The Book

On March 17, 2015, tens of thousands of Mexican farmworkers went on strike in San Quintín, Baja California, to protest horrible working conditions on the farms that produce most of the fresh fruits and vegetables you consume. Calling themselves the “slaves of the twenty-first century,” these mostly Indigenous men, women, and children rose up in defiance of the conditions of modern slavery, forced labor, sexual harassment, and “hunger wages.”

This ethnography provides an in-depth look into how Indigenous farmworkers organize in the fields and their communities to improve wages and working conditions. Since the strike, the farmworkers have organized a union to fight for justice in the fields. In this work, author James Daria accompanies these farmworkers as they struggle for dignity. Daria also charts the tensions inside the farmworker movement as women struggle to gain greater power in the home as well as at work.

In an era of complex global integration, Daria shows us how what we eat is tied to the suffering of those who produce our food. This book highlights and centers the Indigenous workers who struggle for justice in a global food system that connects us all.