Very unhealthy air please stay inside... unless....

[lovelife65]

You are a migrant working the fields. These fields are very close by. I see these souls working all hours, even in extreme heat. Yes, there should be mountains and trees visible.

#1 20210827-DSCF5756 by sharonkay finley, on Flickr


#2 20210827-DSCF5758 by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

#3 20210827-DSCF5757-2 by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[mugge]

These images are quite disturbing.

[lovelife65]

These images are quite disturbing.

Ole, thanks for the comment. Agreed.

[Manfred M]

In my travels at home and abroad, the one thing that always struck me when going through agricultural areas is how much of our foods and drink (thinking coffee and tea primarily) come through the use of cheap labour. Sometimes the seasonal workers are imported during the growing months to work on farms and more often it is the people working in developing countries under terrible conditions.

Well captured and a point well made.

[lovelife65]

In my travels at home and abroad, the one thing that always struck me when going through agricultural areas is how much of our foods and drink (thinking coffee and tea primarily) come through the use of cheap labour. Sometimes the seasonal workers are imported during the growing months to work on farms and more often it is the people working in developing countries under terrible conditions.

Well captured and a point well made.

Thank you Manfred. It is true the use of cheap labor. Here in the US, it's pretty common, and what I find even more distressing is the way they are treated overall, as if they are not human beings. Do all the scut work that Americans don't want to do, then get berated and treated like garbage. No benefits, sometimes even no pay. Yes, there is a guest worker program that often imports these workers. From what I understand, it's become even more difficult to find this type of labor due to COVID. Crops rotting in the fields. Sometimes it is justified by people saying they are better off than in their own countries, but that denies the fact that we here in the US have often created or exacerbated poor conditions abroad. (NAFTA Subsidies for one)
Sadly, there are advocates out there that are trying to say imported labor should be brought in to address the shortages in Long-Term Care staff. It allows corporate owned facilities to really address the underlying causes of shortages.
Thank you again for your comments.

[Manfred M]

Thank you Manfred. It is true the use of cheap labor. Here in the US, it's pretty common, and what I find even more distressing is the way they are treated overall, as if they are not human beings. Do all the scut work that Americans don't want to do, then get berated and treated like garbage. No benefits, sometimes even no pay. Yes, there is a guest worker program that often imports these workers. From what I understand, it's become even more difficult to find this type of labor due to COVID. Crops rotting in the fields. Sometimes it is justified by people saying they are better off than in their own countries, but that denies the fact that we here in the US have often created or exacerbated poor conditions abroad. (NAFTA Subsidies for one)
Sadly, there are advocates out there that are trying to say imported labor should be brought in to address the shortages in Long-Term Care staff. It allows corporate owned facilities to really address the underlying causes of shortages.
Thank you again for your comments.

We are getting into some rather philosophical / political issues here (i.e. left vs right views) and I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle. We are reliant on cheap labour in agriculture, whether it is imported directly as farm labourers or indirectly through imported foods worked by cheap agricultural labour in developing countries. I'm quite sure that there are some farms that treat the imported labourers ethically, while others are not as lucky.

When it comes to long term care, in Canada I have seen a lot of imported labour; nurses from English speaking Caribbean countries or from the Philippines. I suspect a significant part of the GDP of some of these countries comes from remittances from these workers. Again, they are treated well in some countries and very poorly in others. I have heard that the largest export from the Philippines to North America is nurses.

[Jim A]

Challenging images, indeed, Sharon, thanks for sharing. Here in New Zealand, apart from Level 4 covid restrictions, we have many people come from the Pacific Islands to do fruit picking, which most New Zealanders avoid. It is pretty monotonous work, but in their terms very well paid. We are lucky to have them. They are governed by the minimum wage law in New Zealand, so don't get ripped off, plus take back 'big' money to their families. It is all a matter of balance. In these difficult times, this demonstrates how lucky we are to be in a first world economy.

[lovelife65]

Challenging images, indeed, Sharon, thanks for sharing. Here in New Zealand, apart from Level 4 covid restrictions, we have many people come from the Pacific Islands to do fruit picking, which most New Zealanders avoid. It is pretty monotonous work, but in their terms very well paid. We are lucky to have them. They are governed by the minimum wage law in New Zealand, so don't get ripped off, plus take back 'big' money to their families. It is all a matter of balance. In these difficult times, this demonstrates how lucky we are to be in a first world economy.

New Zealand is definitely a country to be admired

[Tronhard]

Hi Sharon et al.

Right now we are challenged by an outbreak of the Delta variant in NZ. We had achieved the rare feat of being COVID-free from the first two iterations of the virus, but a single case got through our border and it spread like wildfire: thanks to a vary complacent population that had decided not to use our national tracking system or wear masks as required. The government has acted very quickly to go for elimination again - unlike New South Wales in Australia, they acted fast and hard and declared a full lock-down of the country until they could be assured that the outbreak was limited to Auckland. So while the rest of NZ is down a level (so limited engagement and mobility) Auckland remains locked. It has been a challenge as there is a degree of lock-down fatigue, but a survey indicates that just over 85% of our population supports the moves - we don't want to live with COVID as Australia now has accepted it must - their tepid efforts to isolate let the virus get away from them.

This impacts on migratory workers, as space in managed isolation has had to be limited to cope with residents who need to be secluded while they are tested and, if necessary, recover. So the agrarian and other industries are on the back foot again. Still, this is worth it. If we can keep it out until we get the mass of the population vaccinated, we can live a relatively normal life. I think this thing is going to be with us in the long term, and it will adapt dynamically.

In many ways I miss my other favourite country, Canada, very much, but there is no way I would leave NZ under the current conditions. So, I shall continue to hunker down in splendid isolation and wait it out. I had a bucket list of places to visit: Antarctica and South Georgia, The Galapagos and the Masai Mara, but that is likely not going to happen. Still, back here, the days are lengthening, the temps are crawling up and the sun is shining more (although we had a local unique flash flood of our own last week). I have my two Pfizer shots, I wear a mask as soon as I leave home and I go out to enclosed spaces as little as possible.

One comfort is I can still go for walks and take photos. So here is some spring growth of one of the ferns in my garden.

Sony RX-10 MkIV, FoV 386mm Equiv., f/8, 1/40sec, ISO-200 Hand-held


Stay safe and well everyone. {:-D