I went to my first Rose Becker Café of this semester because I wanted to learn more about the local foods that were present at the Rose House’s Farm to Fork dinner. Justine Vanden Heuvel, a professor at Cornell in the science of wine grape production and Mary Jo Dudley, a pioneer in improving farm work conditions, joined us in an interesting discussion that covered various topics which not many people were aware of. For example, although almost everyone eats farm produced foods such as apples, corn, grapes, and dairy products, not many Americans are involved in farm works. When the audience of about 50 students was asked to raise their hands if they have worked or volunteered in a farm, only a couple of students said that they had. This was surprising given that there are many farms in New York State. We listed the possible reasons as a group: a stigma in farm work, low income on average, and physically demanding work. Because of a combination of these reasons, people tend to stay away from farm work. And since there is a labor shortage, international workers from countries like Mexico or Guatemala have the opportunity to work in America.

It was interesting to hear Ms. Dudley speaking about her project to improve farm workers’ living conditions and many new facts that I was previously unaware of. Firstly, more than 50% of the farm work force consists of undocumented international workers. Being undocumented means they can get deported at any time. The family lives in fear of buying milk because the cashier can ask for their documents and that will lead to deportation. If the recent move to deport undocumented immigrants is followed through, New York State’s agricultural organizations will be in trouble because there will be no one to milk the cows or pick the apples. After hearing these unfortunate facts and stories, I learned the harsh living conditions of an undocumented farm worker. The majority of New York States is farm land and we need to support programs to protect and improve the living conditions of the farm workers. This café was an eye opening discussion and I will be returning to the café series often this year.