Cynthia A. Wood, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Appalachian State University

Author Information

Charles D. Thompson, Jr., is Director of Curriculum and Education at the Center for Documentary Studies, as well as an adjunct assistant professor in the Departments of Cultural Anthropology and Religion, at Duke University. Melinda F. Wiggins is Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers in Durham, North Carolina.

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