Aug 5, 2010

Ag labor housing

By Matt Milkovich, Managing Editor

In May, Assistant Editor Derrek Sigler and I grabbed a video camera and visited Scott Lewis, who runs Lewis Orchard in New Era, Mich., and is the current chairman of the Michigan Apple Committee. Lewis showed us the housing he provides for his migrant workers, and I interviewed him and a couple other people on camera.

Agricultural labor housing has been getting a bad rap lately, especially in Michigan. A group called the Michigan Civil Rights Commission released a report in March that claimed, among other things, that farm workers in the state were forced to live in substandard housing. The report caused quite a stir in the media and put farmers – especially fruit and vegetable growers, who rely on migrant labor – on the defensive.

The first video we shot is an interview with Lewis, who gives the other side of the story. The USDA unit he showed us is not representative of all labor housing in Michigan (Juan Cruz, a USDA farm labor housing specialist who appears in the second video, called these USDA units the “Ferrari of agricultural labor housing”); it’s an example of a grower who has provided decent housing for his workers.
We also talked to Maria Sanchez, who’s worked for Lewis for about 10 years. She gave us a tour of her temporary home.

Lewis has four USDA duplexes, which were funded by a loan from USDA’s Rural Development program. Each of the duplexes can house up to 13 people, based on square footage. In actuality, they don’t house nearly that many. Lewis also houses workers in a “pole barn-style” building.

Based on square footage (there can be no more than one occupant per 100 square feet) he could legally fit 71 people (workers and their families) in all of his housing, but that wouldn’t be very comfortable. In reality, he houses 20 to 30 people per year, some of whom stay year round.

Lewis doesn’t charge rent. The occupants pay utilities ($100-$150 per month for the average unit) and pay a security deposit that’s reimbursed if no major damage is done. Lewis pays for routine maintenance himself, he said.

All of his housing is licensed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture. USDA inspectors look at the USDA units, too.

To watch the videos we shot, visit www.vegetablegrowersnews.com and click on “Home Away From Home: A Tour of Farm Labor Housing” in the News Room section. If you’re a Michigan grower and you want to learn more about USDA housing loans, call Juan Cruz at 517-324-5220, or e-mail [email protected].

All the hubbub over migrant labor housing has inspired us to write a series. We’ve already covered the situations in Michigan and Florida in the previous couple of issues; other prominent produce states are to follow.