It is typical and almost a given to scroll on social media and see an influencer promoting makeup, doing a “get ready with me” (GRWM) routine, or narrating their day. What is not as common is coming across a farmworker on your feed as she demonstrates how to wrap her face to appropriately shield it from the sun she works under all day.
But on various social media platforms, farmworkers are creating content, enhancing the visibility of the often-minimized labor of those who are the backbone of the U.S. food system. As they share their tips and guidelines, they juxtapose popular content creators, who typically do not need to work long hours, especially under the blazing sun. These farmworker content creators are showing the reality of their daily lives — one many people take for granted.
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"Farmworker content creators are showing the reality of their daily lives — one many people take for granted."
Elsa Cavazos
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The first farmtok video I came across was from Sonia, who has more than 27,000 followers on TikTok and 37,000 on Facebook. She narrates all her videos in Spanish, always thanking God for her job and emphasizing how hard work lets her provide for her family and build a better future. According to her TT profile, she is from Guerrero and works in Santa Maria, CA.
@sonirosario4 Empacando mi lonche para irme a ganar los dolares, pero antes hagamos un facil 🫶Cera Ve🙌🏼 #comparte #agriculture #lunch #trabajo #campo #fresa #cerave #facial #skincare #ski #parati #fyp #bendiciones ♬ sonido original - sonic
Her videos range from how to cover and protect your skin correctly as a farmworker, to how she washes her face, to how she braids her daughter’s hair before work. In one video, she uses CeraVe because she likes how the cleanser makes her skin feel. The relatable video garnered thousands of comments, with strangers tagging the brand: “These are the influencers you should sponsor.”
Sonia is consistently active on her feed. So is La Comadrita, who posts on Facebook and TikTok; each account has 8,000 followers. Similarly, she promotes her work — her song choice, captions, and the words she utters are a reminder of the effort and sacrifice she puts into her work.
While this genre of video encompasses men and women farmworkers, women show that as mothers, wives, and daughters, their lives transcend their duties as strawberry pickers. They are chefs in their kitchens. They are organizers in their homes. They are a support system for their children. When they have a day off, they go grocery shopping to keep their households running smoothly.
And sometimes they start TikTok channels. Betty Mendez, a 34-year-old farmworker in Santa Maria, CA, became a content creator in 2020. She has worked the California fields for nearly 20 years while always maintaining an interest in content creation.
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Mendez, who arrived in the U.S. at 14, decided to create videos to help other farmworkers, particularly those new to the job, who don’t properly protect themselves from harsh sun rays.
“I challenged myself to teach them how to cover their faces and their heads,” she tells Refinery29 Somos “That way they would not burn themselves. That is what motivated me to record videos and I would see a lot of women who would not use cloths properly.”
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"I challenged myself to teach them how to cover their faces and their heads. That way they would not burn themselves. That is what motivated me to record videos and I would see a lot of women who would not use cloths properly."
Betty Mendez
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While in other places workers may use caps, hats, and bandanas to cover their heads, at her job they mostly use cleaning cloths that cover their foreheads and most of their heads. Sometimes, she pairs it with her outfit of the day.
She began making videos about how to wear cloths last year; they are now some of her most popular pieces of content. But she didn’t start posting because she thought she’d go viral. Instead, she wanted to highlight what she does.
“I love to record about my job because I love my job,” she says “Working in strawberries, I know a lot of people can relate to me — maybe not specifically strawberry but cauliflower, broccoli, because they are also farmworkers. They are respectable jobs, and I thought it would be nice to upload videos [to show that] … [I] realized people enjoyed this content. That is maybe where I got the ideas of recording myself picking the fruit, how to cover yourself, arriving at work, how many hours we work. People sometimes criticize how we work but they do not know how we are meant to dress.”
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One of her main purposes as a content creator is to raise awareness on the exposures farmworkers face. They are often under the sun for nine to 10 hours, where they can come into contact with dangerous chemicals, machinery, and allergens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agriculture industry is among the highest risk for occupational injuries and fatalities. In 2021, there were 453 agriculture-related deaths. And from 2021 to 2022, 21,020 farmworkers were injured and required days away from work.
“We are bending down and there is dust in the plants, which can irritate our skin or create blemishes or pimples,” she says.
Currently, Mendez is working at a packaging company and taking a break from being a farmworker so she can spend more time with her two children. She wanted to be able to take them to and from school. But she plans to go back.
“In packaging, I am behind closed doors. And in the field, I am walking and I am outdoors,” she says. “I think I am from there, and it is where I feel my best.”
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"We are bending down and there is dust in the plants, which can irritate our skin."
Betty Mendez
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Perhaps it’s why her farm videos resonate so much with others and why she has amassed an audience of 175,800 on TikTok. Though she started to monetize through lives on TikTok, she has not yet met all of the requirements to monetize per video.
Mendez knows posting about her life can open her up to criticism, which is why she doesn’t post about her family on social media. Instead, she hopes people understand how hard it is to be a farmworker — on her body and on her children.
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“You have to sacrifice leaving your children with other people sometimes,” she says. “People do not see how hard farm workers work. A lot of people are not able to understand it. They might think anyone can do it, but I have seen people leave after one or two hours because they are not easy jobs.”
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"People do not see how hard farm workers work. A lot of people are not able to understand it. They might think anyone can do it, but I have seen people leave after one or two hours because they are not easy jobs."
Betty Mendez
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And yet, these jobs are a symbol of what’s possible for many farmworkers. Erika Salvador, a 25-year-old who also makes videos of her strawberry picking on TikTok, has worked the fields for five years. Just like Mendez, she is originally from Oaxaca and felt she had to emigrate for a better future for her family.
Salvador also worked at a factory but disliked how closed-off it felt. Strawberry picking lets her be outdoors, surrounded by others who speak Mixteco, her native language.
She started making videos around 2021 after seeing others upload their own. But she never imagined hers would take off as they have.
“A lot of people do not know the process of the strawberry, and it is nice to portray the farm work. I think some think we make a lot of money, but currently, we make $16 an hour. Also because of the heat, a lot of the fruit gets spoiled, and we are not able to fill up boxes,” she says.
When the harvest begins in May, she can fill a box in a minute, but as time goes on, it takes her longer. By September, it takes her 15 minutes.
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"People need to value this type of job."
Erika Salvador
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“People need to value this type of job because it is a heavy-duty job. I respect all of my coworkers. It is a job worth admiring,” she says. “They need to have the guts because it can hurt your back. I see people thanking other content creators or those who do lives [on social media], and I see that people do value it and they thank us.”
But thank you is not enough for what these women do every day. Going viral and obtaining brand sponsors can make a tangible difference. However, they are not expecting business deals or recognition. They do it for themselves and to help each other. With each video they upload, farmworkers are showing they’re the true girl’s girls.
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