Why I am excited about the opportunity to work with Student Action with Farmworkers

After two years of working in a predominantly hispanic immigrant, low wealth neighborhood (and falling more in love with the community more every day), I became aware of the abuses many foreign nationals, particularly those without documents, undergo daily in order to survive in their new homes. I was astounded to learn about the thankless contributions of immigrants to my hometown and country.

Following my experiences at the Oaks, I became increasingly informed about the movement for farmworker justice through organizations like the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Student Action with Farmworkers.

I am eager to have the opportunity to be plugged in again with programs working towards empowering often overlooked individuals that contribute so much to our society. My position will be directly in the fields, in healthcare assistance, legal aid, or migrant education. I am so excited to fundraise for SAF and their many sustainable programs and even more excited to work hand-in-hand with farmworkers and their allies.

Why you should donate:

Your donation will go directly to the programs that SAF supports; including legal assistance initiatives, healthcare outreach directly to farms, migrant education (ESL and literacy classes), organizing support for stronger policies protecting workers rights, leadership development trainings for children of farmworkers. It also funds the opportunity for students like myself to live and work directly with farmworkers for months at a time. To learn more about the history of SAF programs you can click here and to learn about their leadership development initiatives or sponsor a leadership initiative of your own, click here.

Farmworker Facts

• In the United States, it is estimated that there are presently 3 million seasonal farmworkers that play a massive role in the multi-billion dollar agriculture industry in the United States.

• Although they perform the majority of manual labor necessary for maintaining mass-market production standards, migrant and seasonal farmworkers retain an average of 6% of statewide agricultural profits, keeping many below the national poverty line.

• The average farmworker makes approximately $11,000 per year, “making them the second lowest paid workforce in the nation” and nearly five out of town households supported by migrant workers are food insecure (SAF).

• Agriculture is consistently ranked as one of the top three most treacherous occupations in the US but farmworkers are not protected by the laws protecting manual labor in other industries.

• It is not uncommon to see children of all ages working the fields, although technically North and South Carolina labor laws prohibit the work of anyone under the ages of 12 or 14 respectively (and 18 in hazardous conditions).

• Farmworkers are often victims to discrimination, although the average seasonal worker contributes $12,000 to their state economy annually.

• In order to retain $50 of income, the average farmworker must “pick and haul 125 buckets (two tons) of sweet potatoes” (SAF).