Blueberry Field, Essay Example

Children and Blueberries

Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing Company, a leading supplier of blueberries to large retail chains like Walmart and Kroger, was cited recently for child labor violations. This incident involved the discovery that migrant children between the ages of 5 and 11 worked habitually in the Michigan fields where much of the nation’s blueberries are grown. According to an ABC investigative report (Nightline), this is not an isolated incidence of child labor exploitation. Shortly after it was learned that ABC was airing this woeful account of under age itinerant workers, Walmart announced that it was suspending its business ties with Adkin, pending further investigation (Associated Press). Also, Federal authorities from the U. S. Department of Labor announced that they were stepping in to levy fines against this Michigan grower.

A migrant health nurse in North Carolina who was featured in the broadcast, Josie Ellis, says that her formal complaints of illegal child labor rarely result in any action. “They [enforcement officials] just don’t seem to really care. I think it’s shameful that our nation tolerates child labor” (Associated Press, 2). The business of agriculture is dangerous, and those who work in the fields are exposed to harmful chemicals, mechanical equipment, and extremes of temperature. Our nation’s child labor laws are specific about what kinds of jobs that children can and cannot do. Most of these are included in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Because of the poverty that exists in many migrant families, and because growers often do not pay these workers according to federal statutes, many employers pretend that they do not know that little children are working on their farms. This is a growing trend. We cannot allow our country to return to the days of horrific child employment abuses of the Industrial Revolution.

Works Cited

Associated Press. “Children put to work in Michigan blueberry field.”         Toldeoonthemove.com Oct. 30, 2009, 1-3 Associated Press <http://www.toledoonthemove.com/news/money/story.aspx?id=370270>

Patel, Avni, Hill, Angela, Eslocker, Asa,& Ross, Brian. “The Blueberry                                           Children.” ABC Nightline 30 October 2009 <http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/young-children-working-blueberry-fields-walmart-severs-ties/story?id=895044 >