Chris Hedges: Tomatoes of Wrath

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Tomatoes of Wrath

Posted on Sep 26, 2011
By Chris Hedges


It is 6 a.m. in the parking lot outside the La Fiesta supermarket in Immokalee, Fla. Rodrigo Ortiz, a 26-year-old farmworker, waits forlornly in the half light for work in the tomato fields. White-painted school buses with logos such as “P. Cardenas Harvesting” are slowly filling with fieldworkers. Knots of men and a few women, speaking softly in Spanish and Creole, are clustered on the asphalt or seated at a few picnic tables waiting for crew leaders to herd them onto the buses, some of which will travel two hours to fields. Roosters are crowing as the first light of dawn rises over the cacophony. Men shovel ice into 10-gallon plastic containers from an ice maker next to the supermarket, which opens at 3:30 a.m. to sell tacos and other food to the workers. The containers—which they lug to pickup trucks—provide water for the pickers in the sweltering, humid fields where temperatures soar to 90 degrees and above.

Ortiz, a short man in a tattered baseball cap and soiled black pants that are too long and spill over the tops of his worn canvas sneakers, is not fortunate this day. By 7 a.m. the last buses leave without him. He heads back to the overcrowded trailer he shares with several other men. There are always workers left behind at these predawn pickup sites where hundreds congregate in the hopes of getting work. Nearly 90 percent of the workers are young, single immigrant men, and at least half lack proper documents or authorization to work in the United States.

Harvesting tomatoes is an endeavor that comes with erratic and unpredictable hours, weeks with overtime and weeks with little to do and no guarantees about wages. Once it starts to rain, workers are packed back onto the buses and sent home, their workday abruptly at an end. Ortiz and the other laborers congregate at the pickup points every morning never sure if there will be work. And when they do find daywork they are paid only for what they pick.

“I only had three days of work this week,” Ortiz says mournfully. “I don’t know how I will pay my rent.” .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/tomatoes_of_wrath_20110926/

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. In his lengthy interview to Occupy Wall St people yesterday, he mentioned the horrific conditons

that he covers in this piece.

For anyone who missed this incredible, powerful, uplifting interview, I SO much encourage watching it, it is in 6 parts, but you can only find the successive parts IN the video frame. Click on the upper right hand corner as the video ends, next part starts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SKw2j3XOY0&feature=player_embedded

[Gregorian]

2. I love Chris Hedges. Can I tell my story?

My 90 year old father has a vineyard. He has always paid his workers (who all come from Mexico) very good wages. He has gone out of his way to learn Spanish so he can work along with them, and talk. He has helped his people so much that he loses them when they eventually make enough to return to their homes in Mexico.

I just wanted to point out that life on planet earth can be made better if we actually care about each other. I don't think it's a novel concept. I think it's a forgotten instinct. I think we've learned to be fearful. And fear is where all of the troubles we face come from.