"If you want to die, stay at the ranch"

May 23, 2017 8:18 PM

"In this oral history, a former sheepherder describes the loneliness and medical hardship he experienced while tending sheep in California’s Central Valley. The stories of the more than 800,000 men, women, and children working in California’s fields—one third of the nation’s agricultural work force—are rarely heard. The new book Chasing the Harvest compiles the oral histories of some of these farmworkers." (via Longreads)
posted by primalux (5 comments total)

Thank you for sharing this.
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:08 PM on May 23, 2017

I first learned of Valley Fever from reading the YA novel "Esperanza Rising". But this is a much more terrifying account of the disease. Thank you for posting this.
posted by happyroach at 11:35 PM on May 23, 2017

Thank you for sharing. How amazing that they unionized, against all odds. (The book's editor is a parent at my daughter's school, was excited to see this here)
posted by The Toad at 2:58 AM on May 24, 2017

Heraclio Astete is a hero.

Everywhere he went he did things that made his community better.
posted by congen at 9:18 AM on May 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Thousands of inmates in California state prisons have been diagnosed with Valley fever as well.
posted by mogget at 7:12 PM on May 24, 2017