Behind Michigan’s lush agriculture are farm workers who live in poor living conditions

For many seasonal and migrant workers who grow, harvest and process produce for stores, vendors, farmers markets and festivals across Michigan, living conditions can be unsafe and unhealthy, say researchers at the University of Michigan.

In interviews conducted as part of the Michigan Farmworker Project, workers described overcrowded quarters, dirty mattresses, sewage and other odors from bathrooms, shared spaces such as living rooms that often serve as bedrooms, and the lack of air conditioning.

In addition, some reported suffering from food insecurity, fear of contaminated drinking water, high rents, low wages, and a general lack of safe, affordable, and quality housing—a situation not unlike that faced by many U.S. citizens.

The five-year-old community-based research project, led by Lisbeth Iglesias-Rios and Alexis Handal of the UM School of Public Health, has over time examined a variety of issues related to treatment by farm owners and caregivers.

The latest study, published in Journal of Agromedicineexamined housing and working conditions and general health through telephone interviews with 63 seasonal, migrant and H-2A farmworkers who, according to the researchers, must get their products to market each year. The findings are particularly important because there are only a tiny number of workers in the U.S. who want to work in agriculture, the researchers say.

“This is about basic human rights and also about treating these workers as the valuable contributors to the state’s $104.7 billion agricultural economy that they are. They do not receive the same protections as other workers under federal and state workplace safety regulations, and the treatment some report is inhumane and unhealthy,” Iglesias-Rios said.

The housing conditions are particularly relevant as local, state and federal authorities continue to monitor the spread of bird flu, which was detected this week in another Michigan dairy herd and infected two farmworkers in Michigan and one in Texas.

Workers live in farm housing provided by the employer or in rental properties in the agricultural communities where they work. About 19,000 migrant, H-2A, and seasonal workers either live in Michigan or come from other states or countries to work as labor for Michigan farms each season.

“Our desire as community-based researchers, and the desire of farmworkers and their advocates, is to bring about policy changes that prevent the precarious work and living situations that come with working as seasonal, H-2A or migrant workers in this state,” Iglesias-Rios said.

The study and overall project were conducted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and Farmworker Legal Services. The most recent published document, as well as previous published studies, are available on the Michigan Farmworker Project website and include comments from interviews with farmworkers:

One worker said: “I wish the workers were treated more humanely and equally. Farming is a very important and dignified job, but they don’t value our work. I wish the workers were treated more consciously and better. We are suffering a lot. I would like to have a forum where we can talk to the farmers so that they can treat the workers better.”

Another farm worker said: “I would like to have fewer people in the apartments because they have two rooms and one bed and then they accommodate eight people. That’s a lot of people for the space.”

Many farm workers reported satisfactory living conditions. However, the investigation focuses on abuses and the precarious working and living conditions that workers report, including:

• A majority of workers (81%) reported one or more environmental hazards in the accommodation, including the quality of drinking water.
• Experiences of objectification and dehumanization and verbal abuse, as well as a lack of privacy and conditions conducive to comfort, sleep and hygiene.
• Almost half of farmworkers (48%) rated their health in the year before the interview as fair or poor; more than a third reported three or more chronic conditions, and 39% reported having no health insurance.
• About 38% said they lived in poverty.
• Living rooms that double as bedrooms, with mattresses on the floor. Most workers surveyed, more than 60%, said their mattresses were either fairly clean or not clean at all.

The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the virus was sickening and killing a disproportionate number of Latinos, including farmworkers. In late 2020, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights commissioned the housing study to describe work characteristics and access, affordability and quality of housing for farmworkers living inside and outside farm worksites in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic.