Hands that Feed Us: Kashima Woodham
The Hands that Feed Us is a ninepart series of Eating Niagara. This is Part 8.
Kashima Woodham’s typically wears jeans and a T-shirt to work.
But to many in her life, Woodham, 33, may as well be sporting a superhero’s cape.
The seasonal agricultural worker from Montego Bay, Jamaica, is so respected by her family for all the work she does running a Niagara-on-the-Lake fruit stand in the summer. They admire her sense of adventure, leaving them and the comforts of home for four months a year to come to Canada.
Mostly, though, they appreciate what Woodham, a single mom and the oldest of six daughters, does for them.
The paycheque she earns selling Niagara’s crown jewels of fruits seven days a week at Werner’s Fruit Farm on Lakeshore Road helps support her mother and two youngest sisters, aged 12 and 14.
Woodham’s earnings between the start of strawberry season in June and the end of apple harvest in early October also provide for her own son, Rasheed, 11, and her grandmother.
And for that, they’re grateful. “Basically, everyone looks up to me,” Woodham said with a smile.
For those of us who frequent Werner’s just past Lock 1, Woodham is a hero for her ability to point us to the best baskets of peaches when the red and white stand is creaking under the weight of another harvest.
She’ll tell you whether you might prefer red or yellow plums, if you ask her advice. Or she’ll simply wait patiently for you to choose for yourself.
What really makes Woodham stand out through it all is the fact that she is a woman. Only about four per cent of farm workers who come to Niagara from Mexico and the Caribbean for up to eight months each year are female. That works out to about 112 of the roughly 2,800 migrant labourers who keep the region’s farm economy running.
If the men who come here feel isolated in their temporary homes — and many do — those feelings can be that much more profound for women. Woodham’s co-workers are five men from Jamaica. They tend to Werner’s orchards while she minds the fruit stand.
They live in separate quarters on the farm. Sometimes Woodham will gab with them after work. She might go shopping with Shamar Dawkins, the 34-year-old supervisor, who also supports his siblings back home. Or she’ll stay alone on the farm while they ride their bikes to visit with other workers in the area. She doesn’t really know anyone else here.
Woodham enjoys the downtime most if Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods or Criminal Minds is on TV.
“I like to be alone sometimes. Sometimes it’s because I don’t have a ride and I don’t have a bike. It’s kind of boring if there’s nothing much on TV to watch,” she said.
That’s not a complaint, though. Woodham wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I like being the only female on the farm. My boss treats me good. They look out for me as the only female here. It’s nice.”
Woodham has all the qualifications to be the face of Werner’s, selling hundreds of people their favourite stone fruits and vegetables every day during the height of the season. Back home in Montego Bay, she works in a butcher shop, honing her customer service, cash management and product display skills.
The only real difference is the money she earns here.
“The pay’s a little bit better than back home,” Woodham said.
She’d stay longer in Niagara if only there was more fruit to sell. Woodham loves to travel, and coming here for the past two years not only satisfies that wanderlust, it fuels it.
She plans to visit family and friends in the U.S. now that Werner’s is closed for the season. It will be her vacation before picking up her regular shift at the butcher shop again.
If Woodham could go anywhere in the world, though, “I’d like to see the Bahamas — Atlantis,” she said about the ocean-themed resort. “I have big dreams of travelling but I just started. I’d like to take a cruise ship. As long as I’m travelling. As long as it’s somewhere different.”
As a mom, I have a hard time when work takes me away from my daughter for a night. I can’t imagine four months apart such as Woodham experiences.
Woodham talks to Rasheed every night by phone to temper the time and distance between them. She recounts her day at work. He asks if she’s OK and tells her about his dreams of being an entrepreneur.
And looks up to her — just like everyone else in Woodham’s life.
“He’s like my buddy. He’s pretty close to me,” she said. “He likes when I travel because he gets clothes and stuff. He doesn’t mind it. I like it. I feel I don’t want to go home. It actually helps me a lot with my family. I don’t mind staying in Canada to work.”
— Tiffany Mayer is the author of Niagara Food: A Flavourful History of the Peninsula’s Bounty. She blogs about food and farming at timeforgrub.com. Follow her on Twitter @eatingniagara.