A reader commented by email about the situation for mushroom growers and pickers. I asked her if I could share it here and she agreed. Here's what Barbara Ann Atkinson told us ...
"Here's another food product that soon you may no longer see: mushrooms. I moved to FL from north DE at the PA line. That area in PA is called the "mushroom capital of the world" for the numerous mushroom farms. And who do you imagine works there? Not Europeans. Not Asians. Not Blacks. And definitely not whites. Yep, Mexicans. They labor in horrible (smelly) conditions to send money back to their families in Mexico. And most of them are undocumented. I tutored a young Mexican for ELS who was striving for citizenship after he was able to leave the mushroom farms. He worked three jobs daily and was so delighted that he lived here in tthe USA. My heart is so sad for these hard working, humble people who are threatened by an idiot!. (sorry)"
When she gave me permission to print what she wrote, she added:
"AND you could add that so many of the mushroom farm owners will NOT allow ELS to teach them English. They are mainly housed on the farm in dorm-like conditions (dorm is too nice of a word)."
I was completely in the dark about mushroom agriculture so I was delighted to find this video which also gives us a deeper understanding of how the immigration system impacts agriculture.
When I was 15, me and three others from my high school lied—yes, we lied—and said we were 16 to be old enough to go on a summer adventure away from the heat of southern Arizona. We signed up to go pick strawberries in Northern California. However, the contractor who signed us up, as a typical capitalist actually took us to near Hood River Oregon.
Here were four, under aged white liars living in tents among three different groups—primarily—blacks who do this every year, Hispanics who do this every year and older white males, almost all of which were alcoholics who had lost families because of alcohol.
That summer, not only did I observe and learn by picking strawberries and later cherries but started forming my beliefs about humanity which is always in a state of evolution as I learn more.
Some of the things I learned at the time:
1. Most of the best people I met were black.
2. Most of the worst were white.
3. The group most together were Hispanic and a mixture of wonderful to absolute asshole people. This was true of all three groups but more obvious with the Hispanics. Note: I’m not generalizing on each group but only sharing my observations from that summer.
4. The farmers were all white and did not give a damn about their pickers other than how they could use them to pick their crops.
5. I learned who B B King was because he wasn’t on my top 40 station at home.
6. I learned how the world looks from the bottom up.
7. I learned that a lot of people may have some empathy for these pickers but didn’t understand the full scope of their hardships because they were not pickers.
8. I learned so much more, knowledge that was amplified a year later when trying to pick potatoes in the blazing sun in Yuma, Arizona. Didn’t last long there. That was the year that high school students all over the state were exploited as sports teams, along with their coaches were recruited to replace braceros—Mexican pickers from Mexico—were banned that year by a racist government.
I’m not belittling this post. Just adding my input as an actual picker who wanted to get a summer away from home and had an educational experience.
I think the real reason is that the billionaire bros are heavily invested in the build out of private prisons (& senior home developments that will operate on the same institutional model). We’re talking trillions. Follow the $ right?
Thank you for highlighting the terrible conditions of the strawberry pickers and farm workers, and doing something practical about it. As usual with such low paid jobs, illegal immigrants end up doing the work. We have similar issues in the UK.
Great post, Joyce. I love our shared Santa Barbara connection.
Thanks so much, Holly!
A reader commented by email about the situation for mushroom growers and pickers. I asked her if I could share it here and she agreed. Here's what Barbara Ann Atkinson told us ...
"Here's another food product that soon you may no longer see: mushrooms. I moved to FL from north DE at the PA line. That area in PA is called the "mushroom capital of the world" for the numerous mushroom farms. And who do you imagine works there? Not Europeans. Not Asians. Not Blacks. And definitely not whites. Yep, Mexicans. They labor in horrible (smelly) conditions to send money back to their families in Mexico. And most of them are undocumented. I tutored a young Mexican for ELS who was striving for citizenship after he was able to leave the mushroom farms. He worked three jobs daily and was so delighted that he lived here in tthe USA. My heart is so sad for these hard working, humble people who are threatened by an idiot!. (sorry)"
When she gave me permission to print what she wrote, she added:
"AND you could add that so many of the mushroom farm owners will NOT allow ELS to teach them English. They are mainly housed on the farm in dorm-like conditions (dorm is too nice of a word)."
I was completely in the dark about mushroom agriculture so I was delighted to find this video which also gives us a deeper understanding of how the immigration system impacts agriculture.
I will never look at mushrooms the same way.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9NQ6VEciFk
Thank you for taking action and offering what you have to share with others.
An interesting post, until recently I never liked strawberries
Lessons from picking strawberries:
When I was 15, me and three others from my high school lied—yes, we lied—and said we were 16 to be old enough to go on a summer adventure away from the heat of southern Arizona. We signed up to go pick strawberries in Northern California. However, the contractor who signed us up, as a typical capitalist actually took us to near Hood River Oregon.
Here were four, under aged white liars living in tents among three different groups—primarily—blacks who do this every year, Hispanics who do this every year and older white males, almost all of which were alcoholics who had lost families because of alcohol.
That summer, not only did I observe and learn by picking strawberries and later cherries but started forming my beliefs about humanity which is always in a state of evolution as I learn more.
Some of the things I learned at the time:
1. Most of the best people I met were black.
2. Most of the worst were white.
3. The group most together were Hispanic and a mixture of wonderful to absolute asshole people. This was true of all three groups but more obvious with the Hispanics. Note: I’m not generalizing on each group but only sharing my observations from that summer.
4. The farmers were all white and did not give a damn about their pickers other than how they could use them to pick their crops.
5. I learned who B B King was because he wasn’t on my top 40 station at home.
6. I learned how the world looks from the bottom up.
7. I learned that a lot of people may have some empathy for these pickers but didn’t understand the full scope of their hardships because they were not pickers.
8. I learned so much more, knowledge that was amplified a year later when trying to pick potatoes in the blazing sun in Yuma, Arizona. Didn’t last long there. That was the year that high school students all over the state were exploited as sports teams, along with their coaches were recruited to replace braceros—Mexican pickers from Mexico—were banned that year by a racist government.
I’m not belittling this post. Just adding my input as an actual picker who wanted to get a summer away from home and had an educational experience.
I agree with Joyce, Jim. This was a great addition. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Jim ... thank you so much for sharing your life experience. It was a great addition.
I think the real reason is that the billionaire bros are heavily invested in the build out of private prisons (& senior home developments that will operate on the same institutional model). We’re talking trillions. Follow the $ right?
Sara … thank you. It has probably always been “follow the money” but it seems even more so these days.
Thank you for highlighting the terrible conditions of the strawberry pickers and farm workers, and doing something practical about it. As usual with such low paid jobs, illegal immigrants end up doing the work. We have similar issues in the UK.
Dearest Joyce,
I don’t just like your strawberry story, I love it and I thank you for your review of strawberry fields. I’m buying you a coffee right now.
Thank you, Barbara, for helping during these challenging times.