Two decades ago, Arcenio Lopez’s alarm went off at four in the morning. It was his first day working in the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California. He had just immigrated from Oaxaca, México – much to his family’s disappointment as they worked tirelessly hoping to never see their son in the fields.
In his soft, yet deliberate tone, Lopez said he “was completely ignorant about what it felt like to be a farm worker in California.” It proved to be far more grueling than expected.
After arriving at the fields around 6 a.m., he was immediately handed a box and told to start picking. There was no training. Luckily, his brother was by his side to guide him. Those first few hours he was astounded by the sheer length of the strawberry beds. They stretched a mile into the distance.
When the first break was called, he looked around in confusion, wondering if the work day was already done. He was wrong. The hours stretched on. Calls of “la lonchera” rang out, and he reached for the lunch his aunt packed for him. He examined his hand stained with dirt. He had no choice but to eat without cleaning them.
The first week he was not able to sit, to use the bathroom; his entire body was sore. From then, he promised he would work to make lives better for farmworkers.
Just a few years later, Arcenio was hired as Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project’s (MICOP) Community Organizer and today is its Executive Director based in Santa Maria, California.
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) and MICOP came together to form Alianza Campesina. This partnership published a detailed report in April titled “Harvesting Dignity: The Case for a Living Wage for Farmworkers.”
Later that month, Alianza Campesina and farmworkers marched in Santa Maria and passionately rallied for local officials to support the campaign.
The report sheds light on the realities of farmworkers on the Central Coast and advocates on their behalf to earn a wage that fairly compensates them for essential and arduous labor. This report provides support for decades-long farmworker frustrations. Yet, the fight has mostly taken place elsewhere, in part due to a dearth of advocacy locally.
According to the study, in 2023, “The mean hourly wage for farmworkers in Santa Barbara County was just $17.42 or $36,244 annually.” Yet, according to the Living Wage Calculator, the living wage for an individual in Santa Barbara County is identified to be at least $32.11.
Farmworkers today in areas like the Santa Maria Valley can earn $2.20 per flat, holding eight 1-pound boxes sold at $2 – $6 in grocery stores. On average, farmworkers only see about 28 cents for each box, according to the report.
According to the report, earning an inadequate wage is not just unfair, it leads to real-life repercussions.
Low pay pushes skilled workers to seek employment elsewhere and move away from the agriculture industry. It contributes to overcrowded housing and the inability to cover food, medical and childcare costs. With a higher wage, farmworkers can better sustain themselves and their families.
This is a movement that began in the 1970s. Although farmworkers have been vocal for decades about better working conditions and wages, advocacy can be limited, according to Lopez.
“What I see a lot in our workers is a language barrier,” he said. “People feel comfortable in the indigenous languages and for them, it’s really sometimes difficult to communicate and be expressive orally about their abuses they look through.”
CAUSE policy advocate Erica Diaz Cervantes started working in the fields of Santa Maria, Lompoc and Guadalupe before she was even a teenager – at 12-years-old – alongside her family. She would peel away her many layers as the sun intensified throughout the day. Yet, she was diligent in keeping some protection against the pesticides.
She was unable to rest or sit down because the overlookers would have her kicked out for being idle. After she would get back from the fields, she would promptly eat dinner and be asleep by 6 p.m. She woke up the next day just in time to start again. Although both of her parents were farmworkers, it was not enough to provide for her family of five.
She would keep working for the next eight years – spending her summers in the fields.
Fellow farmworkers and community members would constantly tell Cervantes, “You have the opportunity as a citizen as someone who’s in school to get out of this. I mean, we don’t really have any other choice.”
Cervantes took that to heart. She was instilled with a sense of responsibility and pursued higher education. She now talks to stakeholders and government entities to make tangible change.
“Now I’m really seeing the fruits of my labor and in my education, and now I can actually come back with the resources and tools to actually help not only my family, but the community overall,” she said.
The report, “Harvesting Dignity,” has been in the works for a year now. Through house meetings, tabling events and conversations within the organization, the fight for wages was constant.
“All these workers are having to sacrifice comfortability and just quality of life just to be able to survive and be able to live in a place where they work,” Cervantes said. “For me, that always just struck me the wrong way.”
With strikes in other industries, like fast food and healthcare, advocates including Cervantes figured they could build upon this momentum. Although there have been strikes previously, it was time for organizations like hers to “really offer that backbone support.”
The organizations surveyed farmworkers to obtain the data to back up their claims. They even included the pay stub of a farmworker to highlight the bleak earnings of a day’s work.
Behind the picturesque exterior of the Central Coast – boasting its serene beaches, expansive wineries, vineyards and slower pace of life – are these agricultural cities that lack infrastructure investment, Cervantes said. Other agriculture-rich areas simply have more systems to support and unionize farmworkers.
“Here in the Central Coast, we’ve seen that there’s been a little bit more of a struggle and hurdle to be able to unite workers,” Cervantes said. “There’s just been a lot of room for violations, unfortunately, and not enough awareness and just kind of highlighting the issues that are happening here.”
In terms of talking to industry leaders, there has been little progress, according to Cervantes. Most on the other side have declined to speak to Alianza Campesina and on the report, which she said speaks to the historical pushback to farmworker advocacy.
President of the Grower Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Claire Wineman has been working on the other side of the issue for more than two decades now.
She acknowledges the struggle of farmworkers, but also asks people to look at the business side of the issue.
“Looking at some of those very significant economic challenges and conditions and remaining competitive in being able to stay in business and sustainability – it’s important,” she said. “If companies can’t stay in business, they can’t provide employment.”
The multiplier effect bleeds into restaurants, catering services, hotels and other industries. Everything is “very, very interdependent with agriculture, and so we’d like for that to stay healthy.”
In terms of growing costs, wages are its number one expenditure, according to Wineman. Labor and environmental protections also carry a hefty price tag.
When Wineman started working in agriculture in 2011, the minimum wage was about $8 an hour. The number has doubled in less than ten years. Other states also have a much lower minimum wage, she added.
In response to various regulatory challenges and economic challenges, companies have expanded operations in Mexico which poses another challenge to industry, she said.
Despite her hesitancy about the report, Wineman understands the importance of coming together.
“We’re always willing to have a conversation,” she said. “It’s taken different forms.”
The report ends on a hopeful, yet urgent tone.
Farmworkers are an essential part of our communities,” the conclusion reads. “Not only do they put food on people’s tables worldwide, but they are the foundation of the economy of regions like the Central Coast and states like California … A livable wage for farmworkers is the only path forward for the future agricultural industry.”
Correction: This article was updated at 10:47 to clarify a quote.