Field Workers, 6:45 AM

When I arrived at the field, the workers had already been picking beans since the first light of day.  Their backs were bent over and their hands moving rapidly.  They stood only when a bucket of beans was full and needed to be carried to the waiting Hidden Harvest truck.  www.hiddenharvest.org

The bandanas and the broad hats are for protection from the dust and the relentless sun.

It is always dusty and sunny for pickers and while desert days begin cool and fresh the sun and heat can be brutal during the day.  During the summer months pickers work day after day in temps that can reach 120.  Hard for many of us to imagine but just last week a woman told me that she actually cooked an egg on pavement on a 108 degree day.  

Reminder:  these pickers, as mentioned in earlier posts, are picking produce that has been given to Hidden Harvest for its mission of feeding the poor.  This produce, while appearing perfectly fine to my eye, would otherwise be turned under because it is not flawless enough for consumer demands.