Of all the Rose House Cafés I have been to this attracted the smallest crowd. Now I am not sure if that is because everyone is busy with prelim season or if its simply because we think we know where our food comes from or because we don’t care. Truthfully I don’t think many of us have stopped to think where the food comes from before it gets to Wegmans or the dining hall. Yet behind the food we eat is 25% of the land in New York state, 10% of Mexico’s population, and a multi-million dollar industry that is experiencing a labor shortage.
Why are there so many undocumented workers and still a labor shortage? Simply put, it is “because American’s don’t want to work on farms” as Dudley stated. And when Vanden Heuvel asked if anyone had worked on a farm or was connected to farming, Dudley’s summary was displayed in the lack of hands that were raised. No one wants to go into the agriculture market because it is such a risky business. While yes it is also that there is a stigma, it is physically hard work, and the pay is low, the gamble of the industry is also a huge deterrent. After all, if the weather changes or a disease hits the crops, a farmer could lose his entire income for a season. An income that was supposed to hold his entire family through the year. Vanden Heuvel echoed this idea in her talk about the California wine industry and how at first it had great weather for wine making, but now with the lack of water it is becoming harder.
Another point that was stressed, was that while we may know where our food is coming from, we do not know who is producing it. This is because the majority of the work force is “improperly” documented Mexican and Guatemalan workers as Dudley put it. It was interesting to hear how the migrant work force was once comprised of sharecroppers, hoboes, and coal workers and how once 2/3 of the labor was from migrant workers but now those laborers have settled down because of the dairy industry. It was interesting to hear how farm laborers don’t want their kids to work on farms however if they did not work on a farm they would continue to work outdoors, like in construction.
The lack of information and acknowledgement consumers have about where their food comes from is a major reason that programs like the one Cornell has for farm workers are necessary. I think it is interesting that Cornell University stopped making CALS students work on a farm in order to graduate however I am glad that Cornell students were able to turn this requirement into a long-term program to help improve the lives of farmworkers and their families and to acknowledge their needs and wants and what they do.
Why is it that there is such a disconnect between the agriculture world and consumers?