"La fresa orgánica es más chiquita": Farmworker Preference for Conventional Production

Organic food has been scrutinized by scholars in several ways: by those who are critical of the alternative agrifood movement more broadly for its focus on small farm livelihood instead of low-income consumers or farm labor... [ view full abstract ]

Organic food has been scrutinized by scholars in several ways: by those who are critical of the alternative agrifood movement more broadly for its focus on small farm livelihood instead of low-income consumers or farm labor (Allen et al 2003; Alkon and Norgaard 2009; Harrison 2011; Gray 2014), and for the bifurcation and conventionalization of the organic industry (Guthman 2004; Freyer and Bingen 2014; McGee 2015; Obach 2017). Yet, the farm labor working conditions of large-scale commercial monocrop organic production remain understudied. Research that suggests organic agriculture reproduces the same exploitative measures as conventional agriculture relies primarily on the perspective of farmers (Shreck et al 2006; Getz et al 2008; Harrison and Getz 2015). To add to this literature, I ask the farmworkers themselves how working conditions on organic farms compare with working conditions on conventional farms, and which type they prefer. Surprisingly, rather than preferring to work in organic agriculture or pointing to the similarities between the two types of production, the farmworkers in my study actually view organic agriculture as more exploitative. This research draws on qualitative interviews with Mixteco indigenous strawberry harvesters in Oxnard, California. Strawberries make a good case for this study because they are grown in a highly industrialized and input-intensive manner, averaging more pounds per acre of applied ingredients than other crops (Guthman 2017). Certified organic strawberries from California’s central coast represent large-scale commercial monocrop organic rather than small-scale diversified organic. Large firms engage in both conventional and organic production and employ the same labor force for each. I found that farmworkers prefer to work on conventional strawberry farms because of the size of the berry. Conventional strawberries are larger and therefore fewer of them fill up a box. Since farmworkers are paid piece rate, they must pick substantially more organic strawberries to make the same amount of money. On conventional strawberry fields, not only are the berries larger, but there is more overall yield, so farmworkers earn more. With livelihood interests rather than health concerns in mind, strawberry harvesters prefer to work on conventional farms because “la fresa orgánica es más chiquita” (organic strawberries are smaller). These findings problematize the assumption that environmentally sustainable food production is inherently more socially just. To address this injustice, organic certification standards may need to be revisited with an eye for fair labor concerns.