|
Rations
for farm laborers could be an integral part of
their daily salary depending on several factors:
the physical effort required by the work to be
done, the sex and the age of the worker, the abundance
or shortage of work. |
| The
men's pay was in, any case, greater than that of
women and adolescents. When the laborer provided
his own food, the employer needed only supply some
wine—in relatively recent times, a couple
of litres a day. When food was the employer’s
obligation, he had to supply the wine and the rations
needed for a day’s work. |
| At
harvest time, food was always the employer’s
obligation. In times past, workers and employer
would stipulate ahead of time if bread should be
rationed or distributed in a sufficient amount to
satisfy the needs of an individual worker. |
| In
the first case, the amount of bread to be consumed
was at the discretion and the kindness of the employer,
who, during meals, would hold a huge loaf of bread
between his legs (which some times could weigh more
than ten kilos, or about 20 lbs) from which, from
time to time, he would cut off a slice and hand
it to anyone needing bread. |
| In
the second case, the laborer was allowed to eat
all the bread he wanted. |
| Very
many years ago, the food supplied the laborers was
absolutely insufficient. |
| For
those who did weeding for major landowners, the
rations consisted of a ladle of boiled corn and
a slice of bread. Three daily meals (breakfast,
lunch and dinner), were introduced only much later. |
| At
harvest time, a snack would be added, making a total
of four rations. When soup was featured in the evening,
the poorer women laborers preferred to take it home
to share with their family. |
|
|
| Some
landowners would even water down the wine; their excuse was they
did not want the workers to get drunk; actually they just wanted
to skimp. |
| Other
owners would use wine flasks almost as big as kegs (drinking from
the flask spigot was customary), thus making it difficult to hold
them up for drinking. |
| Still
others would resort to cutting the flow of the spigot. |
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