Fund Farm Housing Study

If more and more Santa Barbara office workers are commuting from Ventura County because of its relatively affordable home prices, is it any wonder that those further down the economic ladder are being squeezed out altogether?

The shrinking supply of farm worker housing is becoming a threat to one of Ventura County’s key economic pillars, the billion-dollar-a-year agriculture industry.

That’s why a request for subsidies to expand housing for farm workers has been brought forth by the county’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee.

Subsidies could be used to help farmers build on-site housing, increase the number of off-site labor camps or expand general affordable housing provided by such groups as Cabrillo Economic Development Corp.

Before the county can move to take advantage of a growing number of government subsidies available for farm worker housing, officials need a clearer picture of the situation. The first step would be for the Board of Supervisors to fund a detailed study of farm worker housing and needs in the coming budget year. The board is scheduled to take up that request later this month.

Part of the problem is the hodgepodge of local and federal statistics, rife with gaps and contradictions. For example, one federal study says 22,000 farm workers are employed in Ventura County each year while another federal study estimates the number at 35,000.

Not in dispute, however, is that the number of Ventura County farm worker camps licensed with the state has shrunk over the last two decades, while the number of farm workers has grown. In 1983, the state licensed 24 camps housing 1,118 farm workers and family members. By last year, only 17 camps housing 728 farm workers were licensed with the state.

Over the same period, the county has increased its acreage of labor-intensive crops, including strawberries and nursery stock.

Because of shifting trends, most county farm workers these days don’t live in camps but in houses and apartments in cities. That puts them in competition with other residents--often those with more to spend for housing.

An average farm worker earns less than $12,000 per year, too little to afford the county’s $1,200 average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment.

We support a comprehensive study to determine how bad the problem is and what steps should be taken to improve matters. Affordable, safe, decent farm worker housing is essential both to the people who plant and harvest the food we eat and to an industry that is crucial to the Ventura County economy.