Farmworkers plant, till, pick, carry, harvest and pack the foods we eat everyday. What is the meaning of farm work for those who have left their countries, their homes, and their families in order to bring food to our tables? This summer, SAF interns went into the fields to photograph and interview farmworkers, collecting stories of work and working conditions, rituals of preparing for work, traditions of passing time at the end of the day, and jokes, jargon and narratives shared between workers.
Fifty years ago this November, Edward R. Murrow presented the documentary Harvest of Shame the day after Thanksgiving on CBS News, depicting depicted the plight of migrant farmworkers in the United States. On this landmark anniversary, SAF interns collaborated with farmworkers throughout the Southeast, using labor lore to document modern-day conditions of farm work through images and narratives, tying the past to the present through stories of the meaning of farm work, the conditions farmworkers face, and their hopes for change. A collection of their stories are below.