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THE PRISM

WEST END
OBSERVATIONS

Telescope

by Matt Robinson


December 1998
January 1999

Stories Columns

Happy holidays from the West End! Many folks would likely agree that the best time of year to live in America is now, during our time of celebrations.

In late October and early January we celebrate for different reasons; we throw one party that is spooky and drunk, another that is just drunk. But between Halloween and New Year's are the two powerhouse holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In November we all gather with our families or friends and show how thankful we are, usually by eating ourselves into a stupor. And just when we have begun to recover from that, along comes the season of the American holiday par excellence, Christmas. Not only do we feast, but we also spend ourselves into oblivion, too, because it's better to give than receive, right?

But let's back up before we rush through the holidays and talk about the people who make it possible for us to enjoy the season. And I'm not referring to some dubious pilgrims, a religious legend-figure, our bosses, or our grocery stores. I'm talking about the folks who grow our food, who raise, slaughter, and process our Thanksgiving turkey, who spray pesticides on Frasier firs so we can all have fragrant Christmas trees in our living rooms each year. The people I'm talking about are North Carolina's agricultural and farm workers, the men and women who do the hard work to supply everyone's needs.

Many are migrant and seasonal laborers, and many are immigrants. Roughly half are American citizens or legal permanent residents, but undocumented aliens constitute an estimated third. Most live below the poverty level. The National Agricultural Worker's Survey for 1994-1995 documented 61% of farmworkers in the US as falling below the poverty line, and that number has increased in recent years.

These folks work all year long to give the rest of us the things we need (and usually take for granted) like food and even clothing (cotton). The contribution these people make to agriculture and agricultural industry is a significant reason why our lives here are as good as they are. We enjoy relatively inexpensive food in abundance, most of which passed through the hands of a farm worker on its way into our shops and supermarkets. The services which migrant and seasonal labor render are invaluable.

Yet many North Carolinians are unaware of the level of service which we all receive from the farmworkers in our midst. Although the lives of many urbanites and suburbanites may not bring them into direct contact with these skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers, the fact remains that these workers are ubiquitous. They assist in virtually every industry in the state, from fishing to farming to fruit gathering, from tobacco to textiles to trees. And the revenues they help generate are substantial.

The Christmas tree industry is a good (and timely) example. According to a survey by the North Carolina Christmas Tree Grower's Association cited by Durham-based Student Action with Farmworkers, Christmas tree sales in North Carolina in 1996 topped $72 million. Farmworkers of all kinds participate in this business, and their labor has placed NC among the six states which dominate the Christmas tree industry in this country. In 1997, the industry processed 34 million trees in this state. With about 1,600 growers in the state, it becomes apparent that the size of the task requires a great deal of work, and employs a large number of folks.

Not that these folks are employed year-round, mind you. The average length of employment for farm workers, citizen or immigrant, is generally fewer than 150 days. That means that farmworkers both here and across the nation must constantly seek out new employers throughout the year. As mentioned, most of them live in poverty. Median annual earnings for individual farmworkers in the Southeast region of the US vary from $2,500 to $5,000 per year (Nat'l Agric. Worker's Survey, '94-'95). Compare this to 1992 total receipts for agriculture in NC of $7.8 billion, of which an estimated $388 million went to farmworkers, and it is easy to see that someone's getting paid handsomely for North Carolina agriculture, and it's not the farmworkers.

Keep that in mind when you see the beautiful trees for sale in the vacant lots and outside the shopping centers of the region. Remember it while you enjoy the unique fragrance which these seasonal treats bring into our homes.

And when you are suffering through the last leftover turkey sandwich on your way out the door Christmas shopping, take a moment and reflect on how much the workers that you see on the streets and restaurants, as well as the ones you don't see in the fields and in the processing plants, support your lifestyle and your life. Their contribution in some ways may be easier to acknowledge around the holiday season, but it is here year round.

Merry Christmas to you all, and to all...keep up the fight.


Information for this article was obtained through Student Action with Farmworkers, courtesy of Melinda Wiggins. Contact SAF for more information, at 660-3652.

 

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