The Sun Sees the Strong
By: Laura Alcantar Anguiano (Gainesville, GA)
March 2017
Every bruise on their hands, every minute of no sleep, and every drop of sweat fallen off their foreheads has been meant for a dream. A dream of success; a dream that one day they will prove everybody wrong. A dream in which their kids will be able to taste success. This brings me to the following question, why are farm workers important to Georgia? Besides the fact that they provide us with food, they are a perfect reminder of a hard-working American following “El Sueño Americano” (The American Dream).
Georgia is known for their peanuts, cotton, peaches, and chicken factories. Yet, people rarely appreciate the farm workers that work on Georgia’s farms. Farm workers, bring pride, hard work, and are the backbone of Georgia’s farm industry. Every time you go to the grocery store, you get your tomatoes for “El pico de gallo”, or maize for the tacos. They do not magically appear in the grocery stores. Men and women have to wake up early, exhausted, and sometimes injured, but must still force themselves to maintain a positive mindset that this will help them reach success. These workers must go through everyday reminding themselves that their hard labor keeps their families alive and able to continue to dream big.
Farm workers get paid by the number of boxes of crops they are able to pick each and every day. These boxes are heavy; not to mention, farm workers work outside in the blazing hot sun or freezing cold temperatures. They fill up the baskets not only with crops, but with dedication and determination. Some of the farm workers are disadvantaged, because they simply cannot understand the English language. As a result, they are often taken advantage of, and they only work for minimum wage. Just keep in mind, farm workers work so we can eat. However, in many cases they cannot even manage to feed themselves.
Farm workers are the ones that put food in our refrigerators and food on our tables. They allow us to enjoy many other pleasures of life. Georgia has one of the most precious awards: being the home of hard working people. We often forget that farm workers are human, and that they shouldn’t be appreciated one day of the year, but every second of every minute, of every hour, of every year. For some of us, we will never know what it feels like to work our back-ends to physically labor all day, everyday. However, farm workers show us each and every day what “echándole ganas” stands for. Farm workers are the real role models in Georgia, and throughout the entire United States. For every farm worker that has worked, is working, or is going to work: I would like to thank you, for being the foundation of Georgia’s Farming Culture.