Policy Memo on Farm Worker Housing in Skagit Valley

Safe, decent, and affordable farmworker housing fosters good health and wellbeing for farmworkers. It encourages farmworkers to stay in Washington and continue working in agriculture, providing a stable work force for the agriculture industry. Farmworkers provide the necessary labor needed to keep Washington’s state’s agriculture industry thriving, yet farmworkers earn wages so low they can’t afford safe and decent housing or even the very food they harvest.

The agricultural industry is a critical component to Washington’s economy providing jobs, food, and tourism significantly benefiting Washingtonians. Farmworkers need safe, decent, and affordable housing and agriculture needs a stable labor force. This proposal will I) provide a profile of the agricultural industry and Farmworkers in Washington State II) propose a theoretical framework to understand farmworker housing accessibility III) describe prior legislative actions to address farmworker housing IV) and propose a set of recommendations to address farmworker housing.

Read it here: http://karani.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/policy-memo-on-farm-worker-housing-in-skagit-valley