The Dark Side of Local Food

Like most Canadians, I watched last Sunday's Olympic men's hockey final, and celebrated at the top of my lungs in the company of strangers when Canada took the gold medal from the US in overtime. And like most Canadians, I felt proud to be Canadian.



That feeling was short-lived. Today, I watched a short NFB documentary called "El Contrato" (2003). This film exposes the hardship of thousands of seasonal Mexican migrant workers, who come to the town of Leamington, in Ontario, to work on tomato greenhouse farms. Life at home in Mexico is difficult, so they take the job in Canada through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), to support their family. Unbeknownst to them, they enter a contract into slavery:

• Exemptions from basic workers rights --- 10-hour work days, 7-day work weeks, without holiday or overtime pay
• Physical and verbal abuse --- from their employer, and the Leamington community
  
• Poor living conditions
• Heavy income taxes --- over 25% of their salary goes to CPP and EI, even though they cannot access these benefits
• Unsafe work --- such as spraying pesticides without wearing protection
• Threats of deportation
• Humiliation --- their employers call them "little donkeys", and call themselves "their owners"
• Difficulty in accessing health care --- even in cases of severe workplace accident events
• Resistance to organizing --- in Ontario, farm unions are illegal (though this may change soon, see "Fraser v Ontario")
  
• A deaf ear from the Mexican consolate --- they protect the growers, not the workers
  

In fact, the film notes that the workers share something in common: they are all married men with strong family ties and little to no education. These are the kind of workers that won't stick around to become Canadian citizens. Clearly, being separated from their families causes great emotional stress for these workers, and many promise they won't return next year. But still, many of them do return, in the absence of other options.

My concern is that with the local food movement increasing in force, these farms are only going to get bigger, and the issue more widespread.

CALL-TO-ACTION: What can we do to help? Here are some ideas:

1. Contact your MP to demand rights for migrant farm workers. Justice for Migrant Workers has a mock petition letter that you can use.
   
2. Contact Heinz (which uses Leamington tomatoes, and even has a Leamington factory). Tell them that you'll stop buying their products until they support migrant workers rights in Canada.
   
3. Contact the film director and/or TVO (who aired the movie) to show your support. Both were threatened with legal action by the town of Leamington and the tomato growers.
4. Support the cause. Befriend Justice for Migrant Workers, join a rally/march, get educated, spread the word.

How about some human rights to go with those 14 gold Olympic medals, Canada?