Workin' in 'Em Tomato Fields

Hello, and welcome to our first interview with our hero. Zachary.

Q: Where are you now?
A: I'm in Proserpine (pronounced like Prahs'pine) in the middle of the coast of Queensland.

Q: What is Proserpine like?
A: Well, Proserpine is a small town famous for it's sugar plant. The plant's two towers working day and night are the only visible landmark of the area. And nothing much happens here after 6 pm when only the local Woolworth's and pubs are open. Airlie Beach near the Whitsunday Islands is the closest tourist destination.

Q: Seems like a quiet place. What were your first feelings when you got there.
A: I felt horrible. It was a dark Sunday night, everything was closed. The hotel was nasty looking with a little too many people and not enough room. Waking up at 5 the next morning didn't sound very enticing either. But I took a little walk up and down Main Street and watched some HIMYM on DVD in my room.

Q: Where are you staying at?
A: I'm staying at a "hotel" upstairs from O'Duinn's Irish pub. The rent's $175 per week and it includes transportation to and back from work. My room is a small three person room and I've got the top bunk. All of my stuff is under a third of a bed while the other two occupants have built quite a nest for themselves. But it's still okay. I don't wanna get too cozy in a place that's really not. The room's mostly for sleeping and my stuff anyway.

Q: You mentioned something about work. Is that why you're in Proserpine? Tell our readers something about that?
A: I'm working in a tomato field near Bowen, which is a city 70 km back north from here. We work six days a week and we get by "contract" ie. how much we pick. A normal working day lasts close to ten hours. We work in crews of thirteen pickers and one driver. The driver gets payed by the hour but he is responsible for the crop. The pay is the same for the whole team. Picking about seventeen bins nets you $100 after taxes. That's been my team's average for the three days.

Q: Tell us about the work? What is it like?
A: Well, to call it "fun" would be lying. It's quite hard but I don't think life as a tomato picker is harder than life as a moving man. Since a tomato picker has no time for other life and it can feel good to be working outside in good weather. The first couple of days were gruesome. We leave to work at 5:20 and work until 4 or 5 PM. After ten we have our first eating break "Smoko" and after one, we can have lunch. Everybody brings their own lunch and water so most of the workers have a blue Woolworth's cool with 4-5 litres o water and something to eat and snack in it. To pick the tomatoes out of the bush you have to either be bent over or squatting to get to the bottom of the bush. And once your bucket of tomatoes starts to fill up it gets heavier and harder to move. When someone gets a full bucket we form a line and all the buckets are passed to the car with the big bins and emptied in those. The full buckets are very heavy and I've mostly been working next to the car, lifting all the buckets to the driver.

Q: Tell us about your working conditions.
A: It can get really hot and the UV rays are much stronger in Australia so you can get burned really badly if you don't apply enough sun screen. I've got a long sleeved shirt a hat and shorts so I've only burned my neck, nose and my legs. Fortunately not very badly as I try to use sun screen as often as I can. I also have Aloe Vera in my hostel room so that helps. Even though it can be hot the rows of tomatoes are irrigated and the ground is muddy. The mud sticks to your shoes and the bottom of your bucket so working gets heavier. The mud also makes your hands dirty. But when you need to you can clean your hands by smashing a raw green tomato and rubbing it against your hands. At the end of the day you'll have mud on your shins, your finrers and nails plus most of your clothes especially your shoes.

Q: How do you know which tomatoes to pick?
A: Basically what we have to do is leave the bush so that it only has green healthy tomatoes in it. We take out everything that has any color on it. If it's not rotten or too small or ALL red we put in the bucket. The rotten ones we throw to the ground so the bush can grow new better tomatoes. But because we payed by what we pick, most pickers pick some green ones too. That way we get payed more.

Q: You throw the red ones out, why?
A: Because they're soft and by the time they get to the sellers they'll break and mess the rest of the crops.

Q: What do they do with the green ones you pick? Throw them away?
A: Nah, they give the green ones the "German treatment" that is they put them in a gas chamber where one in five tomatoes stays green and the rest are good to go. Once a tomato has color it will turn red without the bush eventually.

Q: Tell us about the people. Who picks tomatoes and for how long?
A: Most people working on the farm are people who want to get a second working holiday visa. That pretty much narrows down the countries that people come to this place for. Most people are from Europe especially Ireland, UK, Germany and France. There are some Swedes, a couple of Fins, some Asians and even Canadians. My other roommate is American. Most people hear say that one shouldn't work on a tomato farm UNLESS they want their second year visa. That requires three months of work on one farm. I'm not going to do that and I doubt I'd want to spend two years in Australia. I believe I can manage with just the 8 months I've got planned.

Q: Today's your day off. Any special plans?
A: My main objective today was buying some essential stuff for living and working. I bought saline to keep my sinuses clear, earplugs to sleep more peacefully, gloves for tomato picking and keeping my nails alive through this ordeal and a new hat cause I lost my green sun hat on my second day. Before today's workers come back I'll visit the store to buy dinner and replenish my lunch stuff. I've been very hungry when we've gotten off work so I need to bring more to eat to the farm. Other than that I'm watching some movies and reading a big book which I hope to finish before I leave so I don't have to haul it around Australia anymore.

Q: Which book?
A: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy. It's got all five Hitchhiker's books in one volume and it weighs close to one kilogram.

Q: That's heavy. Speaking of going around Austalia, what are you're plans for the future. When are you gonna leave and where are you going to go?
A: I'm waiting for a call from my next employer. He's supposed to be back in Australia on Sunday. Initially we've had some e-mail discussions that work in his company would start the first week of October, three and a half weeks from now. If that's the case I'll leave Proserpine after four or so weeks of farm work and head to Melbourne via plane from Brisbane. If my new job needs me to take an RSA (responsible serving of alcohol) course, I might leave earlier. If the job were to fall through i'd probably stay for six weeks to get my $180 deposit back. After that I'd go to Sydney and get an RSA and maybe other courses done to have better job opportunities around the country.

Q: I have no more questions. Keep working hard and enjoy the rest of your day off!
A: I will, let's do this again, soon!