San Joaquin Valley, Duroville
The population of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley, almost seven million in 2006, increased faster between 1985 and 2006, an average of 2.5

Meat: Swift, AgriProcessors, Smithfield
Swift. On December 12, 2006, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency mounted its largest-ever workplace raid, targeting Swift

Rural America
Rural America was helped and hurt by the sharp increase in commodity and energy prices in 2008. Farmers' net incomes rose with commodity prices,

California: Heat, EEEC, EEOC
In May 2008, a 17-year old pregnant farm worker who arrived from Oaxaca in February 2008 died from heat stroke after nine hours of pruning grape

Florida: CIW-Burger King
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers on May 23, 2008 persuaded Burger King to sign an agreement that requires the Florida growers of its tomatoes to

California: UFW, ALRB, Unions
In October 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 180/650, bills which had been approved by the legislature. SB 180/650 would have allowed

Western States, New York
Colorado. The Colorado legislature approved HB 1325 in May 2008, creating a five-year Nonimmigrant Agricultural Seasonal Worker Pilot Program under

US Unions, FLSA, Data
Unions won 60 percent of the 1,500 NLRB-supervised elections in 2007, down from 61 percent of 1,650 in 2006. The Teamsters participated in the most

MSFW Services, Education
MEP. California has 240,000 children enrolled in the Migrant Education Program, and many cannot meet the state's graduation requirements. Only half

AgJOBS, EARA, Mechanization
AgJOBS remained a top priority for farm employer and worker groups during the summer of 2008. Both argued that the status quo is untenable. The

H-2A: Regulations, Growth
Department of Labor on February 6, 2008 proposed regulations to modify the H-2A program to make it easier for farmers to obtain guest workers. Some

ICE Raids, No Match, Shortages
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency targets mostly farm-related industries such as meatpacking for worksite enforcement. However,

H-2B: Regulation Changes, J-1
The Bush administration in May 2008 proposed regulations to "streamline" the application process for the H-2B program and strengthen "program

Canada: SAWP
The Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives released a report in June 2008 that concluded labor laws protecting farm workers are not well enforced in

Brazil, Britain
Brazil. The Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association (Unica) in June 2008 predicted that up to 500,000 sugarcane harvesting jobs would be eliminated

California: Strawberries, Vegetables, Water
Strawberries. California has 35,500 acres of strawberries in 2008. Most growers expect to employ about 1.5 workers per acre without a conveyor belt

US Food System, Salmonella
The US food and fiber system accounted for 12.3 percent of GDP in 2001 and 16.7 percent of employment, almost 24 million workers. The system is

US: Farm, Energy Policy
Farm. Congress approved a five-year $307 billion farm bill, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, in May 2008. President Bush promptly vetoed it

Global Food Prices Up
Rapidly rising food prices led to political instability in Egypt, Haiti and the Philippines in spring 2008. The World Bank in April 2008 said that

Wine, Champagne
Napa's Charles Krug winery, the area's oldest, was purchased by Cesare Mondavi for $43,000 in 1943. Sons Robert and Peter Mondavi disagreed on the

Global Networks, Food Miles
Global production networks (GPNs) are the interactions between firms and policies that result in the provision of goods and services. Increasingly,

Text for Graph
US production of fruits and vegetables rose from about 77 million tons a year between 1990 and 1992 to 83 million tons a year between 2004 and 2006.