Milked
How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers
by Ruth Conniff
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Pub Date Jul 12 2022 | Archive Date Jul 12 2022
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Description
A compelling portrayal by the veteran journalist of the lives of farming communities on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border and the surprising connections between them
“Conniff brings her skills and insights to a particularly urgent project: moving beyond the polarizing politics of our current era, and taking a deeper look at how people who have been pitted against each other can forge bonds of understanding.” —E.J. Dionne Jr., co-author of 100% Democracy
Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award
In the Midwest, Mexican workers have become critically important to the survival of rural areas and small towns—and to the individual farmers who rely on their work—with undocumented immigrants, mostly from Mexico, accounting for an estimated 80 percent of employees on the dairy farms of western Wisconsin.
In Milked, former editor-in-chief of The Progressive Ruth Conniff introduces us to the migrants who worked on these dairy farms, their employers, among them white voters who helped elect Donald Trump to office in 2016, and the surprising friendships that have formed between these two groups of people. These stories offer a rich and fascinating account of how two crises—the record-breaking rate of farm bankruptcies in the Upper Midwest, and the contentious politics around immigration—are changing the landscape of rural America.
A unique and fascinating exploration of rural farming communities, Milked sheds light on seismic shifts in policy on both sides of the border over recent decades, connecting issues of labor, immigration, race, food, economics, and U.S.-Mexico relations and revealing how two seemingly disparate groups of people have come to rely on each other, how they are subject to the same global economic forces, and how, ultimately, the bridges of understanding that they have built can lead us toward a more constructive politics and a better world.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781620976371 |
| PRICE | $26.99 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Norma F, Reviewer
“The typical U.S. dairy cow never grazes in a field at all. Instead, she lives in a huge building with a concrete floor, where she munches on a carefully monitored diet of grain and supplements.”
One would think, if they’d stopped reading at this point, that a dairy farmer in the USA has a fairly easy job. However, Conniff continues to explain that “dairy farmworkers labor around the clock, pushing groups of cows into the milking parlor in shifts that run continuously from morning to night” Now that readers get a sense of the labour intensive work, the author seeks to inform us about the identity of these tireless and dedicated workers.
They’re NOT American.
Twenty years ago, the dairy farm owners in Wisconsin started hiring Mexican workers as the pressure to increase their operations to compete with giant dairy farms intensified. The feeding, herding cows to milk, keeping equipment in working order, shoveling manure and tending the animals is not only done 365 days a year, it’s also done by 80% Mexican labour. What the average person doesn’t realize is that because these workers aren’t seasonal workers, they can’t get a visa. This means that the people involved in producing America’s milk are illegal workers!
Conniff was curious about the relationship between the workers and farmers and was prompted to uncover the reason these workers came to Wisconsin and why they keep returning. What resulted was a fascinating examination into people on both sides of the border, who are continually pitted against each other, yet rely on resilience and determination to survive, and in some case, thrive, in the direst of circumstances. Living in Mexico for a year gave the author perspective and allowed her to see the commonalities between both groups of people as well as the politics that separate them.
At times over my head with regards to the American politics, I was still very much absorbed in this book and appreciated the access to an early copy. Easy to understand and quick to read, this collection pulled at my heartstrings and reinforced the need for a greater cross-cultural understanding before progress can be measured. Interestingly enough, the families on both sides of the USA/Mexico border are no different - both are driven to succeed, regardless of sacrifice. The collection of stories about these hardworking people and their circumstances who are united by pressure and economic forces yet divided by politics, is an informative and worthwhile read.
I was gifted this advance copy by Ruth Conniff, The New Press, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
