Mission Journal
November 03, 2005

“These are small farmers and ranchers…for they are working only five hundred to a thousand acres.”
Luke and Lydia came by the office three days ago.  “Buenos Dias Luke, Lydia , how is it going?” we asked.  “Bien, and you” came the quick reply and smile.  It had been a wet morning so far, following rain the day before.  A welcoming rain after another summer of drought, but for folks who worked the orchards it also meant another day without pay.  “How’s work going?”  Belinda questioned.  “When the rain ends we have three more days of work.  The Fuji ’s are almost done and then all the apples will have been picked,” Luke said.

It is the same each year and each year it is hard for me to comprehend.  By mid-November, a large number of families will no longer have work.  This lack of work will continue until sometime in March when the first pruning begins.  I think my lack of comprehension, in part, comes from the days when I worked as a carpenter.  There were times when a project would shut down for a week or two because of weather.  There were other times when a month may go by between projects, but never four months without work.

At the time, I felt it a hardship to go without work and pay.  Today I look back and begin to see what I could not at the time.  My wages were union wages.  Wages developed on the basis that a carpenter does not always have the opportunity to work year-round.  Somewhere along the line, people who went before me saw the importance of developing a wage system that took into account the slow times of construction, and worked to adjust wages appropriately.  For carpenters to receive a livable wage, society, as a whole, agreed that the value of a carpenter’s work is great enough to pay a little more for housing, bridges, buildings, and power plant facilities.

Isn’t interesting society has yet to do the same for those who provide our food supply?  Our society has become so closely tied to the “big box” food suppliers these days (you may read firms like WalMart here) that these firms are able to push down what is paid for food (you may read $.25-.70/lb for apples here).  This results in small farmers and ranchers struggling to make a living.

It is hard to voice the heartache I hear from the farmers and ranchers of this valley.  These are small farmers and ranchers—not the agribusiness firms where much of today’s food supply comes from—for they are working only five hundred to a thousand acres.  The heartache is seldom for themselves, though.  This heartache comes from awareness that each day, fewer people in American society understand the true value of their food.  They are aware this lack of understanding results in unfair prices paid for produce, which in turn results in less for their families and the families of their farmworkers.  In the end, neither the farmer nor the farmworker receives the wages I did years ago as a carpenter.

Today may be the last day of work for Luke and Lydia .  This will relate to insecurity, fear might be a better word, about their families food supply.  Because of this insecurity they along with many others, will start accessing the food bank.  But those of this valley are not alone when it comes to the security of their food.

This week the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the 2004 food insecurity and hunger report (www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11).  The report notes that food insecurity in the United States increased by 1.9 million people between 2003 and 2004.  One point nine million, hmm, relating that number as people is more than I can imagine.  I’m not sure that all the natural disasters in the last few months add up to 1.9 million people.  Considering this number is in addition to the 36.3 million people already living in food insecure households in 2003, it is quite staggering. 

The last of the Fuji apples will most likely be picked today.  The small farmers and farmworker’s will most likely not make what I did as a union carpenter.  And all but 38.2 million members of our society (you may read Luke, Lydia , and their three daughters here) will eat well tonight.