Latinx Immigrant Workers’ Challenges in the Rural US Food System
Latinx Immigrant Workers’ Challenges in the Rural US Food System
- Diego ThompsonDiego ThompsonDepartment of Sociology, Mississippi State University
Summary
A large body of literature has shown immigrant workers in the US food system experience and deal with significant problems that are often worsened in rural areas. The state and the private sector have created conditions that rely on cheap immigrant labor in the food industry. Paradoxically, this same much-needed labor force is subjected to strict immigration policy and enforcement—including raids, detentions, and deportations—and poor and living conditions. Immigration control and struggles experienced by immigrant workers in different sectors of the food chain, are more pronounced in rural areas where immigrants often lack of supportive resources. The struggles of historically marginalized groups in the food system and rural communities in the US are well-documented but more attention is needed on how rural immigrant workers deal with their challenges. Furthermore, more research is needed to examine immigrant workers’ collective actions and the development of alliances. Studies have shown that collective agency does not necessarily need to come from traditional labor organizing or unions which may face barriers in working with immigrants in rural contexts. There are some experiences in the poultry and dairy industry, showing that worker-driven organizations with focus on immigration, human rights, and/or social justice issues, have been able to create solutions for immigrant workers’ needs and challenges in US rural contexts. Some of these cases have shown how Latinx immigrant workers have been able to develop and foster resilience in times of uncertainty and challenges, working with immigrant organizations and allies. Experiences from different regions of the US have shown that there are complex and vulnerable realities that immigrants in rural areas often experience which require special attention and need to be addressed before unfair or precarious labor conditions are challenged. It is important for scholars and community practitioners to pay more attention to how immigrant workers and communities can develop resilience and the capability to adapt and create better conditions in times of increasing anti-immigration political rhetoric and uncertainty.
Subjects
- Food and the Humanities
- Food Politics and Policy
- Food Globalization and Industrialization