Mexico and Walmart Team Up to Improve Farmworker Conditions

Living conditions at huge Mexican farms that produce about half the tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers consumed in the US were recently revealed in appalling detail by the Los Angeles Times: children working in hot fields; families sleeping in rat-infested hovels, often on concrete; unreliable water; and pay as low as $8 a day. Now, Walmart and the Mexican government have struck a deal to improve life for the farmworkers. But how will they actually carry out and enforce the sweeping changes they're promising?

Photo: Alex Proimos