As the bean harvest is upon us and the Mennonites of Spanish Lookout and northern Belize bring in their crops, the western villages in the country see an increase of foreign nationals who cross the border to earn some Belizean cash by picking beans. Most of them are Guatemalan and Honduran with a few Salvadorans sprinkled in. Of course, many Belizeans also sign up too. Usually a Mennonite farmer has an agreement with a Hispanic person who acts as a hiring agent. The farmer tells him when and how many acres and the agent starts making phone calls.
Another form of bean picking is done by villagers who live close to these fields. Following along behind the combine or combing the outer edges of the field to gather whatever beans they find. As a child, my grandparents and I loved these times of "frijolear". We would carry our lunches and spread a blanket at the edge of the road to sort the beans. Not all Mennonite farmers allowed this though. A few would have their workers go through the whole field to make sure nothing was left for free.
