A good snow pea field can yield as much as 10,000 pounds per acre. In 2008 snow peas earned California growers ​$35 million​. For workers, though, the labor makes a constant demand — speed.

The California coast, from Davenport south through Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Castroville, is Brussels sprouts country, and the vast majority of the people who harvest Brussels sprouts are Mexican. Most are migrants from the states of southern Mexico—immigrant workers who’ve crossed the border to labor in these fields. Their experience defies common preconceptions about immigrants.

Few of us understand the human effort it takes to get broccolini onto our dinner tables—and farmworkers know this. So appreciating the taste of broccolini, somewhat sweeter than regular broccoli, should mean giving credit to them.