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COUNCIL FOCUS:
As people of faith, we believe that all people deserve the basic rights of fair housing, dignity, respect on the job, and the right to organize. For decades, the North Carolina Council of Churches has worked to improve conditions of farmworkers through public awareness and education, advocacy, service, support for organizing, and resolutions of endorsement.
Farmworkers in North Carolina labor in the tobacco and vegetable fields, prepare fruits and produce for market, and harvest Christmas trees each winter. Each farmworker contributes over $12,000 to our state's agricultural economy annually. They work long hours under dangerous conditions, suffer from high rates of illnesses related to unsafe conditions and substandard housing, and are often exposed to dangerous pesticides while they work. Many also labor in the fields without access to drinking water or bathrooms.
Farmworkers have little political or economic influence over the policies that affect their lives. For this reason, the Council continues to support them in their struggle for economic and social equality.
Webkeeper's note: A word about "farmworker" vs. "farm worker"--Organizations working for and with our state's agriculatural laborers use both terms. The NC Council of Churches and its program committee have also used both. Beginning in May 2006, however, we will consistently use "farmworker" when referring to our "Farmworker Ministry Committee" and in our materials regarding farmworkers. But we will also attempt to honor the spelling used by our colleague organizations when referring to those groups by name or using resources supplied by them. Because we cannot go back and change published materials found on this website, you will continue to see some inconsistencies in the use of the words.
LINK TO WORKING COMMITTEE: Farmworker Ministry Committee
- EVENTS:
- -The Farmworker Ministry of the Council supports many special events. Click here for details....
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-For information about current Call To Action items relating to farmworkers, including volunteering for Project Solidarity and supporting the Migrant Housing Act, click here.
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RESOURCES AVAILABLE:
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farmworker factsheets: Attractive educational factsheets on the push-pull factors of immigration, farmworker's impact on North Carolina's economy, housing and health issues, and other informative statistics are available FREE to churches and other groups requesting them.
Click the links below for the online versions, or contact the Council office at, nccofc@nccouncilofchurches.org, to receive print copies.
The Farmworker Institute Speakers Bureau 2007-2008 , a publication of the N.C. Council of Churches Farmworker Ministry Committee, is designed as a statewide directory of professionals and advocates available for trainings and presentations for churches, schools, civic groups and others wishing to learn about the Latino population in North Carolina and farmworker conditions and issues. Farmworker Institute Speakers Bureau, 34 pages, FREE
"Hands of Harvest, Hearts of Justice: North Carolina Farmworker Issues in a Biblical Context": A 7-session Christian curriculum designed for adult and high school groups, Sunday Schools or Bible Studies. The curriculum guides your group in learning about and reflecting on farmworker issues in the context of biblical values and in exploring how you can be a part of the farmworker movement for justice. Click here for an order form. To access a pdf file of this curriculum, click here.
New "Farmworker Ministry Committee" brochure
RELEVANT POLICY STATEMENT:
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Facts About Farmworkers in North Carolina :
- Over 101,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers lived and worked in the state at the time of the 2000 census.
- North Carolina ranks fifth in the U.S. in number of migrant and seasonal farm workers.
- Eighty-five percent of the fruits and vegetables we eat as consumers are hand-picked by farmworkers.
- Increasing farmworker wages by 50% would cost the consumer less than an additional $5 per year for fruits and vegetables.
- Over half of all farmworkers earn less than $7,500 per year.
- More than 8,500 H2A guest farmworkers in North Carolina won a historic victory in September 2004 when they secured a three-way contract with the North Carolina Grower's Association and Mount Olive Pickle Country. The contract made farming the first industry in the nation to organize guest workers .
How YOU can support North Carolina farmworkers:
• Host a forum at your church on farmworker issues. Contact the Farmworker Ministry Committee for details.
• Use the Council curriculum, "Hands of Harvest, Hearts of Justice" in your church.
• Participate in Project Solidarity, a program to connect your church with farmworkers through monthly visits to a farm labor camp during the summer. Call Lori Khamala at the National Farm Worker Ministry office in Durham , 919-489-4485.
• Volunteer with Witness For Justice, a program sponsored by the Farm Worker Unit of Legal Aid North Carolina . You will ride with staff from Legal Aid to do educational outreach to migrant camps, one or two evenings a month. Call 919-856-2180.
LINKS:
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