‘Everything is expensive'

Fourth Day of the 15 day series

Graciela and Jose Gutierrez baptized their children in Urbana, Ohio. They've worked the fields there for 20 years. And over time they've created a bond with the Ohio community.

This year, though, as the economy tanked and gas prices soared, the family wondered whether they could afford to make the trip from their winter home in Mission to their summer apartment in Urbana.

For families like the Gutierrezes, being migrant workers just got harder.

"Before, when we would stop for gas, it would cost $60 or $70. Now it's $90 or $100," Graciela said.

A desire to reconnect with friends and an employer who has treated them well over the past 20 years eventually led the family to travel, but they wonder what will happen next year if gas prices skyrocket again.

The people at Michael's Farms are important to the family, Graciela said. They had a clean apartment waiting for them, with air conditioning and a refrigerator.

"They treat us well," she said.

The family also wondered what they would do for money if they didn't travel to Ohio.

"We have never spent a summer in the (Rio Grande) Valley," she said.

Jose is a welder, so he could have found work in the Valley during the summer months, but Graciela believes it would have been difficult for her to find a job in this area. She has worked in the fields for the past 20 years and doesn't know how to do another job.

She and her daughter, Diana, a high school student in La Joya, pick green beans, cabbage and corn.

HIGH PRICES, LESS INCOME
Life hasn't been easy for the family during their stay in Ohio. While gas prices made getting there expensive, high food costs made living there more expensive than in previous years.

"The prices are really high in the store," Graciela said.

The family eats out less because the prices in the restaurants they frequented for 20 years have also gone up, Graciela said. It took three days for the electricity and power to come back on after a Sept. 14 storm. The outages sent prices for staples like gas and milk skyrocketing.

"Everything is expensive," she said. "Stores were closed. There were no candles, no water."

Graciela is afraid the days of working hard throughout the summer and making enough money to save and sustain the family are over.

"It will not be like it used to be," she said.

Like many migrant workers, she hopes the farm her family works for will increase the wages it pays farmworkers next year.

"If it stays like this, I am not sure how this could not affect us," she said.