Making a Difference: Food Justice’s Exploration of Farm Worker Advocacy

An integral focus of Pamela Wright’s Food Justice course is helping students better understand and appreciate the origin of the food on their plates. Ms. Wright, Marlborough’s Dean of Social Justice and Community Partnerships, emphasizes, “The goal of Food Justice is to help students become more informed consumers of food.”

A focus of their current unit is farm workers—the people who harvest crops across the nation, ensuring our grocery stories and pantries remain stocked. As part of this unit and the course's ongoing examination of agricultural labor issues and their intersection with broader questions of equity in the food system, Ms. Wright invited Diana Tellefson-Torres to speak to her class. Ms. Tellefson-Torres is the founding Executive Director of the United Farm Workers (UFW) Foundation and she spoke with students about her two decades of experience advocating for farm worker rights and her personal connection to agricultural labor.

Ms. Tellefson-Torres shared how her journey began when, as a Senior in college, she witnessed farm workers laboring in challenging conditions during a field visit. Her curiosity about their working conditions led her to discover numerous inequities in agricultural labor practices, from extended work hours without overtime pay to lack of basic amenities at work sites. 

As Ms. Tellefson-Torres dove deeper into her research to better understand the history and current state of farm workers in the United States, her work took a poignant turn: she discovered her own grandfather had been a bracero. The Bracero Program was a United States government program that allowed Mexican citizens to work in the United States from 1942 to 1964. It was designed to address agricultural labor shortages during World War II. “I wish I could talk to my grandfather now to hear the stories of his experience,” Ms. Tellefson-Torres reflected, noting that this family connection has deepened her passion for farm worker advocacy. 

Throughout her talk, Ms. Tellefson-Torres emphasized the ongoing challenges faced by agricultural workers today. She shared striking images of workers harvesting a variety of crops, from Christmas tree farms in Michigan’s bitter cold winters to overnight blueberry and citrus harvests in California’s Central Valley. She highlighted the physically demanding nature of farm work across many different regions of the US and throughout the changing seasons.

Through her work with the UFW Foundation, Ms. Tellefson-Torres has helped establish programs providing community organizing support, advocacy for worker projections, and immigration legal services. Under her guidance, the foundation secured the passage of California state legislation addressing issues like heat illness prevention measures and overtime pay provisions.

Ms. Wright commented, “Guest speakers like Ms. Tellefson-Torres are vital to bringing life to the farm workers unit. The first hand perspective not only brings expertise but dignity to the population of farm workers students study in class.”This message was clearly received by students who asked thoughtful questions about how to get involved and how consumers can be more aware of how they spend their money. 

Ms. Tellefson-Torres left students with an inspiring message: “Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.” She encouraged them to find causes they care about, take meaningful steps toward change, and recognize that every voice has the power to shape the change they wish to see.