Caesar Chavez Summary

The food we enjoy every day comes at a cost, and could stop being produced in an instant. Caesar Chavez knew of this problem and devoted his life to fixing it. Farmers across the United States suffer from unequal treatment. Chavez has worked to improve the financial, medical, and labor standards for all farmers regardless of race, or social standing.
Health challenges are among one of the greatest threats facing farmworkers in the United States. Employers have no urge to help workers in the fields, even though there are plenty of resources available to assist them. According to Chavez, “Today, thousands of farmworkers live under savage conditions—beneath trees and amid garbage and human excrement—near tomato fields in San Diego County,

tomato fields which use the most modern farm technology.” (Chavez, Address to the Commonwealth Club of California) Chavez’s point is that the conditions in which a farmworker must live in are unreasonable and one can easily damage their health living this way.

This not only shows what the growers are doing to their workers, but what they are doing to that land as well. Pesticides and other harmful chemicals are used on the crops which damages the environment and can harm farmworkers. Caesar Chaves points out the growers blame the workers for the problems occurring, but the growers are the true cause of the problems. Chaves himself comments, “The growers only have themselves to blame as they begin to reap the harvest from decades of environmental damage they have brought upon the land--the pesticides, the herbicides, the soil fumigants, the fertilizers, the salt deposits from thoughtless irrigation--the ravages from years of unrestrained poisoning of our soil and water.” (Chavez, Address to the Commonwealth) The environmental damage the growers are causing are not only affecting the land around them. If the land becomes too bad to produce upon there will be no agricultural use for it,

and will leave behind many sick workers from the chemicals and minimal health care received. This proves the corruption of the growers, how one-sided their cause is, and the amount of health benefits and care the workers in the field get from their job. This also illustrates that there are more problems than just health issues regarding farmworkers in the fields.
Financial problems still exist today even though Chavez has fought to fix related issues.

Programs such as the H-2A program allows agricultural employers to hire temporary workers inside the United States to complete seasonal work. Within the last decade, earning a stable living has been an increasing challenge for farmworkers. Most farmworkers receive lesser wages than common jobs found in cities, such as a fast food worker. Mentioned in the article Farmworkers in the United States, “The majority of farmworkers earn annual wages below the federal poverty level. According to the Natural Agricultural Workers Survey, the only national cross-section survey of farmworkers, 61 percent live in poverty. The median income for farmworkers is less than $11,000 annually.” (MHP Salud, Farmworkers in the United States) As stated in the article, most farmworkers live in poverty and barely earn enough money to support themselves or their families. This shows there are still problems to be fixed regarding workers in the agricultural industry. This also brings out the point there is still a large amount of corruption among the employers of the farmworkers. Caesar Chavez worked hard to provide public benefits towards farmworkers, such as healthcare or food stamps, although many have a hard time acquiring these benefits. Income received from working with food is a shockingly low rate when considering the behalf of farmworkers. As referred to earlier, the article Farmworkers in the

United States conveys, “In fact, while 71 percent of every food income dollar goes to corporate food processors and 23 percent goes to growers, only 6 percent goes to farmworkers.” (MHP Salud, Farmworkers in the U.S.) The income of workers across farms in the Unites States has been unequally distributed for the amount of work that is completed. While the growers earn large amounts of money, the farmworkers are suffering from unequal treatment. This proves there are still problems occurring today dealing with farmworkers, even though Caesar Chavez persevered to create an equal working environment for all farmworkers and their employers.
The working conditions endured by farmworkers are unethical and bitter. Chavez focused all of his efforts towards fixing these problems, and did make a difference. Although there are still issues occurring today, life as a farmworker would be worse without Chavez’s help. This does not mean the farmworkers are a lost cause, but it does mean there needs to be a change soon before the workers become tired of this unequal treatment and decide to stop putting up with the current conditions provided. The food we enjoy every day is created from individuals who deserve more, but at one point these workers may stop laboring to make a stand for what is right and to take matters into their own hands.