My family actually describes some of these jobs as having slave like conditions.

Picking produce in a field sounds great until you realize you have to be out there when they’re spraying pesticides. (Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s those same pesticides that there’s commericals running. “If you work or live in a field that sprays these pesticides and developed Parksinsons or Parkinson like symptoms. You may be entitled to compensation) You have to be fully covered in 90+ (Fahrenheit) weather. These pesticides literally ruin washing machines. You have work for a few months out of the year and you have to find something else when it’s the low season. Wake up before the sun is up and get home when it’s dark. It blows my mind that I knew people who were working from 3-4am to 10 pm. People are literally breaking their bodies over these jobs. You make just enough money that you don’t qualify to live in low income housing but you’re only a few dollars from being considered low income.

These first gen immigrants work so damn hard for scraps and some of them are the nicest fucking people. It’s fustrating when you see their hard work and the only thing stopping them from being recognized for it is because their english isn’t good enough.

Then at the other end, I have a friend that has an agriculture degree and she can’t find a job for her degree because she’s been flat out told. Why would we hire you when we can hire someone else for much less? It’s a brutal cycle.