The Farmers vs the Corporations
Written By Luis R. Garcia Chavez / VFT 2021
Farms have been a symbol of the American way of life for generations. The idea of a man/woman owning their own land, making their food, and establishing a good life though hard, honest work is a symbol all Americans wish to emulate. In reality, agriculture is now an oppressive, difficult system that sees regular people and immigrants abused by agribusiness corporations. While these workers are putting in 10-12 hours a day, sacrificing their bodies and time with family, corporations are reaping nearly all the profit. While they accumulate wealth, they push for greater numbers of temporary immigrant workers so they do not have to raise wages for both citizens and immigrant farmers. Immigrant and natural-born citizens must unite against rural corporations to demand policies that provide Sanctuary4All policies for immigrants and greater compensation and benefits for all farmers.
Agribusiness is dominating the rural market & oppressing struggling farmers. According to a study by Farm Aid, “Corporate Control in Agriculture,” the industry is concentrated at four companies that control nearly half of the market, with different parts of the industry facing even higher concentration (e.g. corn is concentrated in four companies owning 80% of the market). This has resulted in farmers having little control over prices of their products and much-needed supplies. Farmers are forced to sell their product at lower price rates that causes them to fail in their bill payments and become more reliant on the corporate infrastructure. Due to this, farmers slowly lose control over their lives and are forced to follow the abusive policies of agribusiness. These include the underpayment of immigrant farm workers.
According to a study by FAIR, “Agriculture and Immigration,” farmers were paid on average $11.84 per hour, or $24,620 a year, with undocumented immigrants being compensated even less. This has resulted in many of these immigrants being faced with underpayment & even wage theft. These leave immigrant farmers with little income to save or pay the bills. As result, they get trapped into wage-slavery as they must use all their income to maintain themselves the next day of work. They do not have the hope or funds to pay for a house, their own land, or even start a family. It is an oppressive system that pushes regular, good farmers to abuse immigrants just to make ends meet.
Furthermore, without any sanctuary protection for immigrant farmers, they live under the fear of deportation and separation from their families just for a small error. An immigrant farmer refusing to work may result in their employer imposing a fine and then calling the police. Due to the fine, the immigrant is considered a “criminal” and will then be arrested and deported. This grants immense power to agricultural employers who use intimidation tactics and loose fines to coerce their employees into difficult and dangerous assignments.
A piece from Modern Farmer titled “Farm Confessional: I’m an Undocumented Farm Worker,” by Luren Smiley, explores the life of one lucky migrant farmer. Oldilia Chavez, who worked in Modera, California, is an undocumented farmer who has worked in the industry for 14 years. She was forced to leave her family to establish better economic conditions in the United States. She started to work on a farm where she took 7-16 shifts. She suffered through brutal climate situations, from extreme heat to extreme cold. Nonetheless, she persisted. Ms. Chavez was able to purchase a house & send her children off to college. This is not the reality for most. She discusses how some of her employers pay her abysmal pay rates that sometimes yielded only $100 for a whole 16-hour workday. Sometimes, Ms. Chavez was threatened by employers with deportation and ICE. She saw how many of her fellow immigrants were continuously abused through coercion and wage theft because of the lack of sanctuary policies. While she was able to achieve her American Dream, other migrant farmers do not receive the same ending. To really resolve these issues, immigrants and farmers must unite together against the corporations and push for pro-sanctuary and pro-farmer policies.
The unification of farmers and immigrants is needed to combat the influences of agribusiness. Due to the deep pockets of corporations, they have been able to use subsidies provided by the federal government to lower their operational costs, thus reaping even greater profits. Originally, the subsidies were created in the New Deal to provide aid for struggling small farms. Instead, corporations have robbed this aid for themselves. Furthermore, corporations have pushed for immigration policies that allow for the entry of temporary farmer workers who are poorly compensated and have little labor protections. To add, any immigrant who demands human respect and decency are intimated with deportation or even physical harm.
Rural corporations now penetrate all forms of government—from an agribusiness executive sitting in the agricultural department to their lackeys being present in state legislatures. Immigrants and farmers must create a new farmers’ alliance to end this toxic relationship between agribusiness and government. Together they must demand an end to the subsidization of corporate agribusiness and shift back to small, struggling farms who do not follow the draconian policies of these companies. Furthermore, they must advocate for the end of the abusive, unregulated temporary worker system that lowers wages for immigrants and abuses those who are accepted into the program. These farmers’ alliances must protect immigrants from deportation and push for sanctuary policies that will weaken the corporations’ ability to intimate and control their farmers. Together, they will be able to hold greater power in the industry and politics. They will be able to combat lower prices for their crops while receiving greater pay and benefits that would dramatically improve their lives. Sanctuary4All is needed to destroy the tool used by the elites to divide immigrants and regular farmers.One farmer and one immigrant are powerless against agribusiness, but united farmers and immigrants are as David against Goliath.