Comments on: The Food on This Table http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/26/the-food-on-this-table/ Where Manifest Destiny Goes to Die Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:53:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Arban http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/26/the-food-on-this-table/comment-page-1/#comment-5189 Arban Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:24:47 +0000 http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/?p=6195#comment-5189 I remember when we would drive from southest Texas (where I grew up) down to Corpus (south, where my Dad grew up) we would pass through cotton fields and my Dad would tell how the whole family would pick cotton during the summers. I must have been about 8, and I wanted to get out and pick some cotton. So we stopped, I picked a bud, and then, innocently, rubbed my eye. It was the most violent eye burn I have ever had. It burned like evil chemical wildfire. This was the 80's, and I have no idea how long they have been using these chemicals on the plants, but it could not have been healthy for my whole family to have been exposed to this stuff regularly. Several of my aunts and uncles and my own father, have gotten cancer. I wonder if there is a connection. I remember when we would drive from southest Texas (where I grew up) down to Corpus (south, where my Dad grew up) we would pass through cotton fields and my Dad would tell how the whole family would pick cotton during the summers. I must have been about 8, and I wanted to get out and pick some cotton. So we stopped, I picked a bud, and then, innocently, rubbed my eye. It was the most violent eye burn I have ever had. It burned like evil chemical wildfire. This was the 80′s, and I have no idea how long they have been using these chemicals on the plants, but it could not have been healthy for my whole family to have been exposed to this stuff regularly. Several of my aunts and uncles and my own father, have gotten cancer. I wonder if there is a connection.

]]> By: Alicia http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/26/the-food-on-this-table/comment-page-1/#comment-5183 Alicia Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:24:24 +0000 http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/?p=6195#comment-5183 I remember working in the fields when I was little. The oppressive heat, there's nowhere to go to escape it. Not even the shade provides any relief. We didn't even know there were laws in place to protect us against this, it was common to see children in the fields, heck whole families. We knew that if we didn't turn enough trays or pick enough grapes, we wouldn't eat. We worked for hours with no water or bathroom facilities provided, under the watchful eye of the mayordomos and duenos. Funny how shocked people are when I tell them that, but I forget we are all lazy and undeserving of basic human rights. I remember working in the fields when I was little. The oppressive heat, there’s nowhere to go to escape it. Not even the shade provides any relief. We didn’t even know there were laws in place to protect us against this, it was common to see children in the fields, heck whole families. We knew that if we didn’t turn enough trays or pick enough grapes, we wouldn’t eat.

We worked for hours with no water or bathroom facilities provided, under the watchful eye of the mayordomos and duenos. Funny how shocked people are when I tell them that, but I forget we are all lazy and undeserving of basic human rights.

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