This article is a collaboration between the Guardian and Enlace Latino NC, an independent bilingual publication. Read this article in Spanish.
On a cold December afternoon, about 10 workers load the season’s final Christmas trees on to a truck at Wolf Creek Tree Farm and Nursery in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Nearby, another group takes a break, warming up around a barrel fire. More workers are out in the fields, a half-hour’s drive up further into the mountains.
