Join us for this free online event with Author/Activist Gabriel Allahdua as he discusses his memoir:
Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada
Gabriel Allahdua left St. Lucia after a hurricane destroyed his farm in 2010. In 2012, he became one of the many temporary foreign workers coming to Canada through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. He left the program in 2015 to become a permanent resident in Canada.
Gabriel is now an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers and an outreach worker with The Neighbourhood Organization. He has become a voice for migrant workers and an advocate for their regularization.
As Gabriel points out, the food industry in Canada promotes an image of the family farm, while factory farms are most often the reality. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program allows these corporations to profit from the labour of workers from the global south who are indentured to one employer, often are paid less than minimum wage, and frequently have their basic employment standards and rights violated. While the men and women in the program are essential, they are treated as disposable.
Gabriel’s book, Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada, opens our eyes to how our food is produced and who provides it.