The Cornell Farmworker Program (CFP) stimulates and conducts research, and disseminates research findings that improve living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal, and year-round farmworkers and their families. The CFP brings together faculty, staff and students from throughout Cornell University to conduct research and to engage in extension efforts to build capacity among the farmworker population. Drawing from our research findings, the CFP also collaborates with relevant stakeholders to address farmworkers’ needs. The CFP provides a comprehensive source of information for farmworkers, as well as service providers, public schools, agricultural employers, policy makers, community organizations, other educational institutions, state and federal agencies, and private organizations.

Farmworkers are important stakeholders in New York State, and the Cornell Farmworker Program serves as the coordinating unit at Cornell to address farmworker needs. The CFP director conducts research and an ongoing farmworker needs assessments to identify outreach, education, and research foci that contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal and year-round workers, and re-evaluates these foci on a regular basis. This program is of interest to farmworkers but also to service providers, public schools, agricultural employers, Cornell Cooperative Extension, educational institutions, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and community organizations. The CFP involves faculty and other academic staff from diverse departments and colleges in the conduct of research on farmworkers, and provides the vehicle for dissemination of these research findings. This information is extremely important for informing research and policy on issues of concern to farmworkers, immigrants and the communities in which they live. The CFP provides an important source of information on farmworkers for educators, extension professionals, and policy makers.

The CFP Director collaborated with farmworkers, service providers, agricultural employers, CCE, educational institutions, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental and community organizations to develop research efforts to contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal and year-round workers. In 2007 the CFP engaged in research on topics including: farmworker demographics in NYS, farmworkers’ social and economic contributions, immigration issues, and driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.
To address immigrant farmworkers’ interest in learning English and learning how to navigate in their new communities, the CFP director developed placements throughout NYS for 17 students to collaborate with farmworkers through on-farm educational efforts. In response to widespread interest among farmworkers, the CFP Director collaborated with immigration specialists to develop workshops and educational materials for farmworkers. Also the CFP developed Spanish and English language audiovisual materials on living and driving in NYS and a bilingual farmworker service directory. Over 838 farmworkers participated in CFP organized workshops.
The completed research on driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants informed state policy makers on how to address this issue in NYS, Subsequently, the CFP director was invited to be a member of Governor Spitzer’s Farm/Labor Working Group.

The CFP addresses farmworker needs through research, education and extension. Through its educational program, the CFP provided information to over 841 farmworkers, 164 extension professionals, 650 service providers, and 767 Cornell students on immigration and agricultural labor. Through the CFP summer internship program, numerous farmworkers received on farm tutoring in English and information about New York State driving laws. Also CFP interns served as tutors for farmworker children through various migrant education summer programs, and worked as assistants to the Finger Lakes Migrant Health Program. The CFP research efforts informed many scholars, students, community members, 20 NYS policy makers, and 10 media professionals about the nature and concerns of the New York State farmworker population. There is great interest among service providers and policy makers in the research results of the CFP demographic study of farmworkers in NYS, its economic analysis of farmworkers’ contributions, and the research on immigrant driving documents. The CFP has provided information through over 71 public meetings and forums attended by an estimated 3165 people.

Farmworkers

Smith-Lever 3(b) & (c)