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Immigration and the Right to Food
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The Nourishing Change newsletter is a forum for sharing information and resources to enrich our conversations and efforts to organize for the most basic of human rights - the right to food.
The content of these newsletters is organized around three distinct qualities that, when all are realized, define the right to food: food that is accessible; food that is available and acceptable; and food that is produced sustainably.
In the last 4 months, since President Trump has taken office, an onslaught of changes in federal policies and practices in the form of executive orders has unfolded in seeming rapid succession. In particular,
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE)
raids
and Muslim bans have brought on a heightened anxiety and fear among those that could be affected, both documented and undocumented immigrants. In regards to
the emergency food system and government assistance programs, these executive orders have an adverse impact in a variety of ways.
In this issue of the Nourishing Change newsletter, we will highlight issues, stories and content at the intersection of immigration and food security,
particularly as its being experienced today against the political backdrop of the current administration.
Heard directly from WhyHunger's partners
and as reported in the media, the
increase in policies that allow for more deportations
have made people afraid to get the food assistance they need, whether it be government assistance or at non-profit food access organizations. There are documented immigrants not attaining
SNAP
(Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program), WIC (Women, Infants and Children), or even the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) because of the fear that ICE officers will be able to identify them and
deport them if they do
. To put this in perspective, we are talking about people in need of assistance passing up nutritious food for themselves and their families out of fear. But many of these immigrant families are legally eligible for federal assistance, especially children born in the U.S, despite their immigration status. Information about eligibility requirements is not widespread or easily deciphered. Overall, documented immigrants are not eligible for benefits until they have been in the country for five years. When it comes to
immigrants - both documented and undocumented -- there is a set of rules for
SNAP
,
WIC
&
NSLP
to determine who qualifies for federal food assistance programs and other forms of government benefits.
Therefore, a critical barrier to these families receiving the assistance they need is a lack of information or misinformation.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1.5 million eligible documented immigrants received SNAP
in the
2015 fiscal year
, as did 3.9 million documented immigrant children living with undocumented immigrant adults
.
The assumption that undocumented immigrants are abusing the system is simply misinformation.
Adult undocumented immigrants are never eligible for SNAP
. The anti-immigrant executive orders the Trump administration has been implementing are harmful for those families that need assistance and are not going to risk deportation to ask for it, even when they legally qualify.
Immigrant households tend to have more food insecurity than native-born households.
Undocumented immigrants have a food-insecurity rate of 24% compared to the overall U.S. population which is at 14%.
As the reports, stories and articles in this newsletter demonstrate, a climate of fear brought on by Trump's executive orders are further limiting immigrant communities' ability to access food - whether through government programs or at independent food pantries. With SFSP (Summer Food Service Program) approaching, the fear that ICE officers can show up in public spaces where the program is being offered might stop families from sending their children to get food even when there is no paperwork required for immigrants, and the program is universally available regardless of immigration status. An important antidote to the fear of deportation that could lead to even greater food insecurity among non-native households is information.
WhyHunger urges all food access organizations to seek assistance in understanding what these rapid-fire executive orders mean for documented and undocumented immigrants who may be in need of food assistance. Organizations can take a first step by providing information sessions on people's rights and other services that might be available for those who might be affected. Finally, explore what it would mean to become a sanctuary space and offer safe harbor to immigrant families dealing with hunger in a time of great uncertainty. And, while the majority of the media reports focus on the Latinx community,
keep in mind that other immigrant communities from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Black immigrant communities and recently arrived refugees are just as if not more adversely affected by these executive orders. It's important
to educate staff and volunteers about the many communities that could be impacted.
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Definition:
Able to be used or obtained; at someone's disposal
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are chronically
food insecure.
Even before the new anti-immigrant executive orders, food availability for immigrants was a huge issue, especially finding food that is culturally appropriate and
nutritious
. And while agricultural workers will suffer disproportionately, the food supply for all of us will likely be compromised by these policies.
Rumors of imminent crackdowns on those who are inside the country and undocumented means that
farmers
and food-related businesses face losing their already decreasing immigrant workforce. Since m
igrant
farmers and undocumented workers are afraid of showing up to work for fear of deportation, Trump's policies may destroy the very industry we rely on to produce the food that feeds us all.
FOOD JUSTICE VOICES: EL SUEÑO AMERICANO - THE AMERICAN DREAM
WhyHunger is excited to continue our powerful
Food Justice Voices
series in 2017 beginning with
El Sueño Americano - The American Dream
.
Food Justice Voices is intended to amplify the critical voices and experiences of grassroots leaders, while creating awareness about various issues connected to hunger and poverty. In this piece, you'll hear directly from Kathia Ramirez, organizer and Food Justice Coordinator at
CATA
(The Far
mworker Support Committee/Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas) in New Jersey, along with farmworker members of CATA. Kathia is from Los Angeles, CA although her parents migrated from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico where they have a history of working the land. In this piece, Kathia discusses the immigrant farmworker experience in pursuing the American dream, the struggles they face and why the struggle for food justice is important on so many levels.
"Here in the United States, food is produced more as quantity over quality. It is not about whether it is nutritious but rather if it looks "good" on the outside even though it might be tasteless or have been forced to grow in a short period of time. Our food system is dependent on pesticides and paying workers a low wage in order meet the demand for cheap food. This creates a vicious cycle because farmworkers are only able to afford cheap, processed food with little access to healthy, organic produce." - Kathia Ramirez
Read, download and share
here.
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Definition:
The ability to be supported, upheld; the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources and thereby, supporting long-term ecological balance.
Industrial agriculture is the dominant form of food production in the United States and increasingly, around the world. The impacts of industrial agriculture on our health and our living environment are well-documented: pesticide toxicity, water pollution, processed food, antibiotic resistance, worker injustice.
According to
Elvira Carvajal, a former farmworker staff member of the
Farmworker Association of Florida
(FWAF):
"Not only agricultural workers - but all of us - even those who do not work in agriculture - are exposed to chemicals, mainly in our water. Not only does it damage the water we drink, but all the animals that live in [the water], and so we're affected again when we consume fish. Farmworkers are also affected mentally and physically; their bodies are poisoned, but also their minds and hearts because of the verbal and physical abuse they often have to deal with. The short term symptoms [of pesticide exposure] are skin rashes, hives, itching and redness of the skin. In the medium term, it is bone pain, sometimes dizziness and a continuation of the short-term symptoms."
This
excerpt
is from WhyHunger 's publication "Through Her Eyes: The Struggle for Food Sovereignty" that highlights women activists and food producers who share their opinions and experiences on topics including agrochemicals, fishing practices, food stamps, GMOs, farmworkers and more.
Women interviewed in this publication underscore the harm that immigrant farmworker communities experience when working in industrial agriculture.
The
agroecology
efforts that FWAF, CATA and Community to Community (
C2C
) are spearheading are highlighting the harm of pesticide exposure and helping farmworker communities to learn and organize to work together for a healthy community and just society. In the interview above Elvira goes on to say: "It
is sometimes difficult to do outreach to farmworkers to raise awareness about the hazards in their work areas. We use workers' rights trainings as a way to identify different types of workplace violations, but also to provide follow-up to specific cases. We need to convince workers to make a complaint to the agency that is responsible for enforcement and encourage them to stick with it until the end, which we know will be long and hard. At first when they are in the workshops they'll say, "Yes, we are going through with this." But when we identify violations and want to document them, sometimes the workers no longer want to. They want to change the conversation and do not want to follow-up on the case, for fear of job loss or other retaliation. It's our job as organizers, to convince them to continue in order to stop such violations for everyone.
"
In immigrant communities, it can be difficult to speak up because of this fear of job loss or retaliation, that's why it's so vital to reiterate that there is a community behind them and that together, it is possible to achieve the right to health and food they deserve.
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"Food Workers Rally for Their Rights on May Day"
On May 1, just two days after
the
People's Climate March
, workers across the country and around the world rallied for living wages and better working conditions-and food system workers featured prominently at many of the protests.
May Day
is celebrated as International Workers Day around the world and has historic roots in labor activism. Organizers in 2006 revived it as a day of action in the United States to call attention to immigration reform efforts.
This year, immigration was again at the forefront of the activism, and the combined focus on immigrant and labor rights made the efforts particularly applicable to the 21.5 million people employed within the food system.
"With the current political climate, it was really important to show, 'we're here,'" said
Food Chain Workers' Alliance
(FCWA) campaign and education coordinator Diana Robinson. "To show their presence and voice especially when their families and neighbors are being criminalized, being put into deportation proceedings."
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For about the first 100 years of American history, Congress did not place any federal limits on immigration. During those years, Irish and German immigrants came to the U.S. in large numbers. Many Chinese immigrants did, too. In the 1860s, they came to work as laborers on the continental railroad and stayed.
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I
n an NPR article titled "Fearful Farmers Rush to Find 'Guest Workers," Dan Fazio, Executive Director of the organization WAFLA that helps fruit growers in Washington state find workers states: "
We haven't seen any raids, but we have seen the paranoia," says Fazio. "A government vehicle drives by a farm, and all the farm workers run away."
The workers, many of whom are in the country without legal authorization, are worried about deportation. But farm employers are worried, too. Because if they lose their workers, they could also lose their harvest.
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On Edge in Trump's America
The Los Angeles Times "
On Edge in Trump's America
" is an ongoing series of articles that covers different aspects how the
"
immigration crackdown is having wide-ranging effects around the country. It has sparked fear in immigrant communities and raised concerns among activists. Among non-immigrants it is creating different worries, particularly in areas along the border and in parts of the country with large immigrant populations.
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Organizations on the Frontlines
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Cosecha
Cosecha is a nonviolent movement working to win permanent protection, dignity and respect for the 11 million undocumented people in this country.
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The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a worker-based human rights organization internationally recognized for its achievements in the fields of social responsibility, human trafficking, and gender-based violence at work. CIW's work has steadily grown over more than twenty years to encompass three broad and overlapping spheres:
The Fair Food Program, The Anti-Slavery Campaign and The Campaign for Fair Food.
Learn more about CIW
here
.
Learn more about the Alliance for Fair Food,
the
national network of people working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for farmworker justice
here
.
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To share your ideas, submit articles, provide feedback, contact: Betty Fermin,
[email protected]
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Please verify that your organization's profile is accurate in the
database
. To update your record, email
[email protected].
If your organization is not in the database, please join us
here.
The WhyHunger Hotline number is 1-800-5-HUNGRY. Please update your records and find outreach materials
here.
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Nourishing Change is a
space to share critical thoughts around the systemic change that needs to happen to end hunger and transform the emergency food system.
We want to hear from you!
Email us at:
[email protected]
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Nourish Network for the Right to Food
WhyHunger
505 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2100
New York, New York 10018
212-629-8850
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Contributor: Betty Fermin
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