The Farmworkers' Journey

by Ann Aurelia Lopez

Illuminating the dark side of economic globalization, this book gives a rare insider's view of the migrant farmworkers' binational circuit that stretches from the west central Mexico countryside to central California. Over the course of ten years, Ann Aurelia López conducted a series of intimate interviews with farmworkers and their families along the migrant circuit. She deftly weaves their voices together with up-to-date research to portray a world hidden from most Americans―a world of inescapable poverty that has worsened considerably since NAFTA was implemented in 1994. In fact, today it has become nearly impossible for rural communities in Mexico to continue to farm the land sustainably, leaving few survival options except the perilous border crossing to the United States. The Farmworkers' Journey brings together for the first time the many facets of this issue into a comprehensive and accessible how corporate agribusiness operates, how binational institutions and laws promote the subjugation of Mexican farmworkers, how migration affects family life, how genetically modified corn strains pouring into Mexico from the United States are affecting farmers, how migrants face exploitation from employers, and more. A must-read for all Americans, The Farmworkers' Journey traces the human consequences of our policy decisions.

Genres: Nonfiction

362 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Claudia U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener and searing portrait of the lives of rural Mexican farmers turned migrant farmworkers that bear the disproportionate social, environmental, and economic consequences of NAFTA. We often take for granted the food we consume without realizing the incredibly arduous labor conditions of farmworkers in the United States. Displaced from their farming communities due to a collapsed rural economy and having no choice but to make a perilous journey to the U.S., this book painstakingly documents the painful family separations, environmental destruction of the Mexican countryside, and exploitation of people and the environment borne out of this bilateral free trade agreement and the long lasting effects of the Green Revolution. In spite of these struggles, the author makes the case that the farmworkers are resilient and survive despite these odds. If not for the sacrifice of these farmworkers who can barely scrap a living, we would not have the comfort of frequenting a grocery store and picking up produce year round. For anyone interested in understanding the human and environmental cost of neoliberalism, food systems, and labor, this book is a must read.

[Thérèse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting study of the experiences of Mexican farmworkers in the Salinas/Monterey area and of the state of the campesino farming culture they come from in west-central Mexico.