Ann López: The Farmworkers' Journey

The harvest season has arrived, and we will be giving thanks for our culinary bounty. But do you know how the food you eat arrives at your table each day?

Find out, as Alma Gifts & Culture invites the public to a presentation of the new book The Farmworkers Journey, by Santa Cruz author and academic Ann Aurelia López, Ph.D., on Saturday November 10th at 5pm. Alma Gifts & Culture is located at 1705 Mission St. on the Westside of Santa Cruz

Monterey Herald reporter Claudia Meléndez will introduce the author and facilitate a Q&A session after the presentation.

Illuminating the dark side of economic globalization, The Farmworkers Journey (University of California Press, 2007) provides a rare insider's view of the migrant farmworkers' circuit that stretches from the deep Mexican countryside to Watsonville and Salinas.

Over the course of ten years, López conducted a series of intimate interviews with farmworkers and their families. She deftly weaves their voices together to portray a world hidden from most Americans: a world of inescapable poverty that has worsened considerably since The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented in 1994.

The Farmworkers' Journey brings together for the first time the many facets of this issue: how bi-national institutions and laws promote the subjugation of Mexican farmworkers, how migration affects family life, how genetically modified corn pouring into Mexico from the U.S. affects farmers, how migrants face exploitation from employers, and more.

About the Author: Ann Aurelia López received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She recently completed a President's Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. She has a long history of teaching Environmental Science, Ecology and Botany courses in the Department of Biology at San Jose City College. She is currently a Research Associate at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is in the process of establishing a non-profit organization designed to improve the lives of California farmworkers and their families in Mexico.

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Alma Gifts & Culture is a locally-owned gift store and gallery on Santa Cruz's Westside. It offers traditional and contemporary arts & crafts from local and Latin American artists, as well as cultural events focusing on the Latino community.

Alma Gifts & Culture
1705 Mission St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831.425.2562
Hours:
Tue-Sun 11-6
Closed Mondays