Victoria Criado

Sci-Fi Route to Coachella

2009-06-29T19:37:25Z

On my various trips south to the Coachella Valley on Interstate 10, I crossed what is known as the San Gorgonio Pass - supposedly one of the windiest places on earth. According to wikipedia , the cool coastal air is forced through the pass and mixes with the hot desert air. It is a spectacular sight. The Interstate is flanked by hundreds of enormous wind turbines. It looks like a scene from a futuristic Sci-Fi movie. The giant, white spinning structures resemble an army of robots assembling their forces in steady preparation, aiming to annihilate the human race. Well, at least that is what came into my head when i saw them. I tried taking pictures while I drove, which turned out to be a dangerous endeavor. My small Nissan felt like a piece of scrap metal on rollerblades tumbling through hurricane winds. Apparently, cars. trucks, and RVs have been known to flip over during particularly windy sessions.

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Imperial Valley Diary - Day 1

2009-06-18T02:29:54Z

I started my drive down to the Imperial Valley yesterday afternoon. The trip ended up being substantially longer than I anticipated. I continue to be perplexed by the logic (or lack thereof) of Los Angeles traffic. 405 South was a daunting field of chugging cars as far as the eye could see. After 2 hours of bumper to bumper inching, I managed to go a whopping 40 miles south. Finally, after 30 more minutes, and for no readily discernible reason, the highway cleared in a crisp and clean fashion, like Moses and/or Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea. It was dark by the time I made it to I-8 East, hugging the U.S. Mexico border toward El Centro. At that point, I was tired and jumpy from my synthetic dose of alertness (coffee), and the pitch black, windy road made it even harder to see properly. Therefore, it is not surprising that I nearly halted the car to a screech, trying to control the pounding in my chest, when suddenly, off to the right side of the road, I came upon two parked border patrol vehicles. They startled me to pieces, and I tried to gain composure as quickly as possible so as to avoid being stopped. I finally made it to my motel, a beautiful (not) Howard Johnson’s. I noticed that they call it “HJ Inns and Suites.” This seems like false advertising to me. I mean, c’mon. Is someone really going to tell me that HJ’s actually has a suite in any of its hotels/motels? I highly doubt it.

I woke up this morning and headed off to conduct a reconnaissance of the area. By 9am the sun was already sizzling, and when driving one could make out a trippy desert haze gleaming off the highway’s horizon. The Imperial Valley is significantly bigger than the Coachella Valley. I got lost many, many times today, but managed to find my way back eventually. I photographed ravaged fields of sweet corn; miles and miles of hay stacks; cattle farms; beautiful teal colored irrigation ditches; numerous field fires (will comment more on this in a second); and abandoned factories. I was scheduled to meet with the Institute for Socio Economic Justice in Brawley, and wrote to confirm my appointment yesterday, but to no avail - when I got there my contact was no where to be found. Eventually his office got him on the phone and he apologized for forgetting our agreement to meet. I dont know if I will have time to go back to Brawley, but I can always conduct a phone interview next week. Around 3pm, I met with the president of Vessey Farms in Holtville. I asked him over 1.5 hours worth of questions, but in particular, I asked him why workers were lighting fields on fire every which way I turned that morning. He explained that it is a technique that helps make the land rich again. It is a controversial issue, from a health and environmental perspective. In order to engage in these kind of practices, farmers have to abide by a set of strict rules on when and how to burn. Still, Vessey says that every year they get lambasted in the press during the burning season.

Lastly, I met with Lupe Quintero from the CRLA to finalize our plans for early (and i mean early) tomorrow morning. Ms. Quintero, a veteran of the CRLA, and Director for Community Workers, will be taking me to Calexico at 2am to see the influx of day workers from Mexico. I will get to speak to workers as they wait to get picked for work and then follow them onto the buses that will take them to harvest onions and melons. Then we will stay in the fields to talk to more laborers and shadow their harvesting. It will be exhausting, but very rewarding. That said, it is time to try to get some sleep before my 1am wake-up call.

Good night.

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Reporting from the Field: The Coachella Valley Grape Harvest

2009-06-15T17:47:06Z

The Coachella Valley relies heavily on local labor to harvest most of its crops. Grapes are the largest exception. The grape harvest in the Coachella Valley sees a huge influx of migrant labor from all over California and Mexico. The towns of Coachella, Mecca, and Indio are littered with workers pruning, plucking, and packaging for about a month and half. The area, which suffers from a huge housing crunch, is mostly unable to adequately house these temporary laborers. This translates into workers being forced to sleep in their cars every night, parked either in available parking lots in the city centers, or along the side of the highways and roads in rural areas. Last week, I spoke with men and women workers laboring in the grape fields. I asked them if they noticed any changes in their respective abilities to find work with the current economy. Almost all of them agreed this year had been difficult. Many of them had come from the construction sector. They saw their wages decrease and their hours increase. Most expressed fear in not meeting quotas, because there were so many people on the sidelines willing and able to take their place. A handful said that even if there was housing available, they wouldn’t be able to afford the rent. Others, who had been working in Coachella for over 20 years in the grape harvest, told me they would not be coming back to California next year because the costs associated with the transient process stopped making economic sense to them. But everyone was thankful to have a job and was particularly fearful at the prospect of re-entering the job market at the end of the grape season.

An interesting tidbit from my visit. Guess what litters the ground between grape vines? Raisins! Hundreds and hundreds of raisins! It makes sense, of course. As the unused or damaged grapes fall on the ground, they undergo the natural drying process which morphs them into the tasty, morsels we have come to know as “nature’s candy.” I was tempted to try one, but decided against it. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure:

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