The Department of Anthropology and the Center for Appalachian Studies sponsored a lecture event called “Growers, Migrant Farm Workers and the Changing Face of Big Tobacco in North Carolina,” March 18 in Belk Library & Information Commons.

Lecture Room 117 was filled with dozens of students and faculty who came to see Peter B. Benson, a University of Washington anthropology professor, speak on tobacco and the major changes that have occurred in North Carolina’s tobacco industry in recent years.

“Tobacco production has decreased by 53 percent in N.C., and since 2004, 75 percent of tobacco farmers have retired or have chosen to grow another crop,” Benson said. “Philip Morris, the largest tobacco producer in the U.S., has moved a significant amount of its production to developing nations like Brazil.” Benson also shed light on the inner workings of small tobacco farms and their increasing reliance on undocumented Mexican labor, gleaning from his experiences as a tobacco picker in Wilson, while conducting research for his soon-to-be published book, “Sick and Sorry.”

“Because these workers are undocumented, tobacco farmers usually end up providing housing for them in labor camps, many of which are in disrepair and would be considered sub-standard housing,” Benson said.

Along with the lecture, Benson led a faculty workshop at the Hubbard Center Friday concerning “Structural Violence, Health Disparities and Medical Anthropology.”

“It was great to have so much support in bringing Dr. Benson to campus,” Timothy Smith, an anthropology assistant professor said. “His scholarship represents our discipline’s interest in linking the local to global and working through complicated issues of transnational desires, corporate navigational strategies, radicalized bio-politics and cultural diversity.”

Benson’s lecture was supported by an assistance of an External Scholars Grant awarded by the University Forum Committee, whose purpose is to bring distinguished speakers to campus.

Story: LAURENCE HENRIQUEZ, Intern News Reporter