A History of Advocacy

Although House Farm Workers! was officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2015, its roots date back to the late 1990s, when Ventura County faced a growing rift between its agricultural community and its urban and suburban residents.

The conflict was driven by several factors, including increasing concern about agricultural pesticide use near schools and homes, and a fierce debate over local land-use policy, which culminated in a series of ballot initiatives — known collectively as Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) — intended to limit development of farmland. Bitterly opposed by the agricultural community, the initiatives proved overwhelmingly popular with urban voters, highlighting a profound disconnect between those two segments of the community.

In 1999, a group of farmers and ranchers gathered to discuss strategies for bridging this growing ag-urban divide. They subsequently invited representatives of other groups and organizations — including those that had historically been adversaries, including labor-rights advocates, agricultural employers, and anti-pesticide activists —  to join them in an alliance, intended to provide a forum in which to resolve or avoid potential conflicts between agriculture and its urban neighbors. In 2000, the group — known as the Ventura County Ag Futures Alliance (AFA) — adopted a constitution to guide its work and the conduct of its members, who despite their varied perspectives shared a vision of a future in which Ventura County agriculture remained economically vibrant, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable.

The AFA established subcommittees to explore specific issues affecting local agriculture’s long-term viability. One of these, the Farm Worker Housing Committee (established in April 2001), focused on the issue of workforce housing affordability, and issued a white paper in 2002 titled “Farm Worker Housing: A Crisis Calling for Community Action.” That year, the County of Ventura also released a report on results of its farm worker housing study, which found poor living conditions to be widespread and recommended a number of changes to the county zoning ordinance to accommodate more new farm worker housing.

In 2003, following a recommendation in the AFA white paper, the AFA Farm Worker Housing Committee collaborated with other organizations to plan a public summit addressing the issue, which was held in January 2004. It also commissioned a film highlighting the shortage of affordable housing for local farm workers, and the impact of that shortage on their families, as a way of explaining to summit attendees the need for a countywide effort to address the crisis.

More than 300 people attended the summit, including four of the five members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, and scores volunteered to participate in future housing advocacy. The AFA responded by establishing a Ventura County Farm Worker Housing Task Force, comprising members from the AFA Farm Worker Housing Committee and non-AFA volunteers. The Task Force established several city committees as well, expanding on pre-existing efforts by housing supporters in Santa Paula and Ventura. The Task Force was subsequently renamed House Farm Workers! (HFW!) and became independent of AFA, which is no longer active in Ventura County.

Over the next 20 years, as HFW! built its capacity and expanded its influence, other advocacy groups and individuals also began focusing on the issue, and housing developers slowly began addressing the shortage of affordable, safe and stable housing for farm workers and their families. Here are some of the highlights of the past two-plus decades in that combined effort.