April 1998, Volume 4, Number 2

Meat and Poultry
The General Accounting Office released a report in March 1998 on changes in communities in Nebraska and Iowa that had large meatpacking

Food Stamps
Congress delayed a vote on the Agriculture Research Conference report until after April 20, 1998. The bill includes $818 million over five years

California: Poverty Amid Prosperity
On March 24, 1998, about 40 people participated in a seminar at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. to discuss the policy implications of

Foreign-born Residents; Shifts
Foreign-born Residents. The US had almost 26 million foreign-born residents in 1997, and one-third of these foreign-born residents had

Welfare to Work; Housing
The Ag Labor Network brings together the major grower organizations in the Central Valley of California to coordinate the efforts of farmers and

Minority Farmers
About 1.2 million or two-thirds of US farms have annual sales of $20,000 or less, and they produce about four percent of total farm sales. However,

Flrodia: Tomatoes, Citrus
There are an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 tomato harvesters in the Immokalee area, and six of them began a hunger strike on December 20, 1997 to

Washington/Oregon: Teamsters Lose, Housing
Apple packinghouse workers voted against Teamster representation at Stemilt Growers Inc. by a 290-205 vote and workers at Washington Fruit and

UFW: Contracts, CRLA
The UFW signed 17 contracts with California growers between 1994 and 1997. In December 1997, the UFW signed its first agreement with L.E. Cooke

Child Labor
President Clinton proposed an additional $4 million for DOL to hire 36 new investigators to enforce child labor laws, calling child labor "the

US and California: Earnings, ALRB
USDA's NASS reported that 800,000 hired workers were employed on US farms during the second week of January 1998. About one-sixth were brought to

Workers Compensation, Safety
In new report published by the USDA, Jack Runyan examined data from the 1992 Census of Agriculture that asked farm operators if there were any

Unions: US, Global
In January 1998, the US Department of Labor reported that, based on CPS data, there were 16.1 million union members among 114.5 million wage and

Congress: Guest Workers
The House immigration subcommittee on March 12 voted 7-2 in support of a pilot guest worker program that would permit US farmers to hire foreign

Enforcement, Green Cards
The INS will have 8,000 Border Patrol agents by the end of 1998, double the 4,000 in 1993, and 1,000 more than in 1997. INS Commissioner Doris

Mexican Migrants
The Valley of San Quintin in Mexico produces $65 million worth of tomatoes, green onions, strawberries, cucumbers and celery annually from 19,000

California Agriculture
For the past 50 years, California farm sales have topped those of every other state, and in 1996, they were a record $24.5 billion, up from $23

Food Expenditures
American consumers spent $547 billion for US-produced food in 1996; food expenditures were about 11 percent of disposable income. Farmers

US Agriculture
US farmers sold crops and livestock worth $217 billion in 1996, and receipts are expected to decline to $215 billion in 1997; California farm

South American Agriculture
Colombian coffee farmers are complaining that the water they need to grow coffee is being diverted to grow opium poppy and causing environmental

EDD Report 96A
EDD. Report 96A. 1998. Unemployment Insurance Weeks Compensated by Industry. 1997. March 10. In 1997, California paid $2.4 billion for