<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3UWpTC_1GqHnP5v00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3UWpTC_1GqHnP5v00" width="1200" height="675" ></figure>On Wednesday, Oct. 28, pioneering labor activist Dolores Huerta died at age 96. She spent her life fighting tirelessly for farmworkers’ rights. She was born in April of 1930 in Dawson, NM. She stood five feet tall, but had a voice and impact much larger than her stature.Huerta spent most of her childhood in Stockton, CA, a major city in California’s sprawling agricultural Central Valley. Her experience as an elementary school teacher in Stockton motivated her activism. In 1962, Huerta helped to found the National Farmworkers Association, which would eventually become the United Farm Workers union. She was a key organizer of the Delano grape strike of 1965–70, which monumentally raised working conditions for farm workers. She spent her entire life fighting for farmers. I remember her visiting my hometown in California a number of times during my childhood, delivering fiery speeches well into her 80s and 90s.“She didn’t rely on her size. She relied on her inner strength,” her friend, California State Senator María Elena Durazo, remembered. “How else do you convince farmworkers to take on agribusiness? She convinced them by showing them that they had power they never thought they had.”To fully understand Huerta’s legacy, it is important to understand the agricultural landscape of America.I spend much of my week cycling. The way I’ve gotten to know Lorain County is through hours spent on a bike on country backroads. Many students describe Oberlin as a “bubble” within the landscape of rural Ohio. But if you step outside that bubble and cycle just a mile outside of Oberlin, you’re surrounded by Ohio’s top industry: agriculture. Patchwork fields of corn and soybeans stretch as far as the eye can see. Ohio is home to 13.9 million acres of farms which contribute $124 billion to Ohio’s economy.Agriculture is one of the most misunderstood industries in the U.S. despite the country’s origins as an agrarian society. Many of the U.S.’ founders were farmers and greatly esteemed the work of agricultural labor. Writing to John Jay, Thomas Jefferson remarked that “… cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens.” The image of a small “family farm” has long been a hallmark of the American dream: 90 percent of Ohio farms are managed by families or individuals.But this number is deceiving. Many of these farms are subsidiaries of larger corporations. Most agricultural profit is concentrated in large farms — 4.7 percent of U.S. farms account for 49.7 percent of agricultural profit across the country. Further, the concentration ratio in the American agricultural market is indicative of an oligopoly. In markets, a four-firm concentration ratio of less than 40 percent of the market share, it is considered competitive. In the U.S., four corporations own 76 percent of the soybean processing industry, 82 percent of the beef packing industry, and 67 percent of the pork packing industry. Four companies control 44 percent of all grocery retail. This highly monopolized industry creates a disparity between the retail prices of food and the profit farmers receive.The increasingly competitive, corporate dominated landscape of agriculture has incentivized “shortcuts” in labor practices to drive down operating costs. Firms increasingly hire low-wage and H-2A workers. Ironically, many food-chain workers are food insecure as a result of the degradation of working conditions. In Fresno County, California, 43 percent of farmworkers are food insecure. In Georgia, 63 percent of farmworkers are food insecure. Workers are underpaid and report high levels of wage-theft. The average salary of a U.S. farmworker is $35,890. 23 percent of all farmworkers are paid less than the minimum wage.The average American farmworker is not experiencing the American dream. They are trapped in a system of monopolized exploitation — a real David versus Goliath. Dolores Huerta spent her life fighting for the average farmworker, standing up to Goliath.“I think the one thing that really kind of hooked me for life was going to the homes of some workers who did not have linoleum or wood on their floor, only dirt,” Huerta said in a 2012 documentary. “And yet, these are people who are working, they’re working very hard and you know that this is wrong.”I grew up in an agricultural community representative of those Huerta fought for. Pescadero, CA is located on the coast of California and is comprised of a patchwork of farms and a population of 691 people. Despite its close proximity to the booming wealth of Silicon Valley, Pescadero is made up of working people constantly fighting to keep their heads above water. The middle and high school I attended lacked potable drinking water. Few people attended college, beginning to work as early as possible to support their families. I spent many of my summers working on farms, learning to till fields, sow seeds, irrigate crops, and build callouses. Everyone took care of each other before themselves. Farming families brought buckets and buckets of flowers to my middle school graduation. The town lit up with marigolds and candles on Día de los Muertos to remember our ancestors. Mothers cooked enough molé at the Christmas Posada procession to feed the town five times over.This is the America Dolores Huerta fought for, the America we must continue to celebrate and protect. Farmworkers continue to be the backbone of America. When you travel through fields of corn and soy, when you eat a meal, when you bite into a fruit, think of Dolores Huerta and the millions of farmworkers who spend hours tilling soil, spilling blood, sweat, and tears. We must fight for their American dream. We must carry on Huerta’s legacy and stand up to Goliath.</div></body>

Block Source: oberlinreview.org

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, pioneering labor activist Dolores Huerta died at age 96. She spent her life fighting tirelessly for farmworkers’ rights. She was born in April of 1930 in Dawson, NM. She stood five feet tall, but had a voice and impact much larger than her stature. Huerta...

There Is No America Without Farmworkers

NewsBreak

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, pioneering labor activist Dolores Huerta died at age 96. She spent her life fighting tirelessly for farmworkers’ rights. She was bor

There Is No America Without Farmworkers

Comments / 1