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- Notes:
- Oral history interview with Richard Walsworth. Interviewed by Phil Carter. Hart, Michigan. English language. June 18, 2016. Dick Walsworth is a local farmer from Oceana County. His life story highlights the challenges of maintaining his agricultural business, largely the asparagus industry, viable and competitive with the challenge of emerging global market forces. In this interview, Walsworth shares his testimony of the social, cultural, technologic, and industrial changes that have occurred in the Oceana area since his youth. This rich historical account from the perspective of a local farmer with a lifetime of experience in the agricultural world depicts the challenges ahead in the future to keep our farms and vegetables production alive. To this Walsworth declares that the future depends on migrant labor which is becoming increasingly short on supply since "the next generations are at least getting a high school education [...] they're not going to do field work." Walsworth also shares his deep concern with immigration policy, or lack of governmental policy, that makes it harder on local businesses to keep their labor flow steady and consistent compared to the needs of the industry in a state and national level.
- Date Created:
- 2016-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- "Growing Community" (NEH Common Heritage)
- Notes:
- Oral history interview with Diana Giles. Interviewed by Norma Gonzalez Buenrostro. English language recording. Summary in English and Spanish. May 17, 2016. Diana grew up in Hart, Michigan. Her family moved to Oceana County in 2002 when she was five years old. Her parents were migrant workers who were recruited to work in Oceana’s agriculture business. Diana and her family were the first Hispanics that settled in the area. Her parents had agricultural and factory jobs there. When Diana was 9 years old, she began working along with her parents, experiencing what it was like to do labor work. Diana is currently a community health worker at a migrant clinic. She is studying to be a nurse and a respiratory care therapist.
- Date Created:
- 2016-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Oral history interview with German Ortega. Interviewed by Penny Burillo. Hart, Michigan. Spanish language. June 18, 2016.
- Date Created:
- 2016-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries