Farm Hands, Hard Work and Hard Lessons from Western New York Fields

by Tom Rivers

Farm Hard Work and Hard Lessons from Western New York Fields by Tom Rivers. In a quest to discover why so few local residents work on area farms, a newspaper reporter offers a first-person account of what it's like to perform the hard physical labor farm work requires. He details his experiences working at 13 fruit, vegetable and dairy farms in Western New York, and discovers that farm work involves many skills and strengths. The 168-page book includes 101 pictures.

Genres: Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter what side of the fence you fall upon on the various debates regarding immigration, food production, and farm labor, this book is an absolute must-read. The author, Tom Rivers, is a newspaper reporter who wrote a series of first-person articles about his time spent working on various types of farms in Western New York. These articles have been compiled, along with a number of photographs, into this thoughtful and insightful easy-to-read book. I think what most appealed to me was the way in which a topic that has been covered broadly by many news outlets as an international issue has been taken down to an individual level as Rivers heads out of his comfort zone and into the fields alongside migrant workers from many background. Rivers does much more than just interviewing people from a safe distance. Instead, he immerses himself into the work itself, to ask crucial questions of why locals are not taking up advertised work on farms. The author reminds the reader that migrant workers (regardless of their legal status) are, ultimately, humans who are far from home, often missing the families and loved ones whom they are striving to support through back-breaking work. I really believe this is the type of dialogue that is too often missing in our conversations on this topic, and I really can't recommend it enough.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book by local author.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting first hand accounts of farm work. Will help readers understand issues faced by farmers and farm workers from other countries.

[Charley Duschen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. He paints many puctures that demonstrate how strenuous planting and harvesting our local farm crops can be. Tells the story of how hard life is for our migrant farm workers.