Service Learning Proposal

Contact Information:
• Service Learning Proposal: Linking the Local to the Global, Working with Migrant Farm Workers
• Community Partner: The National Farm Worker Ministry and the Farmworkers Association of Florida.
• Group Members: Valerie Tindall
Community Partner/Global Theme Profile:
• Community Partner: We will be working with both the National Farm Worker Ministry, Contact: Lariza Garzón, P.O. Box 1589, Deland, FL 32771 – Telephone: (386) 738-2269 (386) 738-2269
The Farmworker Association of Florida, 815 South Park Avenue, Apopka, FL 32703 -- Telephone: (407) 886-5151 (407) 886-5151 – the Farmworkers Association of Florida work will mostly be with the Women to Women Conference.
• Research on Global Theme: Being a migrant farm worker is one of the most dangerous and worst-paying jobs in the country. Farmworkers endure impoverished living conditions, intensive physical labor, chronic pesticide exposure, racial discrimination and exploitation, deplorable wages with little or no benefits, and long working days in hazardous working conditions (http://www.floridafarmworkers.org). During peak season a farmworker handpicks three and a half tons of oranges while on a ladder, or bends over to pick up around 3,000 pounds of tomatoes and many of them do it while they are sick or pregnant, old or young because they can’t afford to take a day off. A farmworkers median yearly income was $6,250 according to the National Agricultural Survey. These farmworkers have no protection under the federal or state law so they can’t unionize, work overtime, take sick leave or apply for unemployment if they are laid off from their jobs. Agriculture is also not subjected to the same safety legislation that other industries are so they are not protected if they injure themselves on the job or get pesticide poisoning, which is very common (National Center for Farmworker Health).
• The National Farmworkers Ministry according to their website is a faith based organization supporting farm workers as they organize for justice. They are a body of member organizations that include 40 national, state and local religious bodies.
• The mission statement of FAWF is to “build power among farmworker and rural low-income communities to respond to and gain control over the social, political, workplace, economic, health, and environmental justice issues that impact their lives” (Farmworker Association of Florida). Our mission is to create several projects that will raise consciousness in our community, benefit women in the community, and gather resources for the organization.
The Project Proposal:
M E M O R A N D U M
To: Meredith L. Tweed
From: Valerie Tindall
Date: February 9, 2011
Subject: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project
• The Problem: Chances are if you eat any kind of fresh produce that is bought at a supermarket chain you are eating produce that was picked by a migrant farmworker. Being a migrant farmworker is one of the worst paying jobs in the US and also one of the most dangerous ones. They are constantly exposed to toxic chemicals; most live in poverty and can be laid off without a moment’s notice. Many of them also don’t have access to healthcare and if they do get sick, they aren’t able to take any time off because they can’t afford to. Our service learning project will help raise awareness in our community about the plight of the migrant farmworker and we also want to raise donations either monetary or useful items such as toiletries, household items, etc.
• Proposal: To fill these needs, our group will organize and participate in several events. There is a group of us that have talked about trying to set up a tabling event at a local Farmer’s Market. As we table, we will be soliciting donations for the farmworkers, whether they be monetary or toiletries or any other items they might need, we will get a list from FAWF. There is also a group that wants to host a symposium at The Center. We want this event to have two or three areas of concentration, most likely covering themes of environmental justice and immigration, this event will be designed to raise consciousness. We also are trying to get a carpool together to drive to Vero Beach to work in a community garden with these farmworkers. Lastly we are going to work at the Women to Women Conference taking notes, helping to set up/clean up and collecting donations.
• Rationale for Global and Transnational Feminisms: In our course text Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics Naples and Desai state, the absence from national statistics of women’s unpaid work and informal labor continues to be a concern for feminist activists (p.21) and this informal activity is mostly immigrant women of color which is why there are no national statistics. A feature of the constant global economic restructuring has been the decline of organized labor and formal labor contracts, which is causing a growth in informal and part-time employment and a restructuring of women’s work (Naples p.11). According to The Farmworkers Association of Florida there are an estimated 4 million migrant farmworkers and about 1/5 of them are women and at least 100,000 are children. This project is going to help raise awareness of the problems these farmworkers face whether they are male or female, young or old.
• Our project is going to be broken up into groups based on what people want to specifically accomplish. I myself would like to try to set an event at a farmers market where we either actually set up a table there to solicit donations or just pass out flyers raising awareness for our cause. I also might be able to set up a tabling event at the Starbucks I work at where we can raise awareness and get donations and I can probably leave a box set up in my store so people can bring by their donations any time. I also am very interested in making the trip to Vero Beach to work alongside these women in their community garden and I am pretty sure I will be going to the Women to Women Conference to help out. There is also a group who wants to organize a symposium to raise awareness about migrant farmworkers, environmental justice and immigration.
• Timeline: March: select a few weekends to table at Farmers Market and/or set up event at Starbucks.
March 26th: Women to Women Conference
April: Vero Beach Trip and possibly Symposium.

• My responsibilities: I would definitely like to be involved in the Women to Women Conference and setting up some event to solicit donations and raise awareness. I am also very interested in going to Vero Beach to work in the community garden.
Word Count: 1,149
Works Cited:

Naples, Nancy A. "Changing the Terms: Community Activism, Globalization, and the Dilemmas of Transnational Feminist Praxis." Ed. Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics. New York: Routledge, 2002. 3-14. Print.
Farmworkers Association of Florida. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.
http://www.floridafarmworkers.org).
National Center for Farmworker Health