In the last three decades, Mexican produce workers have become more important to the economy of the Midwest than ever before, but most of the people who buy and eat fruits and vegetables rarely hear about them. Now, researchers in the region are beginning to take a closer look at the lifestyles of some of these workers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nora Flaherty has more:
Transcript
In the last three decades, Mexican produce workers have become more important to the
economies of the Great Lakes region than ever before, but most of the people who buy
and eat fruit and vegetables rarely hear about them. Now, researchers in the region are
beginning to take a closer look at the lifestyles of some of these workers. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nora Flaherty reports:
Many of the workers who pick and pack tomatoes in the Great Lakes region aren’t from
the region. In Canada, thousands of them are workers brought from Mexico as part of
Canada’s Foreign Agriculture Resource Management Services program. These workers
come from Mexico for 4 to 6 months a year, and can make in an hour what they would
make in a day at home, but the work in Canada is hard, and the days are long.
Deborah Barndt is a professor of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto:
“Often it’s an 11 hour workday, 6 and a half days a week because they’re here primarily
to make money to support their families back home, and they have no other responsibilities,
no other commitments, no community or family connections.”
Barndt says that workers in Canada make minimum wage. They get
insurance and Canadian pensions, but don’t qualify for unemployment. She also says that
their numbers have increased, as Mexico’s economy has worsened.
For the Great Lakes
Radio Consortium, I’m Nora Flaherty.