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| Why the People Harvesting Californians’ Food Can’t Afford It | Why the People Harvesting Californians’ Food Can’t Afford It |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| Good morning. | Good morning. |
| (Here’s the sign-up, if you don’t already get California Today delivered to your inbox.) | (Here’s the sign-up, if you don’t already get California Today delivered to your inbox.) |
| Today, we have another dispatch from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, written by Lulu Orozco: | Today, we have another dispatch from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, written by Lulu Orozco: |
| SALINAS — It was 5 p.m. on a recent Wednesday when Domitila Alvarez, 52, set down her cutting tools and walked from the broccoli fields to the crowded company bus taking the workers back to town. | SALINAS — It was 5 p.m. on a recent Wednesday when Domitila Alvarez, 52, set down her cutting tools and walked from the broccoli fields to the crowded company bus taking the workers back to town. |
| Ms. Alvarez did her best to protect herself before boarding. She wound a white bandanna tight over her face, leaving just a sliver for her eyes. She pulled on two pairs of gloves — a latex pair and then a cloth pair. “The truth is,” Ms. Alvarez said, “we all ride in fear.” | Ms. Alvarez did her best to protect herself before boarding. She wound a white bandanna tight over her face, leaving just a sliver for her eyes. She pulled on two pairs of gloves — a latex pair and then a cloth pair. “The truth is,” Ms. Alvarez said, “we all ride in fear.” |
| Yet catching the coronavirus is not her only worry, or even her main worry. More draining, she said, is the nagging worry of whether she and her daughter will have enough to eat. | Yet catching the coronavirus is not her only worry, or even her main worry. More draining, she said, is the nagging worry of whether she and her daughter will have enough to eat. |
| “The biggest insecurity right now is from food,” she said. | “The biggest insecurity right now is from food,” she said. |
| [Read about which workers are most likely to become unemployed because of Covid-19.] | [Read about which workers are most likely to become unemployed because of Covid-19.] |
| Ms. Alvarez makes $13.50 an hour, and having enough money for food is always a struggle. It has long been an open scandal that so many of the roughly 91,000 farm workers who labor in and around Salinas Valley — “The Salad Bowl of the World” — find it difficult to afford the very food they harvest. | Ms. Alvarez makes $13.50 an hour, and having enough money for food is always a struggle. It has long been an open scandal that so many of the roughly 91,000 farm workers who labor in and around Salinas Valley — “The Salad Bowl of the World” — find it difficult to afford the very food they harvest. |
| But the forces unleashed by the novel coronavirus pandemic have combined to deepen this particular wound. When Ms. Alvarez goes to the grocery store, she finds that panic buyers have already picked the shelves clean of cooking oil, corn flour and the other inexpensive basics she relies upon to cook the burritos that keep her going through workdays that routinely stretch beyond 10 hours. | But the forces unleashed by the novel coronavirus pandemic have combined to deepen this particular wound. When Ms. Alvarez goes to the grocery store, she finds that panic buyers have already picked the shelves clean of cooking oil, corn flour and the other inexpensive basics she relies upon to cook the burritos that keep her going through workdays that routinely stretch beyond 10 hours. |
| The local food bank might offer some relief, but it closes at 4:30 p.m., long before Ms. Alvarez stepped off the company bus on this day. | The local food bank might offer some relief, but it closes at 4:30 p.m., long before Ms. Alvarez stepped off the company bus on this day. |
| Melissa Kendrick, the food bank’s executive director, said, “We have always had an alarming need.” But nothing like this. Its emergency food distributions have quadrupled since the state ordered all nonessential workers to shelter in place last month. | Melissa Kendrick, the food bank’s executive director, said, “We have always had an alarming need.” But nothing like this. Its emergency food distributions have quadrupled since the state ordered all nonessential workers to shelter in place last month. |
| Off the bus, Ms. Alvarez headed to a parking lot in Salinas where the United Farm Workers and the U.F.W. Foundation were handing out bags of food to hundreds of laborers, something they began doing weekly as the outbreak worsened. “A lot of them don’t get to have enough food on their tables,” Leydy Rangel, a spokeswoman for the foundation, said. | Off the bus, Ms. Alvarez headed to a parking lot in Salinas where the United Farm Workers and the U.F.W. Foundation were handing out bags of food to hundreds of laborers, something they began doing weekly as the outbreak worsened. “A lot of them don’t get to have enough food on their tables,” Leydy Rangel, a spokeswoman for the foundation, said. |
| It was after 6 p.m. when Ms. Alvarez made it home. She threw her work clothes into a bag to avoid contaminating the house, took a shower and then began cooking dinner for her daughter, Diana Barreto, 22, who is among the masses of newly laid-off retail clerks. | It was after 6 p.m. when Ms. Alvarez made it home. She threw her work clothes into a bag to avoid contaminating the house, took a shower and then began cooking dinner for her daughter, Diana Barreto, 22, who is among the masses of newly laid-off retail clerks. |
| [Read about why black and Latino Californians are suffering disproportionately from the virus.] | [Read about why black and Latino Californians are suffering disproportionately from the virus.] |
| The two rent a room in a three-bedroom house they share with Ms. Alvarez’s sister, brother-in-law and their two children. Dinner on the stove, Ms. Alvarez set about preparing lunch for the next day. She almost always makes bean, potato or nopales cactus burritos, adding beef sparingly. The burritos are often tomorrow’s dinner, too, eaten in the field during her last afternoon break. | The two rent a room in a three-bedroom house they share with Ms. Alvarez’s sister, brother-in-law and their two children. Dinner on the stove, Ms. Alvarez set about preparing lunch for the next day. She almost always makes bean, potato or nopales cactus burritos, adding beef sparingly. The burritos are often tomorrow’s dinner, too, eaten in the field during her last afternoon break. |
| Ms. Alvarez does her best to keep enough beans and potatoes on hand to bulk up their meals as the month goes on. She and her daughter now spend more time searching markets, driving to food banks, rationing what’s in the fridge and worrying about tomorrow. “I have to keep an eye on the food we have so that it could last a few more days,” she said. | Ms. Alvarez does her best to keep enough beans and potatoes on hand to bulk up their meals as the month goes on. She and her daughter now spend more time searching markets, driving to food banks, rationing what’s in the fridge and worrying about tomorrow. “I have to keep an eye on the food we have so that it could last a few more days,” she said. |
| Ms. Alvarez came to California 30 years ago from Michoacán, Mexico, and found work in the strawberry fields. In the years since, she has moved from crop to crop, wherever working conditions were a little better. Her current job offers three days of paid sick leave, which is why she seizes every opportunity she can to use the hand sanitizers now being provided in the fields. | Ms. Alvarez came to California 30 years ago from Michoacán, Mexico, and found work in the strawberry fields. In the years since, she has moved from crop to crop, wherever working conditions were a little better. Her current job offers three days of paid sick leave, which is why she seizes every opportunity she can to use the hand sanitizers now being provided in the fields. |
| “I have to take care of myself more because we don’t know what might happen,” she said. “If I get sick, I will have to stop working, the food will run out and I won’t have money to pay the rent.” | “I have to take care of myself more because we don’t know what might happen,” she said. “If I get sick, I will have to stop working, the food will run out and I won’t have money to pay the rent.” |
| Updated July 23, 2020 | |
| [Read more about California’s undocumented essential workers.] | [Read more about California’s undocumented essential workers.] |
| Although Ms. Alvarez’s job in the food chain is considered essential, she knows that because of her undocumented status she will not get the $1,200 in relief money being distributed to individuals by the federal government. (Gov. Gavin Newsom, however, has announced that undocumented workers will get up to $500 from the state.) | Although Ms. Alvarez’s job in the food chain is considered essential, she knows that because of her undocumented status she will not get the $1,200 in relief money being distributed to individuals by the federal government. (Gov. Gavin Newsom, however, has announced that undocumented workers will get up to $500 from the state.) |
| It all leaves Ms. Alvarez feeling vulnerable — as if every threat she faces is somehow intertwined and impossible to fully escape. “I have no other future other than the one I make in the fields,” she said. | It all leaves Ms. Alvarez feeling vulnerable — as if every threat she faces is somehow intertwined and impossible to fully escape. “I have no other future other than the one I make in the fields,” she said. |
| By 9 p.m. Ms. Alvarez is ready for sleep. Her day begins again at 5. | By 9 p.m. Ms. Alvarez is ready for sleep. Her day begins again at 5. |
| [Track every coronavirus case in California by county.] | [Track every coronavirus case in California by county.] |
| We often link to sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. We appreciate your reading Times coverage, but we also encourage you to support local news if you can. | We often link to sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. We appreciate your reading Times coverage, but we also encourage you to support local news if you can. |
| Bay Area counties loosened their shelter-in-place orders, allowing for more outdoor activity, including construction, landscaping, golf and the gathering of small groups of children, as long as they take precautions. [The Mercury News] | Bay Area counties loosened their shelter-in-place orders, allowing for more outdoor activity, including construction, landscaping, golf and the gathering of small groups of children, as long as they take precautions. [The Mercury News] |
| And if you missed it, here are the four phases of the state’s reopening plan. [The New York Times] | And if you missed it, here are the four phases of the state’s reopening plan. [The New York Times] |
| Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said on Wednesday that all county residents can now get free coronavirus testing. Previously, only those who had symptoms, were essential workers or were in some high-risk settings like nursing homes could be tested. [The Los Angeles Times] | Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said on Wednesday that all county residents can now get free coronavirus testing. Previously, only those who had symptoms, were essential workers or were in some high-risk settings like nursing homes could be tested. [The Los Angeles Times] |
| Here’s what to know about efforts to expand testing in California. [The New York Times] | Here’s what to know about efforts to expand testing in California. [The New York Times] |
| “Telling people in Ventura they can’t surf is like telling them they can’t breathe air.” Around the world, from Bali to Brazil, from Costa Rica to California, there’s a growing schism between those who are allowed to surf and those who can’t get to the waves. [The New York Times] | “Telling people in Ventura they can’t surf is like telling them they can’t breathe air.” Around the world, from Bali to Brazil, from Costa Rica to California, there’s a growing schism between those who are allowed to surf and those who can’t get to the waves. [The New York Times] |
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| Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, graduated from U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter. | Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, graduated from U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter. |
| California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. | California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. |