Endless sculpted rows of soil covered in plastic, are ready for the transplanting process. (Sharon Zavala)
by Sharon Zavala
Contributor
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Did you know that the yellow flowers produced by tomato plants eventually develop into tomatoes? I recently learned this and more important things when I visited one of the many tomato farms here in Immokalee. It was such a great opportunity for me to experience what a typical day of a farmworker is like.
(For privacy reasons, I am not using the name of the farm I visited.)
Every year, this farm sends its crew leaders and human resources personnel to the training we provide at the University of Florida. During the training, the HR manager extended an invitation to two co-workers and me to tour the facilities. Sure enough, a few weeks later, we were on a truck touring the fields.
After many trees and bushes, we began to see what looked like a large, beautiful lake, which in fact was 8,000 acres of tomato fields covered in plastic.
