Photos: Product of Mexico: Scenes from The Times’ investigation
Luis Perez, 26 washes clothes after bathing in an irrigation canal outside Campo San Jose. He says people use the canal because water inside the camp runs out or the pressure is too low in the faucets. Snakes have been known to slither by bathers. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Marosi and photojournalist Don Bartletti traveled across nine Mexican states, observing conditions and interviewing workers at mega-farms.
As the day draws to a close, a resident of Campo Isabeles roasts corn scavenged from the field behind him. Everyone in the camp works for Rene Produce, one of Sinaloa’s largest agricultural exporters. For some like this man, low wages don’t quite cover the cost of food and staples. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
The 12-by-12 rooms at Campo San Jose house as many as six people who sleep on concrete bunks for months at a time. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
A family eats dinner in their 12-by-12 room at Campo San Jose. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
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Alejandrina Castillo, 12, and her brother Fidel have lunch in a chile pepper field in Teacapan, Sinaloa. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Laborers at Campo San Emilio, Sinaloa, sleep in their windowless rooms on vegetable crates and scraps of cardboard. Juan Hernandez, far right, wanted to visit his ailing wife in Veracruz. “But if I leave, I lose everything,” he says. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Broccoli is harvested in Vista Hermosa, Michoacan. No restrooms are provided for farmworkers. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Alejandrina and her brother Fidel endure a 14-hour drive to reach their family’s work site in Guanajuato. They and their family are among 14 laborers squeezed into a pickup. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
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Many migrants have died in accidents in recent years while riding in such open vehicles. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
After a long day of work, laborers crowd in the bed of an open truck. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
