BACK FORTY - FIELD LESSONS

BACK FORTY - FIELD LESSONS

Photoessay by David Bacon

Food and Environment Reporting Network - The Back Forty

https://thefern.org/blog_posts/back-forty-field-lessons/

 

 

Santa Maria, CA - 5/18/22 - Snow peas are a rare crop among the miles of Santa Maria fields devoted to broccoli and lettuce.  Each of these crops demands from growers a unique cycle and system for planting and cultivation, but for workers the labor makes a constant demand - speed.  Almost all crops are harvested on the piece rate, and to make any money a woman or man must work so fast that the movement of hands becomes a blur.

 

Not long ago I pulled my car to the side of the highway when I saw a crew almost hidden in tall rows of vines.  It was a small group, working for a small grower, Bautista Farms, harvesting snow peas.  

 

Read the rest of this story at the Food and Environmental Reporting Network.  https://thefern.org/blog_posts/back-forty-field-lessons/

 

SANTA MARIA, CA - 18MAY22 - Enrique Acuña works in a crew of Mexican immigrants picking snow peas for Bautista Farms.

 

Ivan Gallardo reaches into the vine to grab snow peas.

 

Ivan Gallardo has his cellphone by his ear under his hood, and laughs as he hears a joke told by a member of his family in Mexico.

 

Ivan Gallardo's hands have to work fast, grabbing a bunch of peas at a time, without damaging them.

 

The expression on the face of Pedro Gallardo, Ivan's cousin, reveals the concentration it takes to do this work.

 

Pedro Gallardo's bucket is almost full, as it hangs from his belt while he picks.

 

His bucket full, Pedro Gallardo slings it over his shoulder and carries it down the row to the weighing station.

 

Pedro Gallardo passes his cousin Ivan, who is still picking, as he carries his full bucket down the row.

 

Pedro Gallardo empties his bucket into a bin so that it can be weighed.

 

Sofia, a picker in the crew, stops for a moment with her full bucket.

 

Sofia manhandles the bin she's filled so that it can be weighed. 

 

Alberto Vasquez, a young worker, empties his bucket into a bin.

 

Berto Bautista, owner of Bautista Farms, puts a bin of snow peas onto the scale to be weighed.  Workers are paid by amount they pick, measured by weight.

 

After weighing a bin, Berto Bautista carries it to the truck for sorting.

 

Jorge Ariza sorts and checks the harvested snow peas.  He fills shallow boxes that won't crush or damage them, which are then stacked onto the truck taking them from the field.