Food Systems refer to the entire food process. One aspect I would particularly cover is the labor required to pick the food. Before I can to the University of Illinois, I went to a small school called Rollins College in Orlando, FL. As part of a class project for my Immigration and Poverty class, we had to go and glean and orange field. Since we were all with our friends and leisurely picking oranges, it was not too bad for us, but the actual picking was not as easy as you would expect. In addition to this, workers are paid very little and often by the basket, so they must work non-stop to attempt to make any money at all. Not only illegal immigrants work these fields but many extremely poor migrant farmers make the trip from Florida up the east coast every year picking the various crops that need harvesting for extremely low sums of money. Another problem is that many people do not believe that these jobs are as bad as they are and that there is an influx of American workers who would be willing to do this work. Alabama is currently learning this is not as true as many believe. Alabama has enacted several laws, one of which requires schools to check the immigration status of enrolling students and their parents before they can go to school. Another allows police to check immigration status at routine traffic stops (Fitz). Several of these laws have caused much of the illegal immigrant labor force out of Alabama creating crops like tomatoes that have no one to harvest them. People do not realize that our food is so cheap because of not only subsidies, but also because people that are exploited harvest much of the food. This can also be seen in the movie Food Inc., where the chickens are “caught” by illegal immigrants. The meat packing companies look for people who would be unlikely to report the various horrors in the meat production industry (Kenner). For a more information in a very enjoyable format, watch Stephen Colbert cover the Alabama problem http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/400778/october-26-2011/alabama-s-migrant-workers
Fitz, Marshall, and Angela M. Kelley. "The Nasty Ripple Effects of Alabama’s Immigration Law." Center for American Progress. 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/10/alabama_immigration.html>.
Food, Inc. By Robert Kenner. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD.
Ryan Rudolf
What an interesting high school project and a very thoughtful post. It is striking how hard this work is and how undervalued.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a great issue in terms of our food system. People don't realize that labor is a big part of our food system. These jobs are very hard. Most people wouldn't want to do this kind of work day in and day out. Illegal immigrants are really the backbone of our food system. I like that you gave examples from two different different aspects of the food system. Do you think Alabama should change the immigration laws to be less strict on illegal immigrants? I'm very curious to see what happens to the crop industry in Alabama if farmers can't get anyone to pick their crops.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who opposes illegal immigration, I would like to know how you think that jobs such as this, which are basically slave labor, will get done without them around. I think it's very cool that you get to experience this in your project and were able to see first hand just how hard some of the labor is that get's done by unappreciated people throughout the United States. Most people are not willing to do this work and if it is illegal immigrants that are willing, then so be it. The food system in the United States, and therefore the people in the United States, are dependent upon this work to get done. Unless there is an increase in pay for this work or a new system to get it done easier, those doing the work should be left alone. I am not saying I am for illegal immigrants or for the people that exploit them, but the food system in the United States is crucial to those living in it, so if this is what it takes to get the labor done than so be it.
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