Strawberries

Strawberries, one of the world’s most consumed fresh fruits, are associated with forced labor and child labor in certain origin countries.

In Burma, seasonal strawberry harvesting involves forced labor and trafficking of ethnic minorities. Argentina relies on child labor in agricultural production. After harvest, strawberries are often processed into syrups, jams, or juices—or frozen and shipped directly—making the supply chain straightforward but still exposing vulnerabilities around labor conditions.

Where are strawberries reportedly produced with trafficking and/or child labor?

According to the U.S. Department of State 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, strawberries are produced with forced labor in Burma.[1] According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2018 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor and Forced Labor, strawberries are produced with child labor in Argentina.[2] Burma is listed as a Tier 3 country by the U.S. Department of State 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report. Argentina is listed as a Tier 1 country.[3]

What does trafficking and/or child labor look like in the production of strawberries?

According to the U.S. Department of State 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, members of Burma’s Shan, Burman, and Thai Yai ethnic groups are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in seasonal strawberry harvesting in Burma. Men, women, and children at the greatest risk of trafficking include those from mostly ethnic minority areas, including over 107,000 persons displaced by conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states, and at least 15,000 displaced persons in the Rakhine state. The large number of Burmese, approximately one quarter of the population, who do not have access to citizenship or identification documents, engenders trafficking vulnerabilities disproportionately affecting ethnic minority groups.[4] Abusive working conditions and sexual exploitation are present on strawberry farms in Spain. Significant numbers of migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa have been noted in Spain’s agricultural sector, including in the production of strawberries.[5] While cases of human trafficking have not been authoritatively documented among this migrant worker population, the debt they may owe to the smugglers who facilitated their migration may increase their vulnerability. There is also anecdotal reporting that some employers may make deceptive promises about securing legal documentation.[6] Since the signing of a bilateral contract in 2001, thousands of Moroccan women have worked seasonally from April to June to cultivate and harvest strawberries in Spain.

According to a 2019 New York Times report, these Moroccan women work on isolated farms deprived of resources and are forced to endure sexual abuse, including rape, by their bosses who threaten them if they resist.[7] Abusive labor conditions on these farms include working long hours without breaks for less pay than was promised and living in inhumane conditions on the farms. In May 2018, several Moroccan women working on a strawberry farm near Almonte, Spain filed lawsuits due to these abuses. Similar reports of sexual exploitation on strawberry farms in Spain were documented in 2010 by El País.[8] According to a 2017 Reuters report, Europe’s top human rights court accused Greece of failing to protect migrant agricultural workers who had been subjected to forced labor and shot at by security guards when protesting over unpaid wages in 2013. This investigation found that Bangladeshi strawberry harvesters, some in their early teens, had been forced to work 12-hour days while supervised by armed guards and lived in makeshift huts without toilets or running water.[9] These workers had gone unpaid for seven months before their protest.[10] The majority of migrants who work in Greece are employed illegally, and over 40 percent of Greece’s undocumented workers are migrants.[11] The U.S. Department of State 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report noted that Greece had indeed failed to defend these Bangladeshi migrant workers from forced labor, citing the European Court of Human Rights’ verdict.[12] Mexican berry pickers have reported wage theft, sexual harassment, and poor working and living conditions.[13] According to a 2015 Reuters report, Mexican strawberry harvesters on a farm in San Quintin in Baja California state, Mexico live in cardboard shacks, regularly work over 50 hours per week, and earn as low as one to two USD per hour. Harvesters reported that the fields are fumigated with pesticides as they are nearby picking fruit, leading to health problems for workers.[14] There are reports of workers in San Quintin being pressured to work seven days a week during the harvest. At one berry-producing company, if workers take Sunday off, they are docked 13-20 USD and are not allowed to return to work until the following Wednesday.[15]

In the United States, particularly southern California, Mexican strawberry workers often work up to 13 hours a day in health-hazardous conditions.[16] A 2016 report by The Guardian describes California strawberry pickers working in fields with toxic pesticides and chemicals that cause dizziness and vomiting and being forced to squat and crouch for many hours at a time, without lunch and rest breaks, leading to illness and injuries among workers.[17]

Child laborers who work in the agricultural sector of Argentina harvest blueberries, grapes, and strawberries, among other crops.[18] Children working in the agricultural sector may be exposed to harmful pesticides and long work days.[19] According to Lucrecia Teixidó at the University of Buenos Aires, children are preferred as harvesters because their small hands do not leave marks on the fruit.[20] According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2018 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Bolivian children and children of Bolivian immigrants in Argentina engage in child labor in agriculture.[21] Mexico, which accounts for 95 percent of United States imports of strawberries,[22] has high rates of child labor in agriculture,[23] although there is limited evidence linking child labor directly to strawberries specifically.[24] There are anecdotal accounts of child labor and exploitation, as well as indicators of forced labor, in strawberry harvesting in the United States.[25] Strawberry harvesting in the U.S.is highly dependent on migrant workers due to the time sensitive nature of the harvest.[26] Children of migrant workers may accompany their parents to the fields, particularly when they are not enrolled in school. Further, strawberry harvesters are often paid a piece-rate wage, which means that slower workers may struggle to make minimum wage. Children may work in strawberry harvesting to augment family income.[27] Berry workers in Washington state, often migrant workers, have been attempting to unionize in order to increase wages, improve sub-standard and cramped housing conditions, and prevent wage theft, which is reportedly common.[28]

Strawberries production and supply chain

After harvesting, strawberries are either frozen or shipped directly to companies, who further process the berries or deliver them as-is to retailers, restaurants, institutions, or other organizations. If the strawberries are processed, they are made into syrups, jams, and juices.[29]

How do trafficking and/or child labor in strawberries production affect me?

Strawberries are the fifth most consumed fresh fruit in the United States.[30] In 2018, the United States was one of the largest importers of fresh strawberries, with imports climbing from 449 million USD in 2013 to 762 million USD in 2018.[31]

Global strawberry production increased by 13 percent in recent years to 4,516,810 tons.[32]

Examples of what governments, corporations, and others are doing

The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2018 that Argentina’s Universal Child Allowance Program has been successful in reducing child labor.[33]

In the United States, the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) a partnership of farmworker groups, businesses, and social justice organizations established in 2015, has developed labor standards and training programs to improve working conditions and produce safer food.[34] EFI also offers a certification for some products, including strawberries and is certifying Optimal Berry Group, a berry cooperative and exporter in Mexico.[35]