Mercado Campesinos gives food and hope to farmworkers

While farmworkers picked the produce that filled stores last year to ensure communities still had food, many of them were still going home to empty refrigerators themselves.

Since the start of the pandemic FIND Food Bank has hosted Mercado Campesinos where it provides easy food assistance access to farmworkers at their place of work. Each event helps feed at least 500 farmworkers.

According to the California Farmworker Foundation Outreach coordinator, Alejandra Rodriguez, farmworkers are in need of food assistance in Coachella Valley because they live in food deserts. This means the closest large grocery stores are not close. So many farmworkers rely on small grocery businesses to get their food, which don't have many options.

Mercado Campesinos is held directly out on the fields. It's a partnership between Growing Coachella Valley and the growers through-out Coachella Valley.

Boxes given to the farmworkers are filled with non-perishables, certain meats, and milk. A little food for those who need it goes a long way. Having easy access to it at their place of work helps even more.

“Before it was really difficult for me to have access to the basic staples like food , water, and toilet paper," explains Miguel Lopez, a CV date farmworker. "It's a little bit better now but it was difficult for a while. Having food that I can pick up here is really helpful."

This is just one of the many events FIND Food Bank hosts every month to continue its mission of ending hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime.