News outlets are filled with stories about the devastating drought that has gripped much of the country.
and
wrote
of The New York Times that “Scorching heat and the worst drought in nearly a half-century are threatening to send
up, spooking consumers and leading to worries about global food costs.
On Wednesday, the government said it expected the record-breaking weather to
for
next year, including milk, beef, chicken and pork. The drought is now affecting 88 percent of the corn crop, a staple of processed foods and animal feed as well as the nation’s leading farm export. “
Sunday’s Chicago Tribune carried a
by
and
about drought in Southern Illinois that included comments from farmers and academics as well as graphics and photos.
But neither article had the voice of migrant workers whose lives have also been impacted by the parched earth and lack of rain.
supervisory attorney for Chicago non-profit
Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago
, called this summer the worst in the past decade he’s been in practice for the workers who have traveled north hoping to have several months of work.
He explained that some farmers had hoped for a bumper crop this year due to the early planting of seeds after an unseasonably warm winter.
Instead, many workers are leaving after just three weeks.
We traveled to Rantoul’s corn fields for a special edition of Crunch Time in which you can see the fields and listen to the workers talk about what the drought means to them.
