Catherwood LibraryILR School

U-Pick farms in California encourage consumers to bring their families for fun while self-harvesting fruits and vegetables, offering entertainment, games, picnic tables and party options. At nearby commercial produce farms, however, the reality of reaping produce is not so idyllic. While some employees work at farms that are unionized, resulting in better pay and working conditions, others labor for up to 13 hours in harsh conditions at $10 an hour. Workers who harvest raspberries, for example, work in plastic tunnels where temperatures can be as hot as 100F. Those who harvest strawberries have a different problem; strawberries top the list of produce with the heaviest pesticide usage, sometimes using as many 39 chemicals. Other occupational hazards include dust, bee stings, flash floods, and unremitting physical labor that involves many hours of squatting for low-hung fruit such as strawberries. Many of the workers are immigrants who also report unpaid wages, unpaid “apprenticeships” in order to land the job, and lack of protective equipment; they are reluctant to protest due to their undocumented status.