Saying that life for the average migrant farm worker is difficult would be an understatement. I just finished watching the documentary , Food Chain. Migrant farm workers are required to work long hours. Most of them live below the poverty line. One of the workers depicted in the documentary, Food Chains. reported that he had to leave his home at 5am to drop his child at daycare, and would often not return to pick the child up until 8pm at night. The farm workers reported often having to live in cramped and crowded conditions, and pay high rent. The labor itself is physically burdensome. The farmworkers earn low wages, making it difficult to care for themselves and their families. The creator of Food Chain presents this as modern-day slavery. It is much like slavery in that those who hold power, such as the super-markets pay the farmers a portion of their billions of dollars in profits. In turn, the farmers are either not able or do not pass on earnings to the pickers. This, coupled with the fact that many of the pickers are illegal immigrants causes them to begin to feel imprisoned by their lifestyle. It is a situation where, if they complain too much about their wages or living circumstances, they risk being turned over to immigration, and fear what comes next would be much worse for them. There was even a case illustrated in the documentary where some farm workers were chained inside a uhaul truck and made to work for free. The predicament of the pickers is somewhat hopeless with large corporations faring very well off of their slave-like labor. The wealthy corporations such as super-markets and fast food markets continue to look out for their own self -interests while the pickers are left to struggle. The pickers are scared to complain for fear if being turned over to immigration officials.
To add insult to injury, Nafta is the reason that many Mexican farmers went bankrupt years ago and were forced to migrate.
I will never look at a tomato the same way again.
© 2026 – SoulSequel
12 responses to “what are you thinking about when you eat a tomato?”
When I bring in a tomato to eat it, I think of the weather conditions while it was growing. Will it be juicy from my watering? Will the skin be thick and tough from the hot days? I don’t give any thought to migrant workers. I never see any of them in my garden.
i cant always grow or buy local, but i try to buy close. the less miles traveled, the happier the produce. it isnt about discrimination, its about eating food that hasnt already traveled more than a province to get to my table. its about less preservatives necessary. its about taste and journey and on occasion less of a global foot print.
so when i am eating a tomato grown close to home, i am grateful i am able to do so.
if only i could say the same about my bananas, which are a staple in my life. i think it was BananaLand that gave me the guilt about my favourite snack
@BelleMadre
Most tender fruits and vegetables in Ontario are still harvested by foreign seasonal workers. But the process of taking better care of them has at least started with the stories about them in the news over the past 6 years or so.
So what’s the full solution? Better laws to protect them from business greed (low wage, marginal living conditions, deceptive hiring practices, unsafe working conditions) is only part of it.
Awarding them some kind of official status of “non-citizen worker” could be another part of the solution.
And a willingness to pay higher prices for consumer produce?
Like it or not most Canadians and Americans will not labor for long hours in the hot sun for marginal pay: nor will we pay the supermarket prices necessary to motivate our domestic workers to harvest our produce.
There is a disturbing trend to try to foist the blame for these things that make us feel bad, on to everyone except those who have any real power or say: ourselves, the consumers, and our greed driven economy.
Most migrant seasonal farm workers have some idea what they are in for.
There is little excuse for any of us to be unaware of the human proclivities for greed and using other humans as objects for our gain. We are all well aware of the inhumanities of “just business”.
So do we tackle this problem with intellect and compassion, and acceptance of the associated cost to us personally? Are we ready for an $8 single tomato?
Or do we just push for the passing of a new spate of laws intended mainly to placate our feelings?
@griz I think we push for laws that work toward social justice
It totally depends on the tomato.
When it’s one out of our garden, I’m thinking mmmmmmandthisdidn’tcostthatuch. When it’s store bought, I’m thinking thisbetterbeworthit.
To me, a hamburger just isn’t a hamburger without a thick cut slice of mater on it.
My thoughts as they relate to the migrant worker issue. Don’t blame the giant supermarkets. Profits in food retail are very thin. Overhead costs are pretty high and higher still if unions rule the wages. They make their money on volume, not margins.
If you want to lay blame anyone you may have to blame it on consumers who demand low prices and competition forces retailers to keep prices low, especially on staples. Low prices, led by Wal-mart, will be the death of The American Dream. The prices you pay, pay the people
We live in such a mixed up society mainly because of the way marketing influences people’s perceptions of value. A big juicy tomato that has been nurtured from the earth gets less respect than a bottle of sugar…well, not in my house.
@spitfire3dc I do blame the supermarkets because the supermarkets control the prices, and the supermarkets chains such as Publix are greedy, and making money. I don’t think your statement about their profits being razor thin is accurate. if it is razor thin, why are the people that own them millionaires. I think they are people that are in a different class and can’t relate to the lives of poor farm workers.
We do not have equity here or any semblance of equity. What it would take is enough people to see it is wrong and something could be done about it.
@Scarlett sorry, but you are going to have to look in the mirror on this one. Maybe not just you specifically, but as part of a societal group as a consumer. You want to make a difference. Get out in the back yard and start growing your own and do the canning after your harvest, but even then, you won’t make much of a difference when most of your neighbours will choose to leave the real work to the migrant workers.
The people who own the supermarkets are risking personal capital to invest in the infrastructure to build the stores, set up the distribution, hire the cashiers, stock the shelves, pay the buyers, organize the buildings and drive the trucks.
It always comes down to the consumer making choices. Think about it. A store opens and pays workers more money to grow the crops, and for that matter every human resource in the chain…and they do it while their competition doesn’t. What percentage of their trading market will choose them over a lower cost and subsequently lower selling price competitor? This is the reality.
Everybody and I mean ever body is always looking for ways to stretch their own dollar and the retailers play on that to secure market share of the broadest common denominator. Why do you think Wal-mart is so successful? It’s about the perception that their prices are the lowest and they drive their vendors hard to cut their costs so that they can offer rollbacks, even when vendors costs to operate are increasing. To do that, they usually have to have fewer people doing more work to make up the difference.
The majority of consumers want lower prices. Value is reserved for the people who can afford it.
@Scarlett
Blaming others is always easier than blaming ourselves. There are not many financial empires out there that we the consumers could not topple if we had a mind and the determination to.
The problem is, we tend to be very lazy and self-serving consumers!
Capitalism left unchecked, will result in these kinds of things that people are growing to loathe and strike out at as a form of misdirected anger at themselves.
Things can perhaps benefit from the moderating effects of some socialism. ( provided it is not irrationally feared as he is too much the case in the US)
@spitfire3dc
At issue here is the fact that different nations develop at different rates and in different ways for a variety of reasons.
We are fortunate to have been born into such an awesome, well-developed Nation. We should not lose sight of that. But neither should we guilt ourselves for that. Families who have been here for generations have helped form and finance this nation. We have paid and continue to pay our dues.
Seasonal workers and yes even recent official immigrants . . . have not. And illegal immigrants most certainly have not.
Any kind of “social justice” would have to recognize this.
How much better these would taste covered in creamy blue cheese dressing…
Some rich sum-a-bitch needs to change some fast food and store rules so people can barter their garden tomatoes for necessities like fries or smokes, lighters, beer, cough & cold medicine, rubbing alcohol, & scented garbage bags.