Popular weed killer linked to animal convulsions

Researchers applied 300 times less Roundup than 

the amount recommended on the bottle label.

KENDRA LEON / August 23, 2022

Akshay S. Naraine, MSc., project lead and a Ph.D. student at Florida Atlantic University 

and the International Max Planck Research School for Synapses and Circuits. (Florida Atlantic University)

(CN) — Researcher Akshay Naraine of Florida Atlantic University acknowledges we know little of the effects weed killers have on our nervous systems. But he has discovered one thing: a link between the active ingredient in Roundup and convulsions in soil-dwelling roundworms.

Published in Scientific Reports, Naraine's study focused on Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate and explored its effects on animal and human nervous systems. Concerned about the lack of data, Naraine tested the effects based on a colleague’s lab technique.

“Electroshock convulsion analysis in soil-dwelling roundworms was a technique developed in Dr. Ken Dawson-Scully’s lab, and while the majority of the work focused on screening novel antiepileptic drug candidates, I wanted to flip the script and test an environmental chemical,” Naraine said in an email. “There was little evidence that glyphosate affected convulsive behavior prior to our study, so the project started in an exploratory manner to determine if the lab’s assay could detect changes brought on by pesticides.”

The study shows glyphosate and Roundup increased seizure-like behavior in the soil-dwelling roundworm species C. elegans. Specifically, glyphosate targets GABA-A receptors, chemical connection points in the roundworm's nervous system.

“In these roundworms, GABA-A receptors are essential for movement and blocking them impairs movement,” Naraine said in the email. “But in the human brain, blocking GABA-A receptors can affect sleep and contribute to depression and anxiety disorders.”

Before testing on the roundworms began, the researched worried when they found that the concentration was at “significantly less levels” than recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The concentration listed for best results on the Roundup Super Concentrate label is 0.98% glyphosate, which is about 5 tablespoons of Roundup® in 1 gallon of water,” Naraine said in a statement accompanying the study. “A significant finding from our study reveals that just 0.002% glyphosate, a difference of about 300 times less herbicide than the lowest concentration recommended for consumer use, had concerning effects on the nervous system.”

Per the study, researchers first tested glyphosate on a single soil-dwelling roundworm. Then, they tested the U.S. and United Kingdom versions of Roundup from before and after the U.K.’s 2016 ban on polyethoxylated tallowamine (POEAs). Not an easy task considering the secrecy of the Roundup adjuvant composition.

“The adjuvant is the trade secret mix of other chemicals meant to enhance glyphosate’s weed-killer effects, and since it is a trade secret, the chemical contents are not publicly disclosed,” Naraine wrote.

Naraine and the team found glyphosate exacerbated convulsions in the roundworms, a species already vulnerable to convulsions due to thermal stress. This suggests the GABA-A receptor was a neurological target for the observed physiological changes.

“Our data strongly implicates glyphosate and Roundup exposure in exacerbating convulsive effects. This could prove vital as we experience the effects of climate change,” Naraine said.

The researchers say their findings provide further evidence that chronic exposure to glyphosate and weed killers may lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

“A 2012 study from King College in Tennessee showed that high amounts of glyphosate degraded dopamine neurons in soil-dwelling roundworms, but more research needs to be done to clarify what chronic exposure effects may result in,” wrote Naraine, adding the roundworms' reactions to the short period of exposure was concerning. “It is truly unique to uncover that glyphosate and Roundup can lead to such significant changes in movement at levels over 300-fold lower than those recommended on the back of the bottle of Roundup.”

As it stands, the study says more than 13 billion pounds of glyphosate was sprayed worldwide from 2005 to 2014, and its use is projected to dramatically increase in the future.

UK

Fury as sewage dumped in shellfish water by water companies

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish a staggering 29,000 times last year.

Daniel Clark

Content Editor & Politics Reporter

22 AUG 2022

Fishermen loading shellfish

Monitors being used for measuring the amount of sewage being pumped into the sea across the UK are faulty or not even installed, the Liberal Democrats have said. Environment Agency data shows water companies are failing to monitor sewage discharges along the coast, including at seaside resorts, according to the party’s analysis.

It comes as dozens of pollution warnings were put in place across beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales last week, after heavy rain overwhelmed sewer systems, leading water companies to release sewage into the natural environment. Ministers are facing growing calls to clamp down on the water firms who are being criticised for not investing money back into the UK’s outdated water infrastructure.

Boris Johnson’s father has blamed his son’s administration for the sewage problem. In an interview with the Prime Minister’s sister, Rachel Johnson, on LBC radio, Stanley Johnson said: “We have to blame the Government for not pressing this matter as hard as it should’ve done.”

The Liberal Democrats said water companies have either installed Event Duration Monitors (EDMs) – devices which measure the number and length of sewage dumps from storm overflows – that do not work 90% of the time or have not been installed at 

The party found that 1,802 monitors installed by water companies across the UK did not work for at least 90% of the time, while there were no monitors installed during 1,717 storm overflows. In total, 24% of sewage discharges went unmonitored last year, it said.

Anglian Water has the highest rate of failure, with 49% of all its sewage discharges not measured due to faulty or no monitors installed, according to the party. This is followed by South West Water with 30% and Severn Trent Water with 29%.

One in eight of South West Water’s sewage monitors installed at designated bathing locations across Cornwall and Devon are either faulty or not installed, the party said.

It comes as analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish a staggering 29,000 times last year. The party has raised fears this could be taking place again this summer.

This equates to 207,013 hours worth of sewage in shellfish waters in England in just one year alone. The worst offenders were South West, Southern Water and Anglian Water.

Liberal Democrats have called for a Sewage Tax on water companies, after firms which pump sewage into lakes and rivers made over £2.8 billion in profits. The tax on their profits would produce a fund worth hundreds of millions to prevent sewage polluting rivers.

In Parliament Lib Dem MPs backed amendments to the Environment Bill to end sewage discharges. However, this was blocked by Conservative MPs who voted against sewage discharges into rivers and coastlines being banned.

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environment said: "England’s treasured shellfish, our prawn, crayfish, lobsters and crabs, are the forgotten victims of this environmental scandal.

“The past week we’ve seen our beaches closed because of these polluting water companies. All the while, they are raking in billions of pounds in profits and forking out eye-watering bonuses to their CEOs. Frankly, the whole thing stinks.

“Why aren't Government Ministers listening to the public on this? They are ignoring the country's outrage at this scandal.

“Conservative MPs voted against a ban on sewage dumping. That means right now water companies are still pumping disgusting sewage into the homes of shellfish.”

Mr Farron added: “These water companies could be guilty of gross negligence by failing to install sewage monitors. This is a national scandal and these new figures stink of a cover-up. Britain’s seaside resorts are being swamped by foul sewage yet the Government is nowhere to be found. Why on earth are Conservative ministers letting them get away with this?

“Sussex has been devastated in recent days by disgraceful sewage dumps because of Southern Water. The CEO of Southern Water should go to Seaford to check on this sewage monitor immediately. The public needs to know how safe, if at all, popular beaches are for swimming.”

In response to the issue, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) released a response last week outlining the action it is taking.

Water minister Steve Double, the MP for St Austell and Newquay, said: “We are the first government to take action to tackle sewage overflows. We have been clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority.

“This is on top of ambitious action we have already taken, including consulting on targets to improve water quality which will act as a powerful tool to deliver cleaner water, pushing all water companies to go further and faster to fix overflows. Work on tackling sewage overflows continues at pace and we will publish our plan in line with the September 1 statutory deadline.

Rachel and Stanley Johnson blame Boris Johnson for sewage shame – This pic sums it up

"So LBC has Rachel Johnson interviewing her father Stanley about the policies of her brother the prime minister. And some people claim the UK is rife with nepotism...:"

 by Joe Mellor
2022-08-22 


The Government’s failure to control the water industry is to blame for the “sorry mess” of sewage pumped into Britain’s beaches, an environmental campaigner has said.

In case you have missed it, here’s one beach closed off to the public as raw sewage is pumped into the sea.

Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey said three decades of poorly regulated profiteering among water companies and a “vacuum of political oversight” had resulted in a state of “extraordinary chaos”.

Reacting to reports that monitors being used for measuring the levels of sewage in the sea are faulty, he warned that beach-goers have no clear picture of the amount of waste in the water they swim in.

Mr Sharkey told BBC Breakfast: “It appeared yesterday that over the last six years water companies have now spent almost nine and a half million hours dumping sewage into the environment.

“And if the data is as faulty as it seems, that number could be a multiple of that by another multiplier of your choosing.

“It’s just a desperate sign of the extraordinary state of chaos that this industry has managed to get itself into.”

Stanley and Rachel

The Johnson family have also turned on Boris Johnson’s government for letting our waterways become polluted.


Rachel interviewed her dad, yes really, Stanley Johnson, and they seemed to blame Boris for the environmental crisis on our coastlines and river systems.

Before we get there, this picture shared by Toby Earle might sum up the Johnson bonanza on LBC.

So over to Stanley who tells his daughter 

that the increase of sewage in UK’s waterways means:

 “I would say we have to blame the Government!”

Reactions

It seems like the Johnson closed loop system was

 becoming murkier by the minute.

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Related: Oh the irony! Tory MPs call for a stop to sewage being dumped in the sea

Labour claims Liz Truss’ £235 million Environment Agency cut ‘doubled sewage discharge’


Tuesday 23 August 2022 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is accused over presiding over cuts that precipitated raw sewage discharges.

Credit: Still from video by @BEMatters / PA

Labour has accused Liz Truss of presiding over Environment Agency cuts that resulted in "doubled sewage discharge."

The 'savings' made during the Tory leadership contender's time as Environment Secretary significantly slashed funding for the Environment Agency - precipitating the recent raw sewage flows at the UK's beaches, the party claims.

Labour Party analysis of official figures shows that since 2016, when Ms Truss was in charge of Defra, raw sewage discharge more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 29.3 in 2021.

This coincided with her cutting £80m of sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory axe to the Environment Agency’s budget, which she branded “efficiency savings”.

Footage captures sewage being released into the sea at Bexhill, East Sussex, closing the beach. Video by @BEMatters

The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they are closely monitoring and reporting back on their discharge activity.

As Environment Secretary, Ms Truss justified the cuts, saying: “there are ways we can make savings as a department” citing better use of technology and inter-agency working.

Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Under the Tories, the country is facing a crisis in our water supply. Our water infrastructure is at bursting point, with billions of litres of water being wasted every day and raw sewage being dumped into our waters.

Thousands of fish dead in sewage spill in Swindon waterway

The South West beaches still not safe to swim at

“The fact that Liz Truss was the one to cut the EA (Environment Agency) so severely, not only demonstrates her lack of foresight but also her lack of care for the detail, in recognising the need to adapt to the serious flooding that had just happened on her watch.

“Labour will address the challenges in our water supply system by strengthening regulation and ensuing that bosses of water companies are held to account legally and financially for their negligence.”

The Labour analysis comes as dozens of pollution warnings were issued for beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales following heavy rain that overwhelmed the sewage system.

Environmental charities have warned about polluted coastlines

There has been growing public outrage in recent years at the volume of raw or partially treated sewage pumped into the UK’s rivers and coastal waters.

Water firms are being criticised for not investing money back into the UK’s outdated water infrastructure, with mounting pressure on ministers to intervene.

On Monday, Number 10 said it was the duty of firms to put customers before shareholders, with a spokeswoman saying: “We have been clear that the failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is completely unacceptable.

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“They have a duty to put their customers before shareholders and we would expect them to take urgent action on this issue or face fines.”

The spokeswoman added: “We continue to speak regularly with them. The Environment Agency undertake enforcement action and monitoring, which we have stepped up.”

Downing Street also said water companies were already facing legal action from regulators.


Sewage monitors at seasides were faulty '90% of the time', data shows


Is sewage hitting a beach near you amid the heavy rain?

The spokeswoman said: “Since 2015 the Environment Agency has brought 48 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies, securing fines of over £137 million.”

She added that since privatisation, the equivalent of £5 billion had been invested to upgrade water infrastructure, but the companies must “continue to take action”.

Sir Keir Starmer earlier accused the Government of having its head in the sand over the scale of sewage being pumped into British waterways.

Labour leader SIR Keir Starmer.Credit: PA

He said: “I think there is huge anger about the sewage situation, because we’re seeing yet again sewage pumped into our rivers and into our seas.

“What it shows is that the Government hasn’t been tough enough on the water companies and the enforcement against the water companies.

“Of course, at the same time they have been cutting money to the Environment Agency.”

Liz Truss’s £235m cut to Environment Agency ‘doubled sewage discharge’

Raw sewage discharge more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 29.3 in 2021, when the future PM was in charge of Defra.

 by Jack Peat
2022-08-23 


Liz Truss presided over “efficiency savings” during her time as Environment Secretary that significantly slashed funding for the Environment Agency and resulted in “doubled sewage discharge”, Labour has claimed.

Labour Party analysis of official figures shows that since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was in charge of Defra – raw sewage discharge more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 29.3 in 2021.

This coincided with her cutting £80m of sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory axe to the Environment Agency’s budget, which she branded “efficiency savings”.



The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they are closely monitoring and reporting back on their discharge activity.

As Environment Secretary, Ms Truss justified the cuts saying “there are ways we can make savings as a department” citing better use of technology and inter-agency working.

Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Under the Tories, the country is facing a crisis in our water supply. Our water infrastructure is at bursting point, with billions of litres of water being wasted every day and raw sewage being dumped into our waters.


“The fact that Liz Truss was the one to cut the EA (Environment Agency) so severely, not only demonstrates her lack of foresight but also her lack of care for the detail, in recognising the need to adapt to the serious flooding that had just happened on her watch.

“Labour will address the challenges in our water supply system by strengthening regulation and ensuing that bosses of water companies are held to account legally and financially for their negligence.”

A senior consultant for the Environment Agency told the Guardian about the cuts: “They plummeted to the point it was impossible for the Environment Agency to know what’s going on.

“They had no control or monitoring capability that was meaningful. They ceded the control of monitoring to water companies, which ended up being able to mark their own homework. They take their own samples and assess whether they are being compliant.

“We saw that doesn’t work – look what happened with Southern Water, which didn’t declare its pollution incidents and ended up being fined by the EA when they were found out.

“There are suspicions this could be happening across the board. It has been left to citizen scientists who monitor and fill in the gaps.”

Mr Lewis added: “Lots of this would have happened under Liz Truss; she was there when some of those cuts were made. She was a poor minister and the Environment Agency has been cut to the bone, and it can’t monitor or regulate effectively.”

The Labour analysis comes as dozens of pollution warnings were issued for beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales following heavy rain that overwhelmed the sewage system.

There has been growing public outrage in recent years at the volume of raw or partially treated sewage pumped into the UK’s rivers and coastal waters.

Water firms are being criticised for not investing money back into the UK’s outdated water infrastructure, with mounting pressure on ministers to intervene.

On Monday, Number 10 said it was the duty of firms to put customers before shareholders, with a spokeswoman saying: “We have been clear that the failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is completely unacceptable.

“They have a duty to put their customers before shareholders and we would expect them to take urgent action on this issue or face fines.”

The spokeswoman added: “We continue to speak regularly with them. The Environment Agency undertake enforcement action and monitoring, which we have stepped up.”

Downing Street also said water companies were already facing legal action from regulators.

The spokeswoman said: “Since 2015 the Environment Agency has brought 48 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies, securing fines of over £137 million.”

She added that since privatisation, the equivalent of £5 billion had been invested to upgrade water infrastructure, but the companies must “continue to take action”.

Sir Keir Starmer earlier accused the Government of having its head in the sand over the scale of sewage being pumped into British waterways.

He said: “I think there is huge anger about the sewage situation, because we’re seeing yet again sewage pumped into our rivers and into our seas.

“What it shows is that the Government hasn’t been tough enough on the water companies and the enforcement against the water companies.

“Of course, at the same time they have been cutting money to the Environment Agency.”

Scots salmon industry facing 'acute' worker shortages due to Brexit warn business chiefs

The body says the industry does not have enough staff across key skill areas due to workers returning to their homes in Eastern Europe as a result of Brexit

Lauren Gilmour

 15 AUG 2022

Salmon is a major industry (Image: Getty Images/500px)

Scotland's salmon industry is facing "acute" labour shortages due to Brexit, business chiefs have warned. In letters to candidates in the Tory leadership contest, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, Salmon Scotland has called for a more "enlightened" approach to immigration to assist businesses.

The body says the industry does not have enough staff across key skill areas due to workers returning to their homes in Eastern Europe as a result of Brexit.

Very low unemployment and extremely limited labour availability in areas where businesses have processing facilities, namely Rosyth near Edinburgh, Argyll, Fort William, Stornoway, Dingwall and three separate sites in Shetland mean processing factories are running 20% light on staff

A change to key worker definitions, changes to the salary cap level and a broader public signal that the UK is open to people and thus to business have been cited by the body as measures to improve the issue.

They have also asked candidates to take a "pragmatic" approach to trade negotiations with the EU, avoiding a so-called "trade war", with a "clear focus on the nation's export businesses who depend on a positive, professional relationship with France and the other countries of the EU".

Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, said: "Our businesses are vital to the economic performance of the UK - not only in economically fragile coastal and rural areas, but across the length and breadth of the country in processing, engineering, science and technology industries.

The former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader invited Mr Sunak and Ms Truss to visit a facility if they were elected "at their earliest convenience".

UK
Record 1,295 people in one day cross Channel in small boats


Monday’s figure surpasses previous record from last November and brings total this year to 22,600

People are brought to Dover on a Border Force vessel on Tuesday. 

Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA


Rajeev Syal

THE GUARDIAN

Tue 23 Aug 2022 


A record 1,295 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Monday, heightening concern that the Home Office’s aggressive policies have failed to curb the numbers making dangerous journeys to the UK.

It was the highest number in a single day since records began in 2018, surpassing 1,185 on a day in November last year. The Ministry of Defence said 27 boats made the crossing on Monday.

The latest figures come despite increasingly aggressive and expensive policies from Priti Patel’s department. This year, she has struck a £120m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, has asked Royal Navy vessels to rescue boats in UK waters, and has threatened to turn boats around and send them back to France.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It is clear this government’s cruel and nasty plan to treat people as human cargo by sending them to Rwanda is doing absolutely nothing to stop people feeling forced to cross the Channel.

“That is because these dreadful plans fail to address the reasons people come in the first place. The very high numbers of people crossing the Channel are men, women and children fleeing war and oppression in countries like Afghanistan and Syria who have no choice but to make desperate, terrifying journeys to find safety.

“The government’s own statistics show that three-quarters of asylum cases are granted refugee protection here. These are people who have endured unimaginable danger and trauma and simply want to be safe.”

In Dover on Monday, the threats did not appear to have put off people from seeking refuge in the UK. Babies and several other young children, some wrapped in blankets and wearing woollen hats, were among the people seen being brought ashore. Life vests were pictured lying in piles on the Kent dockside after dinghies and other vessels were intercepted in the Channel.

A pile of life vests on the dockside in Dover on Monday. 

Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The crossings came after a three-day hiatus between Friday and Sunday when no arrivals were recorded.

This year to date, more than 22,600 people have arrived in the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats such as dinghies, the figures suggest. At the equivalent point in 2021, the cumulative total was just under 12,500.

Patel has said the five-year trial signed in the spring with the Rwandan government will discourage asylum seekers from crossing the Channel. So far no asylum seekers have been sent to Rwanda, which has already spent an initial £120m handed over by the UK.

Patel and Boris Johnson have said Rwanda is a safe destination for people seeking refuge in the UK and that “tens of thousands” will be flown 4,000 miles and told to set up a new life in central Africa.

However, the high court in London heard this month that an official at the Foreign Office who had expertise on Rwanda raised concerns about torture and extrajudicial killings of political opponents of the regime.

“There are state control, security, surveillance structures from the national level down,” the official wrote. “Political opposition is not tolerated and arbitrary detention, torture and even killings are accepted methods of enforcing control too.”

A report from the home affairs select committee last month found that the rise in crossings “may be attributed to scaremongering from people traffickers that because of new regulations coming in across the Channel it will be much harder to access the UK in future, so they had better get on with it”.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates to succeed Johnson as prime minister, have said they will stick with the Rwanda scheme. However, there is growing speculation that Patel will be replaced at the Home Office under the new prime minister.

A government spokesperson said: “Our new Nationality and Borders Act is breaking these evil criminals business model, through tougher sentences for those who facilitate illegal entry into the country, with 38 people already arrested and facing further action since it became law.”

A New Film Documents the Immigrant Farmworker Journey


‘First Time Home,’ a short film created by American children of Triqui farmworkers, offers an unscripted, authentic glimpse into life for farmworker families—and why people choose to sacrifice their lives in Mexico for opportunities up North.


BY GOSIA WOZNIACKA
AUGUST 23, 2022

LONG READ

It seemed like a dream. The sisters grew up hearing about a village high up in the mountains, where their parents had once lived without running water or cell phones—a place where their grandmother made delicious food and grandfather eked out a living planting corn, where everyone spoke Triqui, an Indigenous language hardly heard in the United States.

Esmirna Librado and Noemi Librado-Sánchez, and their cousins Heriberto and Esmeralda Ventura were all born in the U.S. to farmworker parents. They only ever had seen relatives from their family’s village in Mexico in faded photographs. The children grew up together in overcrowded apartments, wondering if and how the American dream might apply to them.

In 2016, the four cousins, who were by then teenagers, decided it was time to meet the grandparents and see their parents’ ancestral village for the first time. In December of that year, a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, they travelled together by truck from California to San Martín Itunyoso, Oaxaca, a distance of more than 2,000 miles. Seth Holmes, an anthropology professor and family friend, accompanied the youth.

They recorded their journey to the village and their two weeks in Oaxaca on video. Back in the U.S., they decided the footage was worth sharing with a wider audience. Six years after the epic journey, the cousins co-directed and released a 30-minute film called First Time Home. Unscripted and raw, it offers a rare, authentic glimpse into what life is like for farmworker families and the reasons why immigrants choose to sacrifice their lives in Mexico to pursue better opportunities up North. Earlier this year, the film won the award for Best Youth Film at the San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Civil Eats recently spoke with First Time Home’s co-directors Esmirna Librado, 22, and Noemi Librado-Sánchez, 18, about growing up with farmworker parents, how the trip to their ancestral village changed them, and their plans for the future.

First Time Home’s co-directors: From left, Esmeralda Ventura, 

Noemi Librado-Sánchez, Esmirna Librado, and Heriberto Ventura.


What was it like growing up in a farmworker family in the U.S.?

Esmirna Librado: Our parents were both very young when they got here, around 15-16 years old. They came because there were not enough well-paying jobs [in Mexico]. A year after they came, I was born, and they decided to stay so I could have a better future. But growing up was hard for me. Our parents picked strawberries and blueberries in Washington State and peaches and grapes in California. When my dad would go to work, we would be asleep, and when he came back, we’d be asleep. That’s how it was most of the time. We barely got to see him or my mom because they had to work in the fields to keep their kids fed, pay rent, and stuff like that.

Noemi Librado-Sánchez: My uncle—our dad’s brother—he’s the one who helped raise us. He took care of us whenever our parents were working really late. My uncle would do my hair or take me to church with him. He was my father figure growing up.

One thing that really struck me in the film was how incredibly overcrowded the living conditions were for your families. Multiple families lived in one small apartment.

NLS: Yes, it was quite a few people. Rents are really high and farmworker wages are low. Plus, undocumented people get paid less than regular Americans. Luckily, things have changed for us in recent years, but our families lived like that for a really long time. Living together was a way to make things work.

EL: It was the only way we could help each other out. When our parents went to work, the older kids would take care of the younger ones. That was a way for our parents to save up money. It was hard. When we got older, my dad decided that it was time to stay put and have a steady place. So, we stayed in Washington State, and that’s where I started school.

But we continued migrating back and forth between Washington and California during the picking season. [When we went to California,] it was hard to find a place to live right away so there were times when we would even stay in cars—we would be homeless for a week or so. But if we knew a family that had a house, we would go and rent with them. We eventually stopped migrating, but my uncles continued to go back and forth. Until last year, they were still doing that.


Working in the fields isn’t an easy job, but our parents have done it for years. And they had no other choice. . . . Farm work was the only way they can make money. They have to work outside in extreme heat and during wildfires to bring food to the table for their families.

NLS: Moving back and forth means having to change schools multiple times, and it can really mess up your education. Many children of farmworkers have this experience. My dad didn’t want us to go through that. That’s a major reason why our parents chose to stay in one place.

If you could tell Americans one thing about farmworkers’ lives, what would it be?

EL: Working in the fields isn’t an easy job, but our parents have done it for years. And they had no other choice. They have no education; most of our relatives didn’t even get to finish middle school in Mexico. They came here for better opportunities, but farm work was the only way they can make money. For many of them, documentation is an issue. They can’t go and get a more comfortable job indoors. They have to work outside in extreme heat and during wildfires to bring food to the table for their families.

When you made the journey to your family’s village, Noemi was just 12 years old and Esmirna was 16. What was the experience like? How did the trip impact you?

NLS: The trip felt like stepping into a story that you’ve been told multiple times. You could finally picture it all. When I was a child, my dad would tell us about walking through the dirt, the field of corn just beyond their doorstep, and the lack of running water. He would describe our grandma’s good food. And when we got there, everything was just like [he’d described]. For a moment, it felt surreal. Like, “Wow, I’m actually here. These are actually my grandparents.” Before I went to Mexico, I felt like the United States was the only place for me. Now, I feel like I have two places to call home.

The trip also taught me to think more about my decisions and to focus on how I want to live my life. When I think about what I’m going to do next and who I really want to be, I remember my time in San Martín Itunyoso. I realized that I want to do something to help people, whether it’s through writing a book, making a video, or some other way.

EL: Before I went, I was kind of lost. I’m Mexican-American, but I did not feel American, I didn’t look American. I also did not feel Mexican. Now, I feel I’m more connected to both [sets of] roots somehow.

Most people migrate here from Mexico to make a better future for their families. And for so many of them, that opportunity means having to live under the same roof as five other families and working from sunrise to sunset in the rain, the mud, or under the scorching sun.

In Oaxaca, I learned how hard life can be. In the past, I could see how hard it was for my parents in the United States. But now, I also understood how difficult it was for them to make the decision to come to the U.S. For so many immigrants—not just my mom and dad—living close to their parents or grandparents is what they give up to give their own children a better chance at life. They can’t see their parents grow old, they can’t be with their parents when they need them.

Just recently, my grandpa died and relatives here were not able to say goodbye or attend the funeral. None of them were able to go back. You hear a lot of stories on the news about people who do go back just to see their aging parents or attend a funeral and they end up getting kidnapped or killed while crossing the border back to the U.S. Our family didn’t want to go through that risk. But I know that not going back is something that weighs on them. I also imagine my grandpa leaving this world without having his children there for his last goodbye. It’s heartbreaking.

Why did you decide to make a film out of this very personal trip? What message did you hope it would tell?

NLS: After we had everything recorded, the footage felt valuable. It’s not like we scripted anything or filmed with the intention of using it later on. But around this time, Donald Trump was running for president and he was publicly saying that Mexicans came here to steal jobs, that they were criminals, and other horrible things. Since we had all these clips showing what it’s really like, we decided to prove that his words were not true, that you can’t blame a whole community just because one person might have done something wrong. Most people migrate here from Mexico to make a better future for their families. And for so many of them, that opportunity means having to live under the same roof as five other families and working from sunrise to sunset in the rain, the mud, or under the scorching sun.

EL: In the film, we show footage of people working in the fields and my dad saying [on camera], ‘Oh, you don’t see Americans here.’ It’s not that he wants to be rude. But everyone who works in the fields is Hispanic. Based on our family’s experience, there’s no way [Mexicans] could be stealing people’s jobs. White Americans don’t want to do the heavy work of harvesting crops. So immigrants like our parents have to do it.

During the trip to Oaxaca, you were the emissaries of your parents. You brought video letters for your relatives in Mexico. And you then returned home with recorded messages from the village. Why were these video letters so meaningful?

EL: We made video letters with our parents in California and Washington for our relatives in the village. It was a way for them to connect with each other. They’ve always had phone calls, but it’s not the same thing as seeing your relatives’ faces and watching them say something “live.” Even phone calls are rare since there is no phone reception or internet service in the village. It’s in the mountains. If our relatives want to talk to anyone here in the U.S., they have to go to a nearby town to make a phone call [from a phone booth in a store].

Esmirna Librado reviewing footage on an iPad with family.

Your film has been shown in several cities throughout the U.S. How do you feel about the reception that it has received?

NLS: I was pretty surprised. I flew out to San Diego to watch it during the film festival there and it was one of the coolest experiences. I think the film gives people a place to start a conversation. I was happy to see so many people who connected to it and who want to do something. We met with students who have the same feelings we do: they see their parents struggling and they want to help, but they can only do so much. This film builds a community outside the community, if that makes sense.

EL: A lot of people connected to what we recorded. I think people saw a more universal story about returning home.


I think the film gives people a place to start a conversation. We met with students who have the same feelings we do: they see their parents struggling and they want to help, but they can only do so much. This film builds a community outside the community.

Your film focuses on a community that many people don’t even know exists, Indigenous Triqui immigrants from Oaxaca. Can you tell us more about your community and the unique challenges it faces in the U.S.?

EL: As you know, Mexicans in the U.S. face a lot of discrimination. But being Indigenous and Mexican—having a darker skin color, being a little shorter, and speaking a different language than Spanish—brings even more discrimination [from both Americans and Mexicans]. Some of our people still don’t know how to speak Spanish. Our dad didn’t know Spanish coming here. The only language he knew was Triqui and he learned some Spanish while going to my mom’s prenatal checkups because the clinic only had Spanish translators. Triqui is still the language my parents and relatives speak at home.

I’ve worked for several companies and I have witnessed a lot of discrimination. People with the lighter skin color, those who [can pass as white] get the lighter jobs. And people who are darker-skinned have the harder jobs. I fit more into the darker-skinned crowd, so I was given a hard job. And I had to say to my managers, “Is there a way I can change that?” For me, it’s easier to ask because it’s fine if I get fired, I can get another job. But when I get into the shoes [of people who don’t have legal status], I understand why they don’t speak up.

My uncle and my dad are always saying, “Don’t let them put you down, because you have opportunities. This is why we came here.” And that’s another reason why we made this film. It gave us an opportunity to be able to speak up for the people who can’t speak.

NLS: The Triqui community here is very connected, though in Washington it’s not as big as in California. Our family was very close, united. We went to California every year to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. In California, the Triqui community organizes parties and celebrates traditions from back home. It’s so beautiful, seeing so many women and girls in their huipils, a traditional garment worn by Indigenous women in Mexico.

Have either of you gone back to Oaxaca since your first trip?

EL: I have not gone back, but I hope to in the future. I have a 4-year-old daughter; I plan to take her one day and show her where my parents are from.

NLS: I went the year after. And that was the last time I saw my grandpa. I do wish to go back again, but my grandpa’s [death] deeply affected me. It makes me so upset to think that once I’m back, he’s not going to be there. There was this moment in the film when he and I just looked at each other. And every time I see it, I [get emotional].

In the film, your uncle says, “Tu historia vale mucho,” or your story is important. Do you hope to tell more stories about farmworkers and their families? How do you hope to shape your own future story?

EL: My uncle is right because each one of our stories is different, but they are all valuable. In the fall, I’ll start college again to study nursing. I had started and stopped going. Now, I plan to get to the finish line. My parents have inspired me to take up those studies because I want to do something to help people get better health care and better access to various resources.

NLS: I do hope to tell more stories. I’m going to be attending university and I hope to major in journalism and communication or psychology. I want to expand my storytelling, to talk about other serious situations that impact the Latino community and that aren’t talked about, including mental health issues.

Writing is something that I love to do, but I’m also fascinated with how the brain works. Growing up, I was always told that I was a rebel. I was a troubled kid, pretty much. But I felt that it was a lot more than just me being “troubled.” A lot of it had to do with being a kid who wanted and needed my parents’ attention. But obviously, because they were farmworkers and they were working so much, they couldn’t give it to me.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. All photos courtesy of the filmmakers.


Gosia Wozniacka is a senior reporter at Civil Eats. A multilingual journalist with more than fifteen years of experience, Gosia is currently based in Oregon. Wozniacka worked for five years as a staff reporter for The Associated Press in Fresno, California, and then in Portland, Oregon. She wrote extensively about agriculture, water, and other environmental issues, farmworkers and immigration policy. Email her at gosia (at) civileats.com and follow her on Twitter @GosiaWozniacka. 

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