Fruit baskets and soccer fields: Helping Oxnard Farmworkers

Photo credit: Kristyna Ramirez

In Oxnard, home of strawberry fields just northwest of Los Angeles on the California coast, two individuals are bringing awareness to the hardships that farmworkers face on a daily basis. 

From organizing a community project that repays these workers by distributing food to help support their families, to creating a clothing brand that benefits farmworkers by collaborating strawberry fields and soccer fields, Carmen Obeso and Ian Hernandez are determined to make a difference.

Obeso, a farmworker and project organizer, introduced ‘De Campesinxs A Campesinxs’ in April 2020 to help her community amid the pandemic.

When COVID-19 suddenly emerged, corporations ceased production, various layoffs occurred and little to no food was displayed in grocery stores. According to Obeso, farmworkers were affected harder than most.

Farmworkers were considered essential workers, so they still had to work while most people were quarantined at home. By the time Obeso and her coworkers concluded a straining day of labor and finally made it to the grocery stores, everything was nearly gone as people jam-packed their grocery carts.

“There wasn’t any food. There weren't any basic products for us,” Obeso said. “So me and a group of co-workers...we decided to join forces and start looking for donations to make this project happen.”

Obeso and her co-workers began ‘De Campesinxs A Campesinxs’ by spreading the word on Facebook, where they received many donations like bags of rice, beans and canned foods. They would then drive to locations as far as Los Angeles to pick up these contributions.

At first, they helped around 100 families. As time passed, the donations began to increase and the number of families helped started rising to 500, 600 and 700. Slowly but surely, the project began to expand.

This past January was one of their most successful months to date according to Obeso as over 4,000 families benefited from this project. 

‘De Campesinxs A Campesinxs’ assembles in the parking lot at the Oxnard Police Activities League every first Sunday of the month, as well as setting days to allocate in Kern County.

Yulizabeth Flores Mendes, 22, who migrated from Oaxaca, Mexico, harvests strawberries in Oxnard and attended the April 2 distribution for the first time after her cousin informed her about the monthly occurrence.

“I just got here from Mexico and I do need a bit of help right now,” said Mendes as her two kids, ages four and six, were playing around the stroller she was pushing around filled with recyclable bags. 

Following lengthy and weary days of labor, Mendes has faith that these distributions will benefit her and her family in the near future.

‘De Campesinxs A Campesinxs’ accepts donations such as canned foods, fruits, vegetables, clothes and baby essentials. One can contact Obeso on Instagram, @oxnardcarmen, or attend an event to donate.

One good act inspires another

Ian Hernández, soccer player and founder of clothing brand ‘De Un Campo A Otro,’ saves a portion of the brands’ profits to contribute to ‘De Campesinxs A Campesinxs.’

The start of his brand emerged during the pandemic. Hernández was playing soccer at Cal State Los Angeles as a goalkeeper before he and his teammates were sent home to quarantine. Back and locked inside his home in Oxnard, he needed an escape from reality.

Hernández would leave his home in search of an open soccer field to clear his mind. Once he found a field and was able to train for a while, his luck would strike down after getting kicked out by police officers following quarantine protocols. It was a continuous cycle.

Hernández recalled driving through the lonely Oxnard roads one day after getting kicked out of a field, and he noticed that the only people who were still outside were the farm workers picking strawberries.

He felt a strong connection with the farmworkers that day, as they also migrate from field to field during each harvest season – in that moment, the idea of his clothing brand was born. His family background was also an inspiration.

“Being close to a field has always been around,” said Hernández, as he grew up playing soccer and both sides of his grandparents were farmworkers. “This [brand] is just an appreciation towards them.”

Hernández’s grandparents were a part of what was once called the Bracero Program – a program between the United States and Mexico that allowed millions of Mexican immigrants to work in the U.S. under agricultural contracts during the second world war, according to the UCLA Labor Center.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               His grandparents were seeking a more advantageous life by working as ‘braceros,’ but it came with many risks, such as being exposed to toxic pesticides.

His grandfather from his mom’s side was sprayed a couple of times while on the job. Hernández said the boss at the time failed to inform his workers about the harmful situation and forced them to work without taking breaks at times.

The hardships that his grandparents experienced motivated him to use his brand to spread awareness of those personal narratives that many farmworkers still encounter to this day.

“The community is really grateful and needs us the most,” said Obeso. “It’s because of the community that we moved forward and thankfully have grown this project.”