Jun 27, 2022
Why are farmworkers, who provide our food security system, so marginalized by the nation they feed? They work in conditions that are unlawful in other sectors and have skills that American born workers lack. On this episode of Power Station, we hear from two guests who know that farmworker parents want more for their children. This aspiration is made possible by scores of migrant Head Start centers serving the educational, safety and emotional needs of farmworker children from 3 months to 5 years old. Cleofas Rodriguez, a son of immigrants who worked in cotton fields, leads the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, and created its unparalleled internship program. He advocates for these centers to be fully funded, for passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and is a passionate champion of farmworker children. His belief in them is validated by, among others, Jose Castellano, the son of a single farmworker mom who struggled until a Head Start center changed their lives. Jose now attends Tufts University. And he is a proud NMHSA intern, standing up for his community and telling his story on Power Station.