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1978
- 1988
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| Hispanic
or Latino,
mainly Mexican and Mexican-American, farmworkers had been migrating to
central and western New York long before the late 1980s. They worked in
vegetable crops - lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, asparagus, onions, tomatoes
- and picked apples. Most were concentrated in counties north and
east of the Center's original direct service area. Other Latino migrants
came from Puerto Rico to work in harvesting or food processing plants.
Mexicans and Mexican-Americans at first came up from Florida or Texas in family crews. Latino migrant crews are now often composed of young men traveling alone, coming from many states and across the border from Mexico or Central America. They support families, even whole communities, at home with their remittances. |
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All-male crews working cabbage and lettuce fields are organized into specialized teams. Skillful cutters move down the rows ahead of the packers, who are followed in turn by trucks and loaders. Onion harvesting may be more familistic, less specialized in its tasks. |
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