By Christina Fernández-Morrow
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. His story, accompanied by nonprofits like Proteus Inc., demonstrates how access to healthcare and targeted resources transforms lives.
Photo by Tar Macias / Hola Iowa
Since 1979, Proteus Inc. has helped farm workers in Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska access services that have led to improved health, higher education and job assistance in and out of agriculture. Their low-cost clinics serve uninsured farmers like Hernández, who credits them for managing his high cholesterol when private insurance cost $450 per paycheck.
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 in fields across California and Nebraska, then 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. It was a chance to develop my personal skills, too. I could 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, one being at Center Grove Orchard before it became the fall family attraction it is today. He learned about Proteus Inc. when he decided to work full-time at the orchard. “When I worked for a screen-printing company in Ames I had health insurance. But health insurance is very expensive for farm workers, I could not afford it.” His daughter had a friend in the same situation who told her about Proteus Inc.’s low-cost clinic in Des Moines. “I still use their clinics,” says Hernández. “I go for physicals and to manage my cholesterol.”
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 farm workers 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. Don’t endure the pain of hernias or ulcers just because care is too expensive, it can lead to death. There are free and affordable clinics to help you. I urge them to get the help they need.”
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.
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