“At the Farmworker Housing Summit we expected about 100 people… 300 showed up,” noted Brokaw. Approximately two-thirds of the county’s farm worker labor force lives in Ventura County. And by the end of the summit, about half of the attendees “signed up to spread the word or give land or give money” to the effort to provide affordable housing to farm workers.Barragan said that his company employs about 60 laborers, and “about 60 percent” live in substandard conditions including extreme overcrowding. The area’s “peak season is February,” when Barragan will hire up to 300 workers. There is a “very dire need” for single rooms to house farm workers, he noted.Limoneira Company is “Proposing to replace some of their farm worker housing and build more,” said Brokaw. “Community support makes it possible for political support” to create more farm worker housing.
Rotarians updated on farm worker housing issues
January 26, 2005
Santa Paula News
Ellen Brokaw and Eric Barragan are concerned about housing for farm laborers, the Rotary Club learned at a recent meeting where the community activists described the plight of the workers and the need for more housing.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesEllen Brokaw and Eric Barragan are concerned about housing for farm laborers, the Rotary Club learned at a recent meeting where the community activists described the plight of the workers and the need for more housing. Brokaw, co-owner of Brokaw Nursery, is the chair of the countywide Ag Future Alliance Farm Worker Housing Task Force. Barragan, a former Santa Paula Union High School District trustee, is a labor contractor in the Santa Clara River Valley.“Farming in Ventura County is a wonderful thing to do,” and agriculture is not only the county’s leading revenue producer but also “provides wonderful space between cities,” said Brokaw. But keeping agriculture strong depends on the 17,000 to 30,000 farm laborers, a figure projected to grow as the crops change to more labor intensive.
