ITHACA (New York) JOURNAL

January 18, 2008

Group looks to document migrant workers' impact on agriculture
 

By Catherine O'Driscoll
Special to The Journal

A Syracuse-based group wants to explore migrant workers' impact on local agriculture.

The Migrant Food Sourcing Project aims to measure the influence of migrants working on farms in Onondaga, Oswego, Jefferson, Madison, Cortland, Tompkins and Cayuga counties. Conducted by the Central New York Worker's Rights Center, the study will culminate in a display of products that migrant workers have harvested or handled.

“Because we have encountered so many migrant and seasonal workers in the activities we focus on at the center, this project is a good way to make visible the labor, sacrifice and the contribution they make to the economy in our region,” said Patricia Rector, coordinator at the Central New York Worker's Rights Center.

The Migrant Food Sourcing Project is connected to the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, which will hold a service called Welcome the Stranger to honor migrant workers' contributions on March 7. It will feature a display of examples of produce that have passed through the hands of those workers. Afterward, the interfaith coalition plans to kick off its annual 40-hour fast for economic justice.

“The general public has a rather abstract notion of immigrant labor. We wanted to create a physical, symbolic display of those foods so people can reflect on the interdependence of migrant labor on the community's well-being,” Rector said.

A 2007 study commissioned by the Farm Credit Associations of New York estimated that if the migrant workforce was lost, New York state could lose about 900 farms, $195 million in production value and more than 200,000 acres of land in agricultural production over the next two years. New York state farms employ approximately 47,000 migrant workers.

The study will rely on the public to provide information about area farms that employ migrant workers. The researchers plan to send out e-mail appeals for information about which farms in which counties use migrant farmers and what food products they work with.  The center plans to hold a press conference Feb. 27 to announce the study's findings.

“We're inviting people to become more aware of those whose labor produces their food when they sit down with their families at mealtime,” Rector said. “We're not social scientists. We're just ordinary folks who are concerned about this issue.”