Farmworkers in the United States

"It's hard work in the fields, but at the same time, it's also good, because it's honorable work. All that produce is going to the tables of important people, and so that is the importance of the humble farmworker... ."

-Olga Ramirez, Promotora

In the United States, we enjoy abundant, affordable produce year round. Yet, few of us realize where that food comes from and who grows it.

Each year, three to five million farmworkers and their families labor in fields and factories across the country to bring us fresh fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products. Many farmworkers leave their permanent homes for months at a time to follow the crops. They accept jobs that cannot be filled locally and work in very isolated, rural areas. The multi-billion dollar United States agricultural industry relies heavily on human labor- in spite of the technological advances of recent decades. Typically hired seasonally, farmworkers are essential during periods of peak production; they plant, cultivate, harvest and process the crops that become our food.

In exchange, farmworker families earn low wages and endure job-related hazards, poor working and living conditions, long hours and isolation. Although farmworkers clearly provide valuable and necessary goods and services, little reliable information exists about farmworkers as a group or about their health. It is widely believed, however, that farmworkers in the United States face extreme occupational risks and exposures; suffer poorer than average health; and have a life expectancy significantly shorter than average.^{1, 2, 3}

Farmworkers face more substantial health challenges than other groups, but have fewer resources and little or no access to health care, health education or other services. Farmworkers tend to visit health providers only in emergencies and often do not receive routine or preventative health care.^{3, 4} Specialized services, such as substance abuse treatment, mental health services and HIV education, prevention and treatment, are almost nonexistent.

Farmworkers are also incredibly resilient. They work hard, celebrate culture and family and strive to make a better life for themselves and their communities.

Who are Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers?

The farmworker population is diverse, varies regionally and includes men, women, adolescents and children.

The Economics of Farm Work and Farmworkers

Over the last decade, farmworkers have faced increasing difficulty earning a living.

Education

School systems, like health systems, are not designed to serve farmworker families, and interrupted or incomplete schooling creates additional barriers for many families.

Farm Work

Farmworkers toil long hours in the fields during all seasons and weather conditions to plant, cultivate, harvest, process and package food for shipment and sale.

Key Health Issues

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. Low wages and substandard working and living conditions leave farmworkers vulnerable to many health problems

Health Care

Most farmworkers do not have access to regular, affordable health care.

Farmworker Strengths

Farmworkers are hard working, self-reliant and proud of their strong cultural and family ties.

Who are Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers?

"Never disrespect those people [farmworkers] because they are honorable people who are suffering to bring you the food on the table. If it's a lettuce, someone uneducated cut it, and if that uneducated person hadn't cut it, you wouldn't have it there in front of you."

-Olga Ramirez, Promotora

Although the term farmworker is often used to mean both migrant and seasonal farmworkers, as it is throughout this Web site, there is a distinction. A migrant farmworker is generally understood as someone who has left his or her permanent residence, or homebase, to work for months or an entire season in agriculture. A seasonal farmworker also works temporarily, or seasonally, in agriculture, but returns to his or her permanent residence each day after work. Both groups work in the same types of jobs, under the same conditions and often share language and culture.

Migrant farmworkers leave their permanent homes in southern states, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to seek employment in agriculture. They typically move northward, following the growing and harvesting seasons. Some migrant farmworkers relocate several times throughout the year, whereas others spend the entire season at the same farm. In contrast, seasonal farmworkers work near or within commuting distance of their homes. Most migrant and seasonal workers find employment in the agricultural industry for less than half of the year and may supplement their income with earnings from other jobs.⁵

"The people who come here to work are family people. They have a strong work ethic, and they work hard."

-Mike DuRussel, Farm Owner, DuRussels' Potato Farms, Manchester, MI

Men, women, teenagers and children work in the agricultural industry. The vast majority of farmworkers are young men, a trend that has intensified in recent years.⁶ While some families continue to migrate together, as they have for generations, a growing number of young workers travel independently. Changes in immigration policies as well as housing policies in labor camps may be partly responsible for such trends.

The farmworker population varies regionally. Generally, over 89 percent of farmworkers are from minority groups, and three out of every four are of Mexican descent.^{3, 5} Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Central and South Americans as well as African Americans, Native Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians, Laotians, Thais and others also work in agriculture.

More than 50 percent of farmworkers are citizens or legal residents of the United States.⁵ Over 30 percent are new to the United States, and the number of recent immigrants employed in the agricultural workforce is increasing.⁵

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The Economics of Farm Work and Farmworkers

"Coming to the U.S. [for farm work] is not like it was in the '70s, it's harder. People are poorer. There's so much need."

-Enedelia Cisneros, Promotora and Member of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health 2000-2004⁷

Over the last decade, farmworkers have faced even greater challenges earning a living. Poverty levels have increased, work is available for fewer weeks per year and wages have failed to keep up with inflation.⁶

The majority of farmworkers earn annual wages below the federal poverty level. According to the National Agricultural Workers Survey, the only national cross-sectional survey of farmworkers, 61 percent live in poverty.³ The median income for farmworkers is less than $7,500 annually, and the household income is less than $10,000.⁵ Farmworkers are the only workers who consistently earn lower hourly wages than fast food workers earn.⁸

Many farmworker families are eligible for public benefits, such as food stamps, Medicaid or Medicare; however, few secure these benefits.³ Differing state eligibility requirements, fluctuating income levels, residency dilemmas and problems navigating bureaucratic systems prevent farmworkers from using public benefits. Additionally, very few farmworkers qualify for Workmen's Compensation or Social Security if they become disabled or retire.¹

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Education

"I think a lot of people underestimate the migrants and misunderstand them. The kids do want to go to school. They do have goals and they do want to go to college one day and make something of themselves, like everyone else."

-Apryl Hernandez, former adolescent farmworker⁹

Migration and agricultural work often interrupt formal schooling. Half of farmworkers attain a sixth grade education level or less, and only 19 percent feel that they read English well.⁵ Children and young adults often work to contribute to the family income. They may miss part of the school year, attend multiple schools each year, face discrimination or have little time for their studies or any extracurricular activities. Educators estimate that only 55 percent of children in migrant households nationwide graduate from high school.⁴ In addition, students from farmworker families may struggle with language differences or confront low expectations from educators.

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Farm Work

"[Farmworkers] stoop among long rows of vegetables, filling buckets with produce under the stark heat of the summer sun and the bitter cold of late autumn. They climb ladders in orchards, piling fruit into sacks slung across their shoulders. They prune vines, tie plants, remove weeds, sort, pack, spray, clean, and irrigate."

-Daniel Rothenberg, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan and Author, With These Hands: The Hidden World of Migrant Farmworkers Today¹⁰

Farmworkers work long hours in the fields throughout all seasons and weather conditions to accomplish their tasks according to nature's schedule. They plant, cultivate, harvest, process and package food for shipment and sale. Their labor often involves stooping, working with the soil, climbing, carrying heavy loads and directly handling plants and pesticides.

Farmworkers contribute to the production and distribution of crops in almost every state in the nation.⁴ California and Florida employ the largest numbers of agricultural laborers. The Great Lakes, Northern Pacific, Corn Belt and Southern Plains regions also employ large numbers of farmworkers each growing season.¹¹ The fruit, nut, vegetable, greenhouse, nursery and grain industries depend on the labor and skills of farmworkers. Moreover, the production of fruits and vegetables in the United States has increased steadily over the last decade, and farmworkers harvest or cultivate over 85 percent of these crops by hand.¹²

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Key Health Issues

"Migrant farmworkers [in the United States] have Third World health status, although they live and work in one of the richest nations on earth."

-National Center for Farmworker Health, Inc.⁴

Farm labor results in unique challenges to the health of farmworkers and their families. Farmworkers tend to have more frequent health problems than the general public. In addition, their health problems are often more severe, and farmworkers are more likely to experience multiple health problems simultaneously.

Agriculture is one of the most accident-prone industries in the United States, and workers in the industry face the second highest fatality rate in the nation.^{4, 13} Fungi, dusts and pesticides commonly cause skin and respiratory problems among farmworkers. Lack of safe drinking water results in cases of dehydration and heat stroke. Pesticide poisoning, falls, eye injuries, accidents with farm equipment and exposure to the elements account for other work-related health problems among farmworkers.

Low pay and unsafe or unsanitary working and living conditions also increase the likelihood of certain health problems among farmworkers. Conditions such as tuberculosis, malnutrition, parasitic diseases and scarlet fever occur more frequently among farmworkers than among the general United States population. ⁴ Poor dental health, substance abuse, mental health problems, domestic violence, diabetes and hypertension are also prevalent among farmworkers.

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Health Care

"If you don't speak English you automatically come to a dead end… It is like we are on the outside. Like we are not persons. It is worse for those people who work in the fields because they arrive a bit soiled to the clinic... "

-Promotora

Most farmworkers do not have access to regular, affordable health care. Farmworkers rarely have coverage through their employers or public programs, and they do not earn enough money to pay for health insurance. Seventy-two to 78 percent of farmworkers are uninsured.^3,6 Over half of the farmworkers surveyed in the National Agricultural Workers Survey said accessing medical care was “difficult,” and 77 percent of these same respondents cited cost as the major difficulty. ⁶ In addition, farmworkers typically cannot afford to take time off from work or to risk losing their jobs to seek medical care. Transportation problems, language and cultural differences and limited clinic hours also create barriers. As a result, most farmworkers tend to postpone care until a health condition becomes unbearable or interferes with work.

Since 1962, federally-funded Migrant Health and Community Centers have served farmworkers. However, only 15 to 20 percent of farmworkers utilize these services.^{1, 14} Follow-up and continuity of care present additional challenges; many farmworkers relocate several times each year and do not maintain permanent addresses or phone numbers.

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Farmworker Strengths

"We do the best we can to survive. And you know what? We survive pretty well."

-Enedelia Cisneros, Promotora and Member of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health 2000-2004⁷

Farmworkers are extremely resilient. They endure and, in many cases, overcome the difficulties of hard labor, poverty, discrimination, interrupted schooling and health problems or fragmented health care. Dedication to family and community provides many Latinos with a strong support system.^{15, 16} Farmworkers take pride in who they are and their indispensable role in providing food for the nation. They work hard to provide a bright future for themselves and their families.

Many farmworkers work with local, regional and national organizations to improve conditions and health for all farmworkers and their families. Farmworkers have helped develop and sustain successful Community Health Worker programs, called Promotor(a) programs, in their camps and communities. These programs build on community strengths; farmworkers teach each other and address the unmet health needs of their friends and neighbors through education, referrals, peer support, advocacy and networking with service providers. Promotor(a) programs are at the heart of Migrant Health Promotion's mission to improve the lives and health of farmworkers, their families and the communities.

Farmworker unions have gained momentum in the last 40 years. Unions utilize tools such as collective bargaining and boycotts to acquire livable wages and better working conditions.^{17, 18} Unions also inform the general public about farmworker issues, while continuing to organize and support farmworkers resisting exploitation within the agricultural industry.¹⁹ Established farmworker unions include the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the United Farmworkers of America and the Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers Union.

How We Help

Promotores and Promotoras help their peers stay informed, access health resources and build healthier communities.

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References

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