Two pieces of fruit leather with embossed text. It reads “If apples can get sunburn, what about us?”

Experiment #1

As a final project for Graduate Seminar Walking on the Edge, I prepared apple raspberry fruit leather as an experimental offering. The fruit leather is made from six honey crisp apples and one-quart raspberry from the Annapolis Valley. On each piece of fruit leather, I embossed a quote from a migrant worker working for an apple orchard in Haldimand-Norfolk, ON: “If apples can get sunburn, what about us?” The quote comes from a Toronto Star article (2024) reporting on a case where migrant workers were forced to work during a heatwave over 38 °C to remove apples from the fields to prevent sunburn. Through this experiment, I would like to raise awareness of the experiences of migrant workers through the act of making and sharing a snack to encourage reflection on the invisible hands that brought our food to life and the complex social conditions that shape the day to day experiences of migrant workers in Canada.

Apple raspberry fruit leather

Set oven at 170F, combine pureed fruits and pour onto a silicone tray. Dehydrate for 12-15 hours depending on thickness. All ingredients used in this experiment are locally sourced. I purchased the apples from a Nova Scotia farm in December 2024. The berries were U-picked in summer 2023 and kept in the freezer until the time of this project.

• 6 honey crisp

• 1-quart raspberries

• 1 spoonful of honey

• leather embossing stamps (alphabet set)

Context

Climate change and human displacement are increasingly interconnected, disproportionately impacting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people (Boas et al., 2024, p). Locally, under the impact of climate change, Atlantic Canadian agricultural producers have observed steady changes in the growing season as a result of abnormal heat and major storms leading to delayed frost, early blooming, sped-up ripening and extreme heat exposure. Like the rest of Canada and the US, many agricultural producers in Atlantic Canada rely on temporary foreign workers as a major source of labour, amounting to over half of the total migrant workforce. In the agricultural sector, employers hire workers through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SWAP), a stream under the Temporary Foreign Worker program targeting workers from Mexico and Caribbean countries. These regions are major victims of accelerated climate change impacts such as drought-induced loss of farmland and destruction of infrastructure and livable habitats from hurricanes. Coming from climate-vulnerable countries, migrant workers increasingly rely on employment in the global north to support their livelihood back home. This climate-induced employment trend, as a result, destabilizes the local workforces, familial and community relationships in their home countries.