Cultural Isolation A Health Threat to Punjabi Farm Workers

Kulwant Johl, a local grower who owns 900 acres of peach, prune and almond trees, says that he prefers Indian workers.

We cant do it without the Mexicans, but we always hire Indians first, said Johl.

This preference, however, is a double-edged sword for farm-working Punjabis in the area, who often endure hazardous working conditions, substandard pay, and little or no access to health care.

According to the 2000 census estimates, there could be as many as 2,000 Punjabi farm laborers living in Sutter and its neighboring Yuba County in the Sacramento River valley, where Punjabis have been farmers since the turn of the century. Most are recent immigrants from remote Punjabi farming communities, who have entered the U.S. legally through family connections. Others are the elderly relatives of established Punjabi American families.

Johl estimates that these Punjabi workers represent approximately 15 percent of the farm labor force in the Yuba-Sutter area. And yet, surprisingly little is known about them.

Part of the problem is that California government agencies designated to protect the rights of farm workers, such as the Employment Development Department and the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, do not have Punjabi-speaking outreach workers.