How Farmworkers are Coping in a Pandemic | 🌍 Day | Recipe: Kosho
Issue No. 38
In this week’s edition, we interview a Florida farmworker about the issues that laborers are facing during the pandemic. Also celebrate Earth Day and make Jackie’s favorite condiment.
If someone shared this newsletter with you, subscribe below.
The U.S. food system remains mostly intact thanks to the essential-but-often-thankless work of the nation’s 2.5 million farmworkers. Despite their officially designated “essential” status, many of these farmworkers lack the protections and rights needed to keep safe and prevent COVID-19 from spreading in their community. This has led to frightening work conditions and deadly outbreaks.
Matt spoke with Lupe Gonzalo of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in southwest Florida, about the conditions that local farmworkers are confronting during the pandemic. The CIW is a worker-led human-rights organization focused on improving the working conditions of agricultural laborers, many of whom are immigrants. They’ve made great strides for workers’ rights in areas like wages and sexual harassment. But the spread of coronavirus presents an unprecedented challenge.
Lupe, 39, is originally from Guatemala and used to pick tomatoes in Florida before becoming a staff member for the CIW almost a decade ago. She told Sunshine + Microbes about daily life for farmworkers during the pandemic, why Immokalee needs a field hospital, and the irony of immigrant workers being called “essential” by a hostile federal government.
We’ve included an abridged transcript of our interview below, but we encourage you to read the full Q&A here. Responses have been edited for clarity and length. Thank you to the CIW’s Natali Rodriguez for interpreting.
☀️Sunshine + Microbes: How is day-to-day life changing during the pandemic?
Lupe Gonzalo: It's been changing a lot. Farmworkers have been classified as essential workers during the pandemic by the federal government and even though they receive that classification, the government isn't doing anything to step in and make sure these workers are protected.
Agricultural workers are very vulnerable when it comes to the pandemic. especially when we're talking about the spread of the virus. Already workers live in crowded places. They also are transported to work where it's also crowded, and so when we talk about measures like social distancing, which is being required, it's not possible for them to be able to keep that distance.
☀️So conditions remain the same because there's not much you can do to change them?
Yes, exactly. There's not a lot being done right now. There are some farms right now that are transporting workers in buses and keeping distances in between the aisles and in between different workers. They've installed handwashing stations for workers to use. So they've taken some action, but even then it's very limited what the growers are able to do.
When this virus starts to spread and it affects one farmworker, you're essentially looking at an entire group of farmworkers who are going to be affected because that farmworker travels in a bus with many other people. Then when they're done working they go to a trailer, where they share the space with several people, they share a kitchen, they share a bathroom, they share the common spaces. So in reality it's something that's going to quickly affect many others.
☀️What is the idea with the mobile hospital?
What we are asking the Florida government is to take the crisis more seriously, especially with farmworkers who are more vulnerable and live in poverty. We are trying to get a field hospital in town. We have an online public petition that we have set up to pressure the governor to build this hospital, but also to recognize how the lack of action by the state is going to impact farmworkers. The petition asks the governor to build a local field hospital, in Immokalee. Not in Naples, not in another city. A field hospital in Immokalee would make it accessible to thousands of workers who would depend on it and arrive on foot or by bicycle. We're also asking for the state to provide a location where workers can self-isolate. If any workers are showing symptoms they can't go anywhere to self-isolate right now. We're requesting them to build facilities so workers can quarantine themselves away from other people they live with.
At the same time, we ask for medical personnel because obviously a hospital by itself won't work. We also need people to run the hospital and to attend to the community, and the petition also asks that the governor require that farms provide protective equipment for farmworkers.
☀️What do you think of the paradox where you're called “essential workers” but not receiving the necessary measures to help and survive?
They can't call a worker essential and then leave them abandoned, putting them at risk. this is inhumane. It's cruel, simply put. The way they see workers are as machines, as a means to profit. When they risk the health of thousands of workers, they're not viewing farmworkers as the human beings they are that need different measures for protection. All this brings to surface the cruelty that farmworkers have actually faced for many years. It's not new treatment. It's just something that's really elevating the reality that they've been confronting for a long time.
I say machine deliberately because when you view something as a machine, you view it as replaceable, and because of the actions they're taking right now that's exactly what it looks like, as if we're replaceable, as if any farmworker can be replaced by another farmworker. That's why it's such a cruel and inhumane situation to be in. These authorities have to make themselves responsible for the way essential workers should actually be treated, which is provided with the resources they need to actually stay safe.
☀️Do you have anything else you want to add?
The last thing I'd add is for the consumers. Right now people are at home and spending time with their families. I think this is a time to be able to reflect on many different things, and that includes farmworkers and where our food comes from. Right now we are focusing our efforts on dealing with this pandemic but we still have our Wendy's Boycott campaign, and we're still asking people to support and put pressure on Wendy's. Also we think it's a time for people to reflect on where their food comes from and who's picking it during this time and to think about the sacrifices that workers make. As consumers there's always more we can do to educate ourselves and be aware of what's happening in this moment.
Want to read the full Q&A with Lupe? Click here.
love,
Sunshine + Microbes team
Tell a friend: Share how COVID-19 is affecting farmworkers
Earth Day 50
I love the way the Earth rotates. It really makes my day.
The world celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday. The importance of drawing attention to the perils of environmental degradation has never felt more pressing. But to be fair, we’re also in the midst of an incredible groundswell of productive environmental activism.The last couple years have seen an incredible sea change in environmental awareness, with the realities of climate change finally gaining widespread public acceptance.
Here are a few ideas for celebrating Earth Day 50:
🎨Expand Your Perspective with Art. Did you know that Robert Rauschenberg, aka the artist ultimately responsible for my salary, also happened to create the very first Earth Day poster? So I for sure had to include some art on this list! Artist Olafur Eliasson made that a no-brainer with a series of interactive digital artworks released on Wednesday. The work, a sort of magic eye illusion in which the earth transforms and then eventually disappears from view, encourages the viewer to “[look] at the Earth from a distance, taking a step back to reconsider and redesign it.” Check out the nine part series on Eliasson’s instagram.
🌱Commit to Take Action. The Earth Day Initiative’s Together We Can Campaign is encouraging everyone to commit to taking at least one action to reduce our climate impact, whether that’s using public transportation, adjusting the thermostat, or planting a tree.
📗Read a book. More specifically, read a book about climate change. (You can also send one anonymously in the mail to your grumpy uncle ; ) ) The New York Times has a list of excellent options, both fiction and non-fiction. At the top of my reading list are The Great Derangement (a gift from a recent artist in residence), Parable of the Sower, The Sixth Extinction, and The Overstory.
📊Gather Data. Earth Challenge 2020 is billed as the world’s largest citizen science project. Download the app to help collect information on air quality and plastic pollution in your area.
📼Watch a video. Don’t lie. Your screen time is higher than it’s ever been right now. If you’re gonna watch something, you might as well make it productive! Check out this playlist from TED called Earth, appreciated.
-Jackie
Fresh links
🍖”Steak”, Ugly Delicious | Netflix
I think of “Ugly Delicious,” chef and walking food brand Dave Chang’s Netflix show, as the spiritual descendant of the late Anthony Bourdain’s incredible CNN show “Parts Unknown.” While I am often as annoyed with Chang’s narcissistic chef schtick as I am charmed by his earnest curiosity, there is no denying that watching him eat food onscreen is pure bliss. That smile! Chang travels the globe to film “Ugly Delicious,” investigating food in the context of history, hype, culture, and community.
The episode manages to celebrate steak, the macho meat, while at the same time getting real about its dim prospects for the future. But that doesn't mean it’s a bummer. In fact, even as a person that hasn’t eaten steak in 15 years and honestly hasn’t really missed it, this episode had me nostalgic for my mom’s pan-fried steak in butter, a childhood dinnertime staple.
Chang and his band of merry food writers, chefs, and artists, adventure to: the ultra luxe, female-owned Beatrice Inn chophouse in NYC; the Chipotle of steakhouses in Bondi Beach, Australia; a carbon-positive cattle operation in California; a men’s bathhouse/steak joint in Detroit;, and of course, an Outback Steakhouse. With each stop they explore class, gender, climate, the intimate exchange between animal and farmer — and how chefs are definitely judging people who order their steaks well-done.
🤠Cowboys, Impossible Whoppers and the stories that sell food | High Country News
I’ve been obsessed with the Burger King ad for the Impossible Burgers — where a BK rep tricks men with handlebar mustaches and Southern drawls into enjoying a plant-based burger. In the commercial’s most ridiculous moment, a man in a cowboy hat declares, “I’m a damn fool,” after learning he’s been had.
Carl Segerstorm offers an astute analysis about this absurd ad and its use of Old West iconography. He writes that the message of the ad is clear: “You can be an American, even a rugged modern-day cowboy, have your burger and eat plants instead of beef.” And these cultural markers help restaurants sell vegan options, along with the low costs or perceived health benefits.
Cowboys have long been marketed as a symbol of yesteryear romanticism and ruggedness. They are accepted as mythical heroes, while culture conveniently erases their role in “Indigenous genocide and colonization.” In fact, cowboys have long been used to sell folks on corporate food systems as people became “increasingly disconnected from local or even regional production.” Think of the popular food items like ranch dressing or logos like the Arby’s cowboy hat.
The real backstory about food is rarely a selling point. Corporations would rather craft a new story that turns a profit. Fast food brands don’t sell veggie burgers by having discussions about “farm and slaughterhouse worker exploitation and environmental degradation.” It’s more profitable to show a cowboy doing yoga or a group of them who can’t tell an Impossible Burger from the real thing.
🐦The Pandemic Is Turning the Natural World Upside Down | The Atlantic
COVID-19 has changed the dependable rhythms of public life. Most of us have been forced inside to weather the storm. Reporter Marina Koren notes that “in a bittersweet twist, the surreal slowdown of life as we know it has presented researchers with a rare opportunity to study the modern world under some truly bizarre conditions, and they’re scrambling to collect as much data as they can.” (And please don’t say that “we are the virus.” 🙄)
It’s not just researchers who are noticing these differences. The eerie quietness ushered in by quarantine has people asking on social media if “birds are louder.” In truth, it just appears that way now because those sounds are no longer muffled by the usual drone of a city.
Koren spoke with scientists about recent changes in seismology, air pollution, city soundscapes and ocean noise — and the unexpected discoveries that have occurred.
Kosho
This past weekend’s Virtual Ferment Fest was an absolutely fabulous, heart-lifting, globe-spanning microbial love fest. Also, HELLO AND WELCOME to all our new readers that found their way to the newsletter via the fermenty festivities.
For the festival, I did a short and sweet demo on making kosho, a citrus and hot pepper paste and also my favorite condiment for all occasions. Watch me ham it up for the camera here. Or follow the written recipe below.
I like doing these demos, and want to make them a regular thing. If there is a fermentation technique (or other kitchen skill!) you’d like to be guided through live, shoot me an email at sunshineandmicrobes@gmail.com.
As you’ll see, this is more a loose guide than a recipe. I’m not telling you what exactly to use or how much. I want you to use your sensorial judgment. Be confident in your kitchen abilities and taste as you go!
Ingredients
citrus (whatever you like, but skip the super sweet stuff like oranges, or use sparingly in combination with more acidic options like lemons and limes)
hot peppers (pick your poison)
salt
Step-by-step
Slice off a small segment of citrus that includes the rind and take a bite. If it isn’t crazy bitter, use the entire fruit. Simply slice and deseed.
If it is unpleasantly bitter, just use the rind and juice (not the white pith between the fruit and peel). Feel free to mix different types of citrus together. As for quantity, 2-3 medium lemons will make approximately 1 cup of kosho.
Prep the hot peppers. If using a super hot variety, you may want to remove the seeds and interior white veins. If using something milder, simply remove the stem.
As for quantity, it’s all about preference. If I’m using a very mild type like shishito pepper, I might do equal parts citrus and peppers. If using something very hot, I’ll just throw one or two peppers in. When just using two lemons, one or two jalapeños is plenty hot for me.Blend citrus and hot peppers together in food processor. I prefer the consistency a bit on the chunky side.
Tightly pack the mixture into a clean mason jar, removing as many air pockets from the mixture as possible.
Weigh the contents of the jar to calculate how much salt to add.
An easy way to do this is by getting two jars of the same typer — one empty and one filled with the mixture. Weigh the empty one on a kitchen scale, and press “tare” on the scale. Then switch it out for the filled jar.
Calculate 2 percent the weight of the mixture in salt. So if the mixture weighs 250 g, that would be 5 g salt, about a teaspoon’s worth. Also, don’t feel like bothering with weighing out all the ingredients? A teaspoon or two of salt per cup of citrus-pepper mixture should be just right.Sprinkle the salt on top of the mixture. Use a wet cloth to clean the exposed interior sides of the jar and remove any bits of the mixture clinging to the walls (it’s unlikely, but they could get moldy).
Loosely cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for three days to two weeks. Since this is such a salty, acidic environment, it’s highly unlikely that any mold will grow on the mixture. If for whatever reason it does, just use a clean spoon and carefully skim it off, and then wipe again the interior sides of the jar.
When happy with the flavor, seal tightly and store in the fridge indefinitely.
Do kookaburras like pasta? A case study:
Talk to Us
Send in your comments, mailbag questions, recipe mishaps, or cooking tips: sunshineandmicrobes@gmail.com. Also do us a favor and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our website and cook yourself something nice.
If you enjoyed this email, please share it with others. If someone forwarded this to you, click the button to sign up:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunshine + Microbes team
Jackie Vitale is the current Chef-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and co-founder of the Florida Ferment Fest. Her newsletter explores the intersection of food, culture, environment and community.
Matt Levin is a freelance reporter based in Colombia. He edits Sunshine + Microbes and contributes other scraps to each issue.