A winter freeze in early 1991 severely damaged millions of dollars’ worth of California crops. But there was also a human toll. On May 29, 1991, KCBS Radio broadcast a special report, “Bleak Harvest”, examining the plight of farmworkers whose lives were made worse by the freeze. KCBS Radio’s Rebecca Corral reported from the Salinas-Watsonville agricultural area.

 

The anchor lead-in read: “Mention last winter’s freeze to any Californians and the strongest memory you’re likely to trigger is a jump in the price of produce at the grocery store. But many of California’s farmworkers still live with the freeze every day. Acre after acre of destroyed crops have pushed the unemployment rate among field hands to a staggering 25 percent. That Depression-era unemployment rate is making life even more difficult for people who already struggle just to scratch out a living. KCBS Newsradio’s Rebecca Corral spent some time in one farmworker community, the Salinas Watsonville area…for this special report, ‘Bleak Harvest’.”