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Migrant farmworkers in North Carolina are being subjected to poor working conditions, including forced meal plans and substandard food, according to advocates and workers involved in the Temporary Agricultural Worker Program.
The program, overseen by the US Department of Labor, allows American employers to hire foreign workers for seasonal agricultural labor, but critics argue it fosters exploitation and leaves workers vulnerable.
According to a report in The Guardian, one worker from Mexico has spent 14 years working in North Carolina under the H-2A worker program, harvesting crops such as tobacco and sweet potatoes. He is one of over 35,000 H-2A workers in the state this year. He described being forced to pay for inedible meals, despite his contract promising kitchen access. For these meals, workers pay as much as $80 a week, with some even falling ill after consuming mouldy and undercooked food.
The H-2A program, while intended to regulate housing, transportation, and food provisions for migrant workers, has been criticized for its lack of enforcement and widespread violations. Workers often find themselves locked into forced meal plans, unable to access kitchen facilities, and forced to pay inflated prices for low-quality food. The meal plans are sometimes unlawfully priced above the Department of Labor’s maximum allowable cost, which was $15.88 per day in 2020.
Control and manipulation of workers
Advocates argue that the conditions create a power imbalance, leaving workers with little control over their food and living arrangements.
"It's a clear form of control and manipulation," said Leticia Zavala, a former farmworker who now advocates for migrant laborers in North Carolina. She noted that many workers face intimidation or the sack if they refuse to comply with the meal plans.
Legal action is underway in several cases. A lawsuit filed against eastern North Carolina farms alleges that employers blocked kitchen access and charged workers up to $160 a week for meal plans that provided insufficient food, including cold and fly-covered dinners. Some workers have resorted to building makeshift grills to cook food, because kitchens were locked.
Carol Brooke, a senior attorney with the North Carolina Justice Center, explained that these practices have become common. "It’s not just about making money off the farm work anymore; it’s about profiting from the workers themselves,” she said.
Despite multiple complaints, enforcement remains lax, and many workers continue to risk termination when raising concerns. "Every time I get fired, I have to start again from zero," said one.
As the debate over the treatment of H-2A workers intensifies, advocates are calling for stronger enforcement of existing laws and better protections for vulnerable migrant laborers.
