The state of California is responsible for producing 1/3 of the nation’s vegetables and nearly 2/3 of the nation’s fruits and nuts; including 90% of the strawberries grown in the U.S. California’s Corporate Agribusiness is an annual $50 billion per year industry. Although over one-half million farmworkers are responsible for this enormous food supply, in California, the world’s 5th largest economy, they remain an invisible, impoverished, voiceless underclass.

Come and meet the farmworkers that are responsible for the fruits, vegetables and nuts that most of us consume daily. Hear their stories and learn about their lives along the Central Coast of California. We will visit their “homes” and learn about the many obstacles they face in their heroic day-to-day struggle to survive and raise their families.

We will visit Crystal Bay Farm and learn about different farming practices. On the farm we will also meet our first family and hear their story about a life-threatening walk through the desert at night to reach the U.S. They will also demonstrate the skill-set required to pick strawberries. We will then visit the Buena Vista Migrant Camp and hear more farmworker stories, including stories of our recent successful efforts to modify/end the 50-mile regulation that has been a requirement of migrant camp life. We will conclude the tour with a visit to a substandard home rented by a very hard working farmworker and excellent cook. She will provide us with a delicious traditional Mexican meal while we discuss immigration reform and the needs of California’s farmworker population.