How can we balance the rights of farmworkers with the need for affordable food?
How can society better protect farmworkers?
How much has changed since the broadcast of Harvest of Shame? Are the same forces still at work?
What other types of workers face similar issues?
Fields of Resistance by
"In the absence of government that cares about the people at the bottom, here's a way to achieve change."--Eric Schlosser "A sweet victory for social justice. . . . A testament to the tenacity of the [Coalition of Immokalee Workers]."--Katrina vanden Heuvel Migrant farm workers in the United States are routinely forced to live and work in unsafe, often desperate, conditions. In Immokalee, Florida, the tomato capital of the world--which has earned the dubious distinction of being "ground zero for modern slavery"--farm workers organized themselves into the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and launched a nationwide boycott campaign that forced McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell to recognize their demands for workers' rights. Silvia Giagnoni is a journalist based in Montgomery, Alabama.
I Am Not a Tractor!: How Florida Farmworkers Took on the Fast Food Giants and Won by
I Am Not a Tractor! celebrates the courage, vision, and creativity of the farmworkers and community leaders who have transformed one of the worst agricultural situations in the United States into one of the best. Susan L. Marquis highlights past abuses workers suffered in Florida's tomato fields: toxic pesticide exposure, beatings, sexual assault, rampant wage theft, and even, astonishingly, modern-day slavery. Marquis unveils how, even without new legislation, regulation, or government participation, these farmworkers have dramatically improved their work conditions. Marquis credits this success to the immigrants from Mexico, Haiti, and Guatemala who formed the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a neuroscience major who takes great pride in the watermelon crew he runs, a leading farmer/grower who was once homeless, and a retired New York State judge who volunteered to stuff envelopes and ended up building a groundbreaking institution. Through the Fair Food Program that they have developed, fought for, and implemented, these people have changed the lives of more than thirty thousand field workers. I Am Not a Tractor! offers a range of solutions to a problem that is rooted in our nation's slave history and that is worsened by ongoing conflict over immigration.
