Region 4

Farmworkers are vital to the United States’s economy, laboring every day in fruit orchards and dairy farms, in blazing heat and freezing cold, to ensure families across the nation have food on their tables.

Farmworkers are least likely to receive accurate and timely information on matters affecting and important to them. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers may move frequently following the seasons and live in temporary, overcrowded, and hidden housing.

They often have limited proficiency in English and even Spanish, as many newly arrived migrant and guest workers speak Mixteco, Triqui, and other indigenous languages.

Rumors and misinformation are prevalent and can create confusion and fear. Transportation challenges, as well as reliable broadband and internet connectivity due to residing in rural, isolated geographies, serve as additional barriers to access information and services.

Although confronted with sporadic work, low wages, and frequent natural disaster disruptions, farmworker families continue to settle into local communities and make up an integral part of California’s regional economy and culture.

The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) brings over forty years of active engagement with farmworkers and low-wage
rural workers. CRLAF recently partnered with the State to raise awareness around critical issues including the California Census operations of 2020, 2010, and 2000; the Vaccinate ALL 58 campaign; and other outreach work to support California’s highest priority campaigns. Campaign topics empower residents to build on their existing strengths within community education and advocacy.

CRLAF and other organizations serving farmworkers have found that hiring former farmworkers and their children is an effective approach to establish trusting relationships. From shared experiences, values, and knowledge of local issues, these staff members are able to deliver accurate information, while dispelling myths and rumors, and guiding farmworkers to community-centered engagement

– Worksites are ideal places to communicate with farmworkers because they have little time off from fieldwork and may not have transportation to alternative places.

– Convenient and accessible alternative sites are churches, schools, food distribution sites, local markets, and parks, which are familiar places easily reached without a car.

– Language access is key to making information relevant and timely.