Hands That Feed Iowa: Farmworker of the Year
José Jesús Hernández is an example of humility, resilience and kindness
My favorite thing about writing is learning about people like José Jesús Hernández who give back - even with limited time and resources. It inspires me to keep going and reminds me that kindness still exists in these times of division and hate.
This article also appears in español in Hola America with colorful photos showing Hernández and his family with his award.
In the dawn of a chilly fall day, José Jesús Hernández stretches into branches and leaves, gently tugging on a Honeycrisp apple and adding it to the thousands of others that will soon feed hungry Iowans. His moves are precise, perfected over his two decades in the orchard. Hours later, his calloused, rough hands from a lifetime of harvesting fruits and vegetables delicately hold a glass farmworker of the year award by Proteus Inc. as cameras capture a rare moment when this humble Iowan isn’t busy feeding his community. His journey from seasonal laborer to lauded farmer reflects the trajectory of many immigrants who shape America’s agricultural backbone.
Hernández grew up in such severe poverty that he was scared to dream. All he wanted was to have year-long work that fed his family. He began traveling to the United States when he was 18 to plant seeds and harvest crops before returning to Mexico with his earnings. For years Hernández would wake before the sun in a cramped room shared with other seasonal workers, thoughts on the money he’d send home that week. At 21, he moved to Iowa and dared to dream of not only feeding his family, but of building a new life with opportunities that had been out of his reach. “I had to be fearless and focus on my mission to help my children and wife who were on the other side of the border,” recalls Hernández of his time going between countries. “I saw opportunities in Iowa that I hadn’t seen in the other states I worked. It was a chance to develop my personal skills, concentrate on moving ahead, past my fear of not knowing the language, experiencing discrimination, while knowing that nothing would be handed to me.”
In between learning English and new customs, Hernández worked multiple jobs to pay his daughter’s tuition at Iowa State University. His daughter told him about Proteus Inc.’s low-cost clinic in Des Moines when he began working full-time at Center Grove Orchard before it became the activity-filled family attraction it is today. “When I worked for a screen-printing company in Ames, I had health insurance. But it is very expensive for farmworkers,” says Hernández. “I go to Proteus for physicals and to manage my cholesterol.” This helps him stay healthy without the $450 deduction from each paycheck for private insurance.
With his shoulders aching from mending wire fences, and with the scent of apple blossoms clinging to his clothes from filling crates of apples from the orchard's 50,000 trees, Hernández still finds energy for his personal garden.
He and his wife regularly donate their extra produce to Proteus Inc’s food security program that provides food to over 750 families who, like his once did, struggle with food insecurity.
He’s grateful for the opportunity to give back. “I wanted to grow my own vegetables in Mexico, but we didn’t have enough money to even buy seeds, much less everything else it takes to grow them. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to harvest more than we need.”
Rain, sleet, snow, wind, hail or any other weather extreme Mother Nature presents in Iowa, Hernández and farmworker like him are in fields and orchards, making sure Iowans have nutritious food. Hernández takes pride in what his hands produce and that his children have opportunities he never dreamed of. His daughter, Mayra carries on her father’s legacy of nourishment as a nutritionist in Kansas City and his son, named after him, stayed closer to home and manages a team for a company in Nevada. Hernández hopes his encouragement to work hard and dream big carries from them to his grandchildren.
“I told my kids to do something better than their dad, but take care of others and don’t forget from where we came.”
One day, Hernández hopes to retire to his own farm in Michoacán, Mexico, where his wife can tend a small garden and care for chickens and cows. For now, Hernández continues tending Iowa's soil, his fingers working magic with seeds that once seemed as impossible as his dreams. "I tell young workers who remind me of myself: don’t be afraid, even today when things seem scary with the government. We are excellent workers. We can accomplish our goals.”
When Hernández pauses to watch visitors at Center Grove Orchard excitedly bite into an apple he picked, or choose pumpkins he planted, he relishes at the joy they get from the labor of his hands. It’s a pride he hopes his grandchildren will recognize, not from working the fields, but from the college degrees and full bellies his work provides.