This month’s storms flooded Ventura County’s agricultural fields, costing what farmers estimate may be millions of dollars of damage in the form of lost crops and livestock operations.
But the rains have also resulted in the loss of much-needed income for the region's farm laborers as lost crops have meant lost wages for families living near the poverty line.
Antonio De Loera-Brust, communications director for the labor union United Farm Workers, said the storms’ damage came at a particularly vulnerable moment for agricultural workers because work is already scarce during winter compared to the peak season in spring through fall when there is planting and harvest.
Food insecurity is a problem for farmworkers year round, he said, and UFW hosts weekend food pantries in communities where they organize to help families bridge the gap. De Loera-Brust said since the rains, the food pantries have seen more people than expected.
“Food insecurity for farmworkers is tragically ironic,” De Loera-Brust said.
Agriculture is a $2 billion industry in Ventura County, according to the county's 2021 crop and livestock report, and it relies on the labor of roughly 40,000 farmworkers who already struggle to survive on minimum wage in an area with high rents and low housing stock. Many workers earn the state minimum wage of $15.50 an hour but De Loera-Brust said undocumented workers sometimes make less.
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