Sunday, April 27, 2014

Notes from SJSU Panel on "Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies"

The Department Of Justice Studies at SJSU Hosted The Ann Lucas In Law & Justice Featuring A Debate On The Book "Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farm Workers In The United States" By Seth M. Holmes. It took place on April 23rd and I was fortunate to be able to attend. Here are some notes!

Seth M. Holmes
  • Anthropologist
  • Author of "Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies"
  • PHD from Berkeley 
  • Director of Public Health @ Berkeley
  • Physician

On The Panel
  • Kitty Calavita (UC Irvine)
  • Maria Echaveste (Stanford, Berkeley)

How The Book Came To Be
  • From Seth's own curiosity & interest
  • wanted to know about relationship between U.S & Mexico
  • The way we get our food and where it comes from 
  • Indigenous people

The Experience (brief)
  • Seth worked picking berries and strawberries twice a week
  • other days interviewed nurses/doctors about campesino's health
  • lived w/ Triqui ppl (19 of them) in a small shack apartment
  • he lived in the closet
  • lives in oaxaca for a while
  • crossed the desert border and was detained and fined by border patrol
  • took 7 yrs to write the book
  • visits Triqui ppl almost every yr.

Tonaca Farm
  • Jap/American workers
  • Aglo American owners?
  • $7.16/hr in Washington ST.

3 Types Of Labor Camps
  1. 50 ppl 
  • no insolation
  • derogative terms like "perro"(dog), "Indio estupido" (stupid indian/indigenous), "burro" (donkey), and "Oaxaca"(from Oaxacan descent) are used by the owners to call or describe their employees.
  • no heating ??
      2. ??

      3. 250 ppl 
  • no insolation
  • pickers do not take breaks for fear that they might not make the weight of fruit they need to pick
  • the more fruit the more money

Racism
  • Mizteco ppl earn more money than Triqui ppl
  • Triqui ppl are categorized by others as the "most dumb indigenous"

Migrant Health
  • Clinics are usually unfunded 
  • most migrants do not have health insurance
  • by age 30, 40s and 50s the campesino is worn-out b/c of harsh labor 

Book recommendation
  • The Birth Of The Clinic
  • look up symbolic violence

Maria Echaveste:
  • Why is is that ppl believe that others are more well suited to pick strawberries? Why categorize people? 
  • Agriculture has always been an exploited industry

Recommended Documentary
  • "Harvest Of Shame"

Some Resources

Took these notes in the student union at SJSU on friday :)

Bureau Of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/forbrn.pdf

2012:

  • Hispanics accounted for 48.3% of foreign-born labor.
  • Asians accounted for 23.7%
  • Median usual weekly earnings full-time: $625 (Foreign), $725 (native born)
National Center For Farm worker Health
  • 72% farm workers were foreign born
Huff Post: Latino Politics


*I plan on using these websites and more throughout my research for my masterpiece

A Guide To My Masterpiece: The Social Injustice Of The Campesino

I actually made a powerpoint but have no idea how to even attach it to this so here it is....


A Guide Through My Masterpiece: The Social Injustice Of The Campesino




My Interest, My passion 
  • Agriculture is a huge part of my community
  •  My father and family members are or once were victims of the injustice of the field work.
  •  I want to make people aware of the conditions of these hard working Campesinos.



Interviews: "Viewing It Through Their Eyes"

I have already began interviewing students whose parents work as Campesinos. My job now is to interview actual Campesinos and ask them about their treatment and labor. This will serve as a vital part to my masterpiece.    




My Resources
  • Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
  • Activist Cesar Chavez 
  • United Farm Workers Cite
  • Mrs. Byrne
  • Mr. Jauregui
  • Mrs. Villalbos
  • Mr. Valencia 
  • Ana Marquez- Examining the health of laborers
  • Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Seth M. Holmes
  • Bureau Of Labor Statistics
  • National Center For Farm worker Health
  • HuffPost: Latino Politics
  • Maria Echaveste
  • Notes from SJSU Justice Studies "Ann Lucas Lecture in Law & Justice" on Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Seth M. Holmes


EXTRAS
  • Talk about the Campesino and their family’s Health
  • Facts about their health and uncared for it is
  • Inhumane condition facts
  • Quotes and thoughts on labor 
  • How we can help