2009
Fair Food: Field to Table: A Multimedia Project Promoting Social Justice in our Food System
“Fair Food: Field to Table” is a 20-minute documentary promoting a more socially just food system in the U.S. by raising awareness on agricultural labor conditions and the growing movement for fair food. Through the stories and voices of farmworkers, growers, businesses and fair food advocates, viewers learn about the harsh realities of farmworker conditions and, more importantly, the promise of improved farm labor practices. The documentary and additional resources are available at www.fairfoodproject.org. Because “Fair Food: Field to Table” is meant to be used as an educational tool, the documentary is freely available to watch and share. “Fair Food: Field to Table” was created by CIRS and Rick Nahmias Photography through funding from the Columbia Foundation and additional funding from the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation and the Clif Bar Foundation.
Click here to view “Fair Food: Field to Table.”
La Flor del Sin Nombre: A Telenovela Promoting Improved Diet and Nutrition
La Flor del Sin Nombre is an hour-long telenovela style video promoting improved nutrition among agricultural workers and other Spanish-speaking immigrants. Using an entertaining and engaging format, it seeks to educate viewers about the importance of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, cutting fat intake, and reducing high-sugar beverage consumption. It also seeks to promote increased utilization of food stamps among eligible individuals.
The story takes place in the town of “Sin Nombre” (literally, “No Name”), a small San Joaquin Valley community in California that is predominantly occupied by farmworker families. Xochitl Sandoval, a daughter of farmworkers and a community organizer, is the main protagonist. Xochitl is committed to improving the diet and nutrition of community members, particularly since she lost both of her parents to complications from type 2 diabetes. The nutrition education and food stamp access themes are interwoven in this traditional telenovela story complete with suspense, drama, love and betrayal.
A project of the California Institute for Rural Studies in collaboration with UC Berkeley & UC Cooperative Extension’s Building Food Security Workgroup and Fotonovelas del Valle, this production was funded in part by the Food Stamp Program of the United States Department of Agriculture, an equal opportunity employer.
Click here to view La Flor del Sin Nombre (64:19) on YouTube (please note that there are closed captions).
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An Assessment of the Demand for a Vanpool Program Serving Agricultural Workers in Napa County by Ron Strochlic (21 pages)
With funding from the Napa County Transportation & Planning Agency, CIRS assessed the feasibility of a farmworker vanpool system for Napa County. Based on a successful model currently being implemented by the Agricultural Industries Transportation Services project, the vanpool system will provide farmworkers with safe and affordable transportation to and from the fields and wineries. The assessment, based on surveys and focus groups with farmworkers throughout Napa County indicates the feasibility of this effort.
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Organizing for Community Health: The Poder Popular Promotores Comunitarios de Salud Strategy by Gloria Sayavedra, Ron Strochlic, Teresa Elliot, and Jaime Carrillo (50 pages)
In collaboration with Harder+Company Community Research, CIRS conducted a three-year evaluation of The California Endowment's Promotores Communitarios de Salud Strategy, a grassroots education and mobilization strategy for improving community health. The strategy, which is being implemented in seven agricultural communities throughout California, utilizes a popular education approach to help agricultural workers and other community residents understand the community-level threats to their health and provide them with the skills to bring about policy and systems changes that will result in improved community health.
Vente, Vamos a Hacer el Cambio! Come, Let’s Create Change!
As part of the evaluation of Poder Popular and in collaboration with Francisco Mendoza, CIRS produced a video in which project participants tell the story of Poder Popular in their own words. You can view this 19 minute video, which is filmed in five segments, by clicking on the following links:
Part 1: Quiénes Somos? / Who are We?
Part 2: Retos / Challenges
Part 3: Nuestros derechos, nuestro poder / Our Rights, Our Strengths
Part 4: Nuestras Victorias / Our Victories
Part 5: Vente a hacer el cambio! / Come Let’s Create Change!
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2008
"If We Don't Speak, Our Voices Won't Be Heard": Organizing Farmworkers through Poder Popular by
Gloria Sayavedra, Ron Strochlic and Bertha Sarmina Garcia (9 pages)
In collaboration with Harder+Company Community Research, CIRS is conducting a 3-year evaluation of The California Endowment's Promotores Communitarios de Salud Strategy, a grassroots education and mobilization strategy for improving community health. The strategy, which is being implemented in eight agricultural communities throughout California, utilizes a popular education approach to help agricultural workers and other community residents understand and respond to physical and social environmental threats to their health. This brief provides preliminary findings from this evaluation.
To view a powerpoint of evaluation findings presented at the 2008 American Evaluation Association meetings in Denver click here.
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An Assessment of the Demand for Farm Workers Housing and Transportation in Mendocino County by
Ron Strochlic, Lisa Kresge, Don Villarejo, and Cathy Wirth (86 pages)
Lack of access to decent housing and safe, affordable transportation are significant issues affecting agricultural workers in California. The Mendocino County Planning Department contracted with CIRS to identify ways to improve agricultural worker housing and assess the feasibility of a vanpool offering safe and affordable transportation. The research is based on a survey of 200 farmworkers and 90 agricultural employers, as well as key informant interviews with experts familiar with farm labor housing and transportation conditions. The findings identify the numbers and characteristics of farmworkers employed in Mendocino County and their housing and transportation needs, with recommendations for addressing these conditions.
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Hunger in the Fields: Food Insecurity Among Farmworkers in Fresno County
by
Cathy Wirth, Ron Strochlic and Christy Getz (36 pages)
In collaboration with University of California Cooperative Extension, Building Food Security Working Group and Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, and with funding from the Network for a Healthy California, and the Community Food and Nutrition Program, CIRS conducted an assessment of food security among agricultural workers in Fresno County, which assessed issues including hunger, diet and nutrition, access to food assistance programs and barriers to food security. Face-to-face interviews were completed with 450 farmworkers during the winter and summer of 2005. A sub-sample of 60 Mixteco farmworkers was included in the analysis as well. The findings reveal high levels of food insecurity and poor diet and nutrition among this population. The analysis identifies key factors associated with food insecurity and poor diet, with policy recommendations for addressing these issues.
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Positive Practices in Farm Labor Management: Keeping Your Employees Happy and Your Production Profitable by
Erin Hardie and NCAT staff (16 pages)
With funding from the Columbia Foundation, the Western Center for Risk Management Education and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and in collaboration with the National Center for Appropriate Technology, CIRS developed a user-friendly manual providing growers with information about how to implement a range of positive farm labor practices. The manual is based on findings from earlier case study research on sustainable farms with positive farm labor conditions. The information was disseminated to several hundred growers throughout conferences and workshops.
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Farm Labor Conditions on Organic Farms in California
by Ron Strochlic, Cathy Wirth, Ana Fernandez Besada and Christy Getz (39 pages)
With funding from the Columbia Foundation, CIRS conducted a survey of farm labor conditions on organic farms throughout California. The survey comes as a follow-up to previous case study research on 12 California farms with a reputation for positive workplace conditions. The findings, based on in-depth interviews with 300 organic farms, provide a snapshot of farm labor conditions in California’s organic sector. The findings provide detailed information about wages and benefits on organic farms in California, how organic farms compare to conventional farms with respect to labor conditions, how wages and benefits vary based on farm characteristics such as size and percentage of land in organic production and farm-level benefits of good labor conditions. As efforts to improve farmworker conditions in organic and sustainable agriculture move forward, the findings provide useful baseline information with which to measure change.
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2007
Indigenous Oaxacan Communities in California: An Overview
by Lisa Kresge (22 pages)
With funding from the Center for Public Policy Research at UC Davis, through a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Social Services, CIRS conducted exploratory research to identify information about indigenous Oaxacans in California. Despite their status as one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in California, there is little empirical data about this group. Based on a review of the literature, secondary data, key informant interviews and focus groups, this study provides estimates regarding the numbers of Oaxacans in California, principal places of residence, languages spoken and principal barriers to accessing social services.
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An Assessment of the Demand for Farm Worker Housing in Napa County
by Ron Strochlic, Don Villarejo, Sandra Nichols, Cathy Wirth and Raoul Lievanos (119 pages)
The lack of access to decent and affordable housing is one of the more intractable issues affecting the health and well being of agricultural workers and their accompanying family members. Despite its status as California's premiere wine grape-growing region, many agricultural workers in Napa County lack access to decent and affordable housing. In order to identify ways to improve farm labor housing conditions, Napa County contracted with CIRS to assess the housing needs of agricultural workers and provide recommendations for improving those conditions. The research is based on a survey of 200 farmworkers and150 agricultural employers, focus groups with farmworkers and key informant interviews with experts familiar with farm labor housing conditions. The research findings identify the numbers and characteristics of farmworkers employed in Napa County, housing conditions, additional units necessary to adequately meet their housing needs and other recommendations for improving farmworker-housing conditions.
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2006
Best Labor Practices on Twelve California Farms: Toward a More Sustainable Food System by Ron Strochlic and Kari Hammerschlag (12 pages) (Summary Version)
Best Labor Practices on Twelve California Farms: Toward a More Sustainable Food System by Ron Strochlic and Kari Hammerschlag (33 pages) (Detailed Version)
As a means of promoting improved labor practices on sustainable farms, CIRS, with support from the Columbia Foundation, conducted case study research on 12 California farms with a reputation for positive workplace conditions. The research consisted of in-depth interviews with growers and/or farm managers and focus group discussions with over 100 farmworkers. The grower interviews gathered information on workplace practices, and the costs and benefits of providing good farm labor conditions, while the farmworker focus groups sought to identify the practices farmworkers most value. The findings reveal a broad range of positive workplace practices, which have resulted in a more satisfied and motivated workforce, and numerous benefits for growers, including increased retention, reduced training and supervision costs and increased revenues. The research also identifies the workplace conditions that farmworkers most value, including many that are no- or low-cost, yet greatly contribute to farmworker satisfaction and motivation.
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2005
Enrollment and Retention Patterns Among Healthy Family Participants in Mendocino County by Christopher Kelsch and Jackie Hausman (21 pages)
With support from the California Health Care Foundation and in collaboration with the Mendocino County Children's Health Initiative, CIRS conducted research on enrollment and retention patterns among Healthy Families beneficiaries, to better understand reasons behind low retention rates. The research, which consisted of a survey of 310 current and former Healthy Families beneficiaries in Mendocino County, representing 20% of all beneficiaries between the period January 2004 and July 2005, found that most beneficiaries discontinuing Healthy Families coverage did so because of access to other forms of health insurance, rather than problems with Healthy Families or difficulties with the renewal process.
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The Need for Targeted Surveys of Farmworkers: A Comparison of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and California Agricultural Worker Health Survey (CAWHS)
by Richard Mines, Jackie Hausman and Lisette Tabshouri (38 pages)
This report analyzes data gathered by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) - a telephone survey - and compares it with California Agricultural Workers Health Survey (CAWHS) data, which was gathered via face-to-face interviews with farmworkers. The CHIS and CAWHS data were compared on a number of variables, including personal characteristics, rates of health insurance coverage, participation in public programs, health and dental utilization, and health status of both farmworker adults and their children. The findings reveal large discrepancies between the two data sets, indicating the need for targeted health surveys of farmworkers.
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2004
Empowering Teen Farmworkers: Evaluating a High School Curriculum for Health and Safety in the Fields by Ron Strochlic and Suzanne Teran (64 pages)
While childhood agricultural injury has long been recognized as an important public health issue, most interventions have focused on family farms, with few efforts targeting hired youth. This study, which was funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and conducted in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP), evaluated the impacts of a high school English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum designed to provide teen agricultural workers with the knowledge and tools to protect their health and safety in the fields. The findings indicate that the curriculum had significant impact in terms of increased knowledge, improved attitudes and adoption of behaviors to protect their health and safety among participating students. The curriculum had extended effects in the broader community as well, with most students reported sharing the new information with family and friends. The findings indicate that a school-based ESL curriculum is an effective intervention to educate teen farm workers about agricultural health and safety and that ESL classes can serve as a much needed access point for young farm workers.
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2003
In Their Own Words: Farmworker Access to Health Care in Four California Regions
by Richard Mines and others (121 pages)
This report is a summary of research findings from four California regions - the East Coachella Valley, North San Diego County, Oxnard/Santa Clarita Valley, and North Tulare County - that CIRS has been studying as part of its Agricultural Workers Health Study (AWHS). The AWHS study began in September 2001 with funding from the California Program on Access to Care and The California Endowment. The research employs a case study approach, utilizing extensive secondary data, as well as primary data gathered through in depth, open-ended interviews with hundreds of local stakeholders, including farmworkers and farmworker advocates, non-profit and public sector health, housing and social service providers, elected officials, growers, educators, and community leaders.
The report is organized as follows: It begins with an overview of the demographic, economic, and agronomic conditions of the four regions, followed by descriptions of the living and working conditions farmworkers experience. The report then describes the primary health care problems facing California farmworkers, along with the healthcare landscape available to them in each region. From there, the report analyzes the barriers to accessing health care, as well as the facilitators, or channels, which make health care more accessible. Finally, we offer a list of recommendations for both program and policy actions that is derived from each community.
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2002
The Agricultural Workers Health Study - Case Studies
CIRS conducted in depth research on the health status of agricultural workers in six of California’s principal agricultural regions. The findings are based on in-depth interviews with hundreds of agricultural workers, health care providers, community based organizations and public sector officials. They provide of detailed portrait of the principal factors affecting the physical and mental health of agricultural workers and accompanying family members.
East Coachella Valley
North San Diego County
Oxnard/Santa Clarita Valley
North Tulare County
Salinas Valley
Napa County
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Family Settlement and Technological Changes in Labor-intensive US Agriculture
by Richard Mines (12 pages)
Labor-intensive agriculture in the USA faces a choice in the coming years. It can perpetuate a labor system based on a high turnover, flow through and low wage labor market based on a stagnant technological model. This model depends on competing in world markets through low wages and implies a predominantly solo (unaccompanied by nuclear family) male workforce with the associated traits of instability and fewer days of work per year. Or the industry can evolve into a system based on technological change, which enhances productivity, lowers costs and lightens tasks, expanding the supply of labor to older men and women.
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2001
Access to Health Care for California's Hired Farm Workers: A Baseline Report
by Don Villarejo David Lighthall, Daniel Williams, Ann Souter, Richard Mines, Bonnie Bade, Steve Samuels, and Stephen McCurdy (60 pages)
This report serves as a complement to Suffering in Silence: A Report on the Health of California's Agricultural Workers, which detailed the dire health status of California farmworkers based on information gathered in the California Agricultural Worker Health Survey (CAWHS). Similarly, Access to Health Care uses data from the CAWHS to discuss other significant findings from the study that relate to health care access. Findings on housing and living conditions, household composition and demographics, educational attainment and employment, race and ethnicity, and total household income are included, as well as a discussion of the intersection of health care access to immigrant status and the relationship between the use of social programs and health status. Figures and tables are included to support the discussion. The report closes with 12 policy recommendations.
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The Binational Health Survey by Rick Mines, Nancy Mullenax and Lisette Saca (summary version) (36 pages)
The Binational Health Survey - An in-depth Study of Farmworker Health in Mexico and the United States by Rick Mines, Nancy Mullenax and Lisette Saca (94 pages)
This report focuses on families in seven binational community networks tied to the state of Zacatecas in northwestern Mexico. The study covers a broad range of issues, from the complex matrix of institutional structures and farmworker community attitudes that, in large measure, determine the type of care this population receives, to chronic and ethno-specific diseases. It is especially illuminating with respect to how U.S. health-care delivery and insurance systems create complex obstacles that impede access to needed treatments.
The investigation involved a detailed survey and extensive field observations among current and former U.S. farmworkers and health-care professionals in Mexico and the United States. The inclusion of former farmworkers (those who had returned to Mexico to retire or had shifted to other work in the United States) among the study population is a key distinction between this investigation and previous farmworker health studies, which focused only on current workers. As a result, the project was able to more precisely assess the long-range health impact of farm labor on these workers, and provides vital information on how they cope with the many health-care challenges they face.
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2000
Suffering in Silence: A Report on the Health of California Agricultural Workers
(English Version) by Don Villarejo and others (38 pages)
Sufrimientos Silenciosos: Un Reporte sobre la Salud de los Trabajadores Agricolas de California (Spanish Version) by Don Villarejo and others (38 pages)
Suffering in Silence: A Report on the Health of California Agricultural Workers
(Research Brief, English Version) by Don Villarejo and others (4 pages)
Sufriemientos Silenciosos: Un Reporte sobre la Salud de los Trabajadores Agricolas de California (Reporte Breve, Spanish Version) by Don Villarejo and others (2 pages)
The California Agricultural Worker Health Survey (CAWHS) is a statewide health study of 971 California farm workers that was conducted by CIRS in 1999 with funding from The California Endowment. The survey represents the first randomized health study of farmworkers conducted in the United States. The survey encompassed: (1) levels of health care utilization by the participants' household; (2) current health status; (3) work history; (4) immigration status; (5) workplace conditions and training; (6) housing conditions; (7) wage rates and household income; and (8) occupational conditions, safety training, and injuries. Participants were also asked to participate in physical exams where baseline data on blood chemistry was collected. This landmark study brings the health crisis affecting California's farmworkers to the fore and provides the first-ever baseline health data for farmworkers in California.
The study found that nearly 75 percent of agricultural workers have no health insurance and only 7 percent are covered by any of the various government-funded programs intended to serve low-income groups. At the same time, chronic disease risks, particularly for heart disease, stroke, asthma and diabetes, were found to be high, mainly due to obesity, high blood pressure and/or high serum cholesterol.
Clearly, these findings paint a dire picture. As indicated in the study report, "The lack of health insurance, the inability of existing programs to meet the needs of this population, and the infrequency of health care visits demonstrate a breakdown of this nation's health care system for hired farm workers."
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1999
Forum for Transnational Employment
Chapter 1. "Options for U.S. Labor Intensive Agriculture: Perpetuation of the Status Quo or Transition to a New Labor Market?" by Rafael Alarcón and Rick Mines
Chapter 2. "Mexico and U.S. Guest Worker Proposals in 2000," by Manuel García y Griego.
Chapter 3. "Government Intervention and the Farm Labor Market: How Past Policies Shape Future Options," by Monica Heppel and Demetrios Papademetriou.
Chapter 4. "Rethinking Cross-Border Employment in Overlapping Societies: A Citizenship Movement Agenda," by Paul Johnston.
Chapter 5. "Farm Workers, Guest Workers, and California Agriculture," by Phil Martin.
(57 pages)
As part of its effort to facilitate a broad and open dialogue aimed at solving the current immigration crisis, CIRS is pleased to announce the publication of the Forum for Transnational Employment. This anthology of research reports and policy essays focuses on alternatives to the status quo in immigration law. In light of the debate in Washington, D.C regarding guest-worker legislation, this publication provides a timely foundation for debate and progressive policy development. It also offers a much-needed historical perspective on this pressing issue.
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1997
Finding Invisible Farm Workers: The Parlier Survery
by Jennifer Sherman, Don Villarejo, Anna Garcia, Stephen McCurdy, Ketty Mobed, David Runsten, Kathy Saiki, Steven Samuels, and Marc Schenker (49 pages)
An innovative sampling technique used in the Parlier Health and Enumeration Survey successfully uncovered the residents of the town's many substandard and unofficial dwellings. This report examines the similarities and differences between the population found in the Parlier Survey and the population found by the Census of Population and other surveys, showing evidence of an undercount by the Census.
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1993
California's Agricultural Dilemma: Higher Production and Lower Wages
by Don Villarejo and Dave Runsten (53 pages)
A vast surplus of workers, especially recent immigrants, and the decline in power of farm worker organizations and political interests have resulted in the erosion of farm worker wages, working conditions and living conditions over the past decade. This paper explores the causes of and possible solutions to these problems.
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Problems Surrounding Health Care Service Utilization for Mixtec Migrant Farm Worker Families by Bonnie Bade (27 pages)
This report examines the state of health care for Mixtec women and their children, as illustrated through the compelling stories of four women in the Madera area. Language barriers, cultural insensitivity and the inherent constraints of poverty construct formidable barriers to health care access and use for these women and their families.
Mixtec Migrants in California Agriculture: A New Cycle of Poverty
by Carol Zabin, Michael Kearney, Anna Garcia, Dave Runsten, and Carole Nagengast (195 pages)
A new wave of immigrants has rolled into California's farm fields. Up to 30,000 Mixtecs - indigenous people from southern Mexico - work across the state, and their arrival signals a new cycle of poverty in California agriculture. A four-year CIRS study documents discrimination and employment law violations against Mixtecs, and their grass-roots efforts to organize in response to unacceptable conditions and cultural insensitivity.
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1992
Farm Worker Needs in California by Don Villarejo (73 pages)
This report was prepared for The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation in the early 1990s and provides a portrait of agricultural trends, farm structure, farm labor markets, and the farm labor population itself, culminating in an overview of the main issues of concern to farm labor advocates.
Mixtec Migrant Farm Workers in California Agriculture: A Dialogue Among Mixtec Leaders, Researchers and Farm Labor Advocates by Carol Zabin (88 pages)
In February 1990, over 50 scholars, farm labor advocates, union organizers, and leaders from grass-roots Mixtec self-help associations participated in an all-day workshop to discuss the situation of Mixtec farm workers in California. The resulting publications consists of an essay on this new migration's place in California labor history, the edited remarks of conference participants, and proposals from the Mixtec self-help groups.
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1989
California Farm Worker Housing by Susan Peck (38 pages)
Degrading, unhealthy, outright dangerous, and costly shelter is not only the curse of the undocumented worker. It is common for all farm workers, whether they migrate or live year-round in an agricultural community. This working paper seeks to understand the reasons behind the deplorable living conditions faced by the farm worker community.
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Regulation of the Farm Labor Market: An Assessment of Farm Worker Protection Under California's Agricultural Labor Regulations Act by Miriam J. Wells and Martha S. West
(59 pages)
This Working Paper examines the extent to which California's Agricultural Relations Act has secured the protections it intended, and explores the factors which have reinforced or undermined it.
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The California Farm Labor Market by Philip Martin (90 pages)
This Working Paper provides a snapshot of California's farm labor market in the mid-1980s. Its central thesis is that a decentralized farm labor market, in which intermediaries such as labor contractors match vulnerable immigrant workers with seasonal jobs, will never be considered a satisfactory labor market.
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Farm Restructuring and Employment in California Agriculture by Don Villarejo (57 pages)
Of California's twenty largest farms in 1978, only seven remained intact in 1989. Yet most of the land remained in agriculture, albeit with new management. This Working Paper draws attention to the structural changes taking place in California agriculture, and their impact on the farm labor market.
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