Georgia Senators Sam Watson (District 11), Shelly Echols (District 49), Larry Walker III (District 20), Lee Anderson (District 24) and Russ Goodman (8th District) filed a resolution last week that recognized March 25-31, 2023, as Farmworker Awareness Week.
Watson, managing partner of Chill C Farms in Moultrie, Georgia, who produces squash, zucchini, bell pepper, cabbage, eggplant and cucumbers, highlighted the importance of the 35,000 guest workers who came to Georgia last year. “These people leave their families, leave their husbands and wives to come here to the U.S. to work so that we all have food. They are highly skilled, and they are essential,” Watson concluded by thanking farm workers in Spanish.
Agriculture contributes more than $73 billion annually to the Georgia’s economy and provides jobs for more than 340,000 people. It is the state’s No. 1 industry provides $1.3 trillion in economic impact and food for 336 million citizens in the United States. There are almost 2.6 million farmworkers nationwide who provide Americans with access to safe, healthy and affordable food.
Senator Echols recognized her husband, Drew Echols, owner of Jaemor Farms in Alto, Georgia, and past president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, along with one of his farm workers, Kenneth Valenzuela Blancas on the floor. Blancas has worked at Jaemor Farms for six years and returns to the farm every year. Although he recently completed a law degree and works as a lawyer in Mexico, Blancas makes more money working at Jaemor Farms. “Kenneth is a member of our family,” Drew said. “We’re blessed and proud to have him each year to work with us on our farm to provide food for the state.”