Spanish speakers get help in their native language from UC Cooperative Extension Offering UC Cooperative Extension programs in Spanish is as much about building relationships as extending information. "Most of the ranch or field supervisors are Hispanic, as a consequence I tend to relate better to them in Spanish than English," says Jesús Valencia, the vegetable crops farm advisor in Fresno County. "I work with some growers of Mexican descent who speak enough English to function but are more comfortable speaking in Spanish," says Mark Gaskell, small-scale farm advisor on the Central Coast, who learned Spanish in the Peace Corps. There is, perhaps, no closer tie than a shared language. UC Cooperative Extension has ensured that the easy connection and improved transfer of information possible in Spanish is a part of its work with California Latinos. "Without Spanish I could not do what I do for the University of California," said Gregorio Billikopf Encina, labor management farm advisor in Stanislaus County. The Latino population in California - expected to become the largest plurality, surpassing white non-Hispanics, within 20 years - is holding fast to its culture, one that values the basic institutions of work, family and citizenship. An important way the culture is preserved is the use of the Spanish language. Language is the essence of culture, according to Hispanic Market Handbook by M. Isabel Valdez. "(Language) is the point at which individuals interact with families, friends and society at large," Valdez writes. "Language does much more than convey rational meaning: words communicated in a particular language go straight to the mind, but also touch a very special chord in people's hearts." The majority of Latinos who speak Spanish also speak English. But, there are widely varying levels of proficiency in English. In 1997 ANR personnel conducted field interviews with 167 farmers in 10 counties. More than half of the respondents were Latino and spoke Spanish primarily. Virtually all respondents indicated wanting more information available to them in their own language. "As a whole, Latinos are hungry for information. But the biggest stumbling block has been trying to get the information to them. Especially the ones with limited English skills," said Richard Molinar, who, as small-scale farm advisor in Fresno County, works with many Latino and South-East Asian farmers. "If they're producing crops and selling them in the food chain, I want to ensure that the food is safe and that the farmers and their families are safe," he said. "I want to make sure they are understanding integrated pest management, marketing and cost studies as clearly as possible." Molinar holds an annual conference in Spanish for farmers and farm managers. Topics include crop selection, pesticide safety inspections, soil solarization, vertebrate pest management and other topics. Billikopf each year brings together Spanish-speaking farmers and foremen for a two-day conference on interpersonal relations, employee relations, productivity, incentive programs, discipline and a wide variety of other labor issues. He has written books on agricultural personnel management and offered them in both English and Spanish in paper form and on the World Wide Web. Benny Fouche, the small-scale farm advisor in San Joaquin County, has made a concerted effort to learn Spanish to better serve the Latino community in the northern San Joaquin Valley. "I have used grant money to take Spanish courses in night school and went on sabbatical leave to Costa Rica to work with small farms and learn Spanish by immersion," he said. "Many of the Latino growers I work with have been farming for more than 10 years and have a great need for my technical services in such areas as integrated pest management." UCCE's Spanish-language interaction is not limited to agricultural programs. It's federally funded Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) helps low-income Hispanic families achieve optimal health with nutrition and health education classes in Spanish. In a small-group setting, participants learn about the USDA's Dietary Guidelines, the Food Guide Pyramid, how to read food labels, meal planning, economical food shopping and preparing food safely. "Our commitment is to reach the Spanish-speaking population in culturally appropriate ways," said Barbara Sutherland, the director of the statewide EFNEP program. "We don't just translate materials. We provide advice on eating right with a focus on foods that are part of the culture." In all, the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources employs more than 40 academics and 28 EFNEP educators who speak Spanish and provides nearly 100 publications in Spanish in the ANR online publication library http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu. The UC Small Farm Center http://www.sfc.ucdavis.edu also offers extensive materials in Spanish. (February 2003) |
|
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California. All contents November 22, 2009 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
|
