The effects of many of the crises that have hit California this year have been seen nowhere more than in the state’s agricultural valleys.
The region faced a long list of challenges to understand: record heat, smoke and fumes from the historic wildfire, resulting in very poor air quality. High rates of Govt-19 infections and anxiety, loneliness and job losses will go with it. Tensions surrounding the split election. Fears and Conflicts over Immigration Policies.
By 2020, California’s central, eastern Coachella and Imperial valleys were no longer the outer edge, but the center of the state’s harassment. The two-week reporting trip in October and November, not knowing the consequences so much, not knowing where things are going from here, has created vibrating uncertainty across small towns and vast fields.
Map of Central and Southern California depicting Matt Black’s journey.
Lamont, Kern County, California. Discarded shoes. The small town of Lamont has a population of 15,131, and 32.8% of the population lives below the poverty line.
United States. Taft, California. 2020. Palm tree.
Left: Taft, Kern County, California. The Taft population is 7,294 and 24.5% of the population lives below the poverty level. Like many parts of the state, the city was under a “red flag alert” for severe fire conditions in mid-October. Right: Mentota, Fresno County, California. Mentota has a population of 11,307, and more than 1,000 cases of Covid-19 are found. Ninety percent of California’s 381,000 farm workers are from Mexico. Govt-19 has affected Latin communities proportionately, with 58% of cases in the state as of August.
Masks
Left: Tulare, Tulare County, California. Tulare population is 59,278 and 23.6% of the population lives below the poverty level. There are 2,848 Govt-19 cases in the city. In Tulare County, there are 23,662 cases and 319 deaths in Govt-19 cases. The unemployment rate is 12.2%. Right: Avenal, Kings County, California. Avenel has a population of 9,567. The nearby Avenal State Prison is the most coveted facility in California. The prison has nearly 3,000 infections and eight deaths.
Ducor, Tulare County, California. Almond cultivation. Landslides in some parts of the Central Valley have been attributed to over-discharge of groundwater for agriculture. The Freund-Kern Canal near Dugor has lost 60% of its carrying capacity due to subsidence.
El Centro, Imperial County, California. In the early months of the epidemic, Imperial County had a positive rate of 10.32 cases per 1,000 population, the highest rate ever recorded in California. The county has 17,733 Govt-19 cases and 367 deaths.
Left: USA. Niland, California. 2020. Downtown. United States. Right: El Centro, California. 2020. Homeless Camp.
Left: Niland, Imperial County, California. A brush fire on the ground this summer killed one person, destroyed about 40 homes and displaced 130 people. East of the Salton Sea, the land has a population of 515, and 57.3% of the population lives below the poverty line. Right: El Centro, Imperial County, California. Homeless camp.
Barstow, California. A man sleeps in an empty space. Barstow’s population is between 22,750 and 36.6% living below the poverty line.
Barstow, California. A rural house.
Left: USA. Firefox, California. 2020. Rejected cap. Right: USA. Fresno, California. 2020. Fire in a homeless camp.
Left: Firefox, California. Firefox has a poverty rate of 27.7%, and its farm workers must continue to engage in crop selection despite the epidemic. The wildfires in the state have already worsened the harsh working conditions for valley farm workers. OK: Fresno, California. Fire in homeless camp town. Fresno’s population is 961,820 and lives below the 24.1% poverty level.