Farmworkers Feed Us All

Farmworkers are the backbone of the agricultural economy. Without them we wouldn't have the nourishing food that keeps us healthy and productive. Yet agricultural work remains the second most dangerous occupation in the United States after mining. This is due in part to the combination of poverty, limited access to healthcare, and hazardous working conditions.

During Maine's 2007 Harvest Season, a photojournalist and an audio producer prepared an exhibition of photographs and interviews from Maine's wild blueberry, apple, cranberry, broccoli, egg, dairy and forestry harvests. Through providing a better understanding of farmworkers lives and working experiences, this exhibit hopes to contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve agricultural working conditions and farmworkers access to basic services in Maine and throughout the United States.

We could have gone to any state to document the lives of farmworkers. We chose Maine because of the work of the Maine Migrant Health Program (MMHP), a project that effectively works to provide low-cost health care services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Time and time again, the farmworkers we spoke with told us that Maine was one of but a few states where mobile clinics and nurse outreach teams offered them health care services in the fields and at worker housing.

This session will present a condensed version of the slideshow, talk about how the project developed, the fieldwork that was required, and finally discuss the impact of the traveling exhibit.