Farmworkers deserve "A Place at the Table" too.
A new documentary, A Place At The Table, has recently been gaining press and popularity for exposing the issues of hunger and food insecurity in America. Americans generally consider problems of obesity and overeating to be a primary concern, not hunger. However, A Place at the Table reveals some surprising truths, such as the fact that every day in the U.S. 50 million people -- including one in four children -- are food insecure, meaning they don't know where their next meal is coming from. I saw the movie last week and it is emotional and eye opening. As you watch people living in poverty, especially the children but also the parents who struggle to put food on the table even though they have jobs, one cannot help but be compelled to learn more about this problem and ways that you can help.
Like many similar films, such as Food Inc. (also by the same producers), A Place at the Table tackles a complex, multi-faceted issue. Likewise, it also raises questions that should be asked and need to be answered. One of these issues in the documentaries is the idea of federal farm subsidies for wheat and corn, which make up the bulk of our nation’s high-calorie processed foods that are also lacking in nutrition. The question that the film is asking (and it is a good one) is why does the U.S. government give more money to agribusinesses that grow processed foods than to small farmers who grow fruits and vegetables?
This question is important; however, in watching the film I realized that there was an even bigger question and issue that is ignored: farmworkers. Where are the people harvesting this food whose labor also serves to subsidize the cost of food? Do they not deserve a place at the table also? In what seems to me to be total irony, the people who pick our food are themselves not getting enough food to eat. North Carolina data from four studies between 2002 and 2004 found that in households with a farmworker, 49 to 71 percent are food insecure (compared to a national average of 15 percent in 2009). Farmworkers are people leaving their countries to escape hunger and diminishing opportunities, only to find themselves working in an agricultural sector that provides them less control over the production and consumption of their food.
Farmworkers often live in “food deserts,” which are described in the documentary as rural areas in which there is not enough quantity of food, not enough food of good quality and nutrition, or where food prices are higher than in other regions. Lack of transportation and few grocery stores in rural areas make it hard for farmworkers to have access to fresh, healthy foods. Farmworkers often do not have cars or driver’s licenses and are reliant on the grower for transportation and meals. Moreover, according to the National Worker Survey, the median income among farmworkers is between $7,500 and $10,000 annually. This low income, especially when coupled with the fact that many farmworkers send money back home, means that over 60% of farmworker families live in poverty. Because there are no food subsidies for fruits and vegetables, farmworkers are unable to afford more expensive healthy foods and must rely on cheaper, less nutritious junk foods. The people who harvest fruits and vegetables, therefore, are unable to afford the food that they worked to pick in an effort to earn enough money to feed their families.
A Place at the Table effectively acknowledges that hunger in America is solvable, and the solutions are awareness and legislation. Food insecurity is the product of our global economic system and the dynamics of domestic food production. A Place at the Table does a great job of raising awareness and starting the conversation about ending hunger in America; the source of legislation changes is in our agricultural sector. Federal policies need to be adopted to address our most marginalized populations, including farmworkers and their families. America needs government funding for rural development, transportation infrastructure, improved competitiveness for small farmers, and school-lunch and food stamp programs. Rural counties make up the majority of counties with persistent poverty, as well as the majority of farming communities. Rural poverty, inequality of access to food in farming areas, and the plight of farmworkers need to be part of the discussion that is being generated around hunger and food security.