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Running head: BOOK ANALYSIS 1

Book Analysis

Lacey Ruby

Nursing 305

December 5, 2016
BOOK ANALYSIS 2

In Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States, Holmes

(2013) describes his experiences while working on his anthropologic fieldwork on migration

populations. He chose to follow George Marcus way of ethnography and, on recommendation of

a companion, specifically on the migration of the Triqui people from San Miguel, Oaxaca,

Mexico to the pacific northwest in the United States. George Marcus outlined fieldwork that

looked at interconnections such as social, political, and health issues (Holmes, 2013, p. 4).

Holmes felt that the tensions between the United States and Mexico were such that he could look

at multiple interconnections with the Triqui people and their regular exodus to and from the

United States and how societal structures affect the people and the process.

Holmes (2013) is a medical doctor and, at the time, an anthropology student; the

combination of those two, he felt, made him exceedingly qualified to study and undertake a

hands-on approach in the fieldwork necessary for his research. The author felt that second-hand

accounts of migrants by researchers were inadequate in detail and decided to attempt to illegally

enter the United States with the Triqui people. The author appeared to come from a safe

economic situation as he was able to afford travel, costs, lawyers, and to continue the research

even after setbacks, such as incarceration and legal fines. He describes himself as out of place

in the farm hierarchy in many ways social class, ethnicity, citizenship (Holmes, 2013, p.

32). He suggests that being from such a different background was difficult in his field work

because it led many to distrust him as well as misunderstand his purpose as a student instead of

as a physician.

Holmes (2013) fieldwork was intended to have first-hand accounts of the difficulties

faced by the indigenous farm workers and he began this work with Marcario and his family. The

author lived in San Miguel, Oaxaca among the Triqui people and gaining their trust, made it
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across the United States Mexican Border into Arizona before being arrested. Holmes stays in

the United States and meets back up with Marcario, and follows them into farm work camps

where he meets Samuel and Bernardo and other migrant farmers. He catalogues the realities and

risks of this populations migration, work, and return. He focuses his research and thesis on what

societal and political structures are involved in forcing the Triqui people to leave Mexico, work

in terrible conditions, and the complexities of health care when this population has no legal right

to be in the United States. He suggests that the United States helped beggar the Triqui with their

laws about trade and subsidies and underselling the farmers produce. Holmes suggests that the

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) removed Mexicos rights to tariff imports on

products coming in to the country and Mexico wasnt wealthy enough to subsidize their farmers

as the United States does; this, he states, is effectively enacting an inverse tariff on Mexican

corn (Holmes, 2013, p. 25). That increasing destitution requires the migrants to the hard work,

indignities, and health risks involved in illegally entering the United States and needing to work.

Holmes (2013) would like his work to challenge the idea that immigration is a choice.

The major theme in this work is structural, systemic racism and how that affects the lives and

choices of the Triqui people. The author attempts to use both logical and emotional appeal to

bring attention to and hopefully change the harm structural racism causes to this population of

people. He uses logic when he describes his methods and the scientific process to them; he uses

logic when he discusses the laws and how they shape the lives and economy of the Mexican

population; and he uses logic when he describes the legal position these pressures apply to illegal

immigration. However, he also appeals to emotions when he describes the families and the

people; he appeals to emotions when he describes injustices done to these people; and he appeals

to emotions when he compares the treatment he receives versus the treatment he observes and
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shows the Triqui people receiving. The author admits that even though he lived and worked in

the same places and among the Triqui, their experiences were not equal (Holmes, 2013).

Holmes (2013) suggests that his being white and English speaking prevented him from

many of the derogatory violence directed at his migrant companions. He states: The social

categories inscribed on bodies led to my being treated as an equal, a friend, even a superior,

while the Oaxacans were treated most often as inferiors, sometimes as animals, or machines

(Holmes, 2013, p. 36). This was, he felt, because of the hierarchy inherent in the United States

with English speaking, white men towards the top of the hierarchy, and non-English speaking

immigrants at the bottom. Mestizo farm workers were higher in power and prestige than their

indigenous brethren; they were in positions of authority over the Triqui migrant farm workers

and were an important part in the racism status quo being kept in the farms. In part of the book,

Holmes (2013) describes an encounter where a Mestizo could not accept the idea that the Triqui

might have a white friend but they could accept that the author was wanting to experience how

the poor suffer (Holmes, 2013, p. 33).

Outside of the farm was no different, though it was not being Triqui that was specifically

wronged but being non-English speaking and generally grouped Mexican or other that inhibited

them from experiencing the many rights that a United Stated citizen would expect or that simply

being a person should be able to expect. From ordering food from a restaurant to needing

healthcare, the migrant workers Holmes researched were exploited and treated as less than.

Holmes (2013) describes an encounter at Burger King where Samuels family ordered and paid

for food but received smaller sizes than ordered; when Holmes suggested they ask for their order

to be corrected, Samuel was surprised and firm: this they would not do because not only would

they not get their order corrected but they would also get in trouble for asking for that which they
BOOK ANALYSIS 5

had paid for. Holmes compares that reaction to his being able to get the order corrected and

apologized to because he was not considered other or inferior. He states: My body was treated

as though it had and deserved power, whereas theirs have been treated repeatedly as underlings,

undeserving of respect (Holmes, 2013, p. 36).

Holmes continues by discussing the inequalities in healthcare. Even in their own village,

Oaxacans could expect poor healthcare and outcomes. The clinicians were required to spend a

certain amount of time in San Miguel but nothing forced them to actually open the clinic while

they were there. There were not enough supplies and disinterested medical staff because the

Triqui were considered uncivilized and inferior. This did not change when they were in the

United States. Holmes states: multiple times in the clinics of Washington, California, and

Oaxaca, Triqui companions of mine were charged incorrectly, given inappropriate medicines, or

treated generally as inferiors who should obey unquestioningly (Holmes, 2013, p. 37). Though

Holmes would regularly step up and fix the errors, intentional or subconscious, that only helped

his companions and not the other thousands of migrants who seek help from medical

professionals who should be unbiased and holistic regardless of personal or political biases.

Holmes work is a journey of self-awareness and privilege and genuine grief over the

plight of the indigenous Triqui people. He uses logic, laws, and statistics to speak to the doctors,

anthropologists, lawyers, and scientists; and he appeals emotionally to the hearts of those people

and his less scientific minded audience in the hopes of changing the harrowing experiences that

this population goes through just to survive and support their families. He calls for changes in

laws and in practices. He points out that those the United States perceives as necessary escapes

from other countries are given a greater chance to succeed and have rights but those in Mexico

are seen simply as individuals choosing to leave and break the law. Migrant workers are seen as
BOOK ANALYSIS 6

deserving their fates, even untimely deaths, because they are understood to have chosen

voluntarily to cross the border for their own economic gain (Holmes, 2013, p. 25). However, to

him and to the Triqui, there is no difference. In Mexico, when he and his companions were

setting off to leave, there were signs asking Is it worth the risk? and to which the reply was

yes: the reality of survival for my Triqui companions shows that it would be riskier to stay in

San Miguel without work, money, food, or education (Holmes, 2013, p. 21). It is a necessity to

take the risk.

In the end, this book of Holmes fieldwork comes down to this plea: Without reorienting

our understanding of risk and our subsequent interventions, we will continue to witness hundreds

of human beings dying each year in the borderlands and suffering throughout the rest of their

migration circuits (Holmes, 2013, p. 26). We cannot change the outcome if we are unwilling to

acknowledge our part in it and we cannot change the outcome if we are not willing to actively

participate in the change required. Laws must be changed and understanding must be found.

People are dying and suffering while citizens carry on their lives, enjoying the fruits of someone

elses labors and pain.


BOOK ANALYSIS 7

References
Holmes, S. (2013). Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States
(Kindle ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

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