For too long, debates over international trade have been dominated by corporate elites and economic ideologues, rather than rooted in the experiences of ordinary Americans. 

The Trade Stories Project allows people who have been affected by policies and institutions like NAFTA and the WTO to share their views on a matter crucial to the global economy. 

This includes displaced workers, farmers, small business owners and immigrants who have been typically excluded from the trade debate.

Peggy Clark

Woodburn, OR

Peggy lost her 22-year job in quality control at a food processing plant called AgriFrozen due to competition from imports under NAFTA.

Hear part of Peggy's story...

“I worked there as a quality control supervisor, mostly on day shift, for 22 years…

"Our whole total family income was there.  A lot of people, their mothers, their fathers, their sisters, their brothers, their whole entire family for generations all worked there.  That was the hardest, because your whole family took a big, fat hit. 

"I could see a big change in the town, because once that went out, there’s hardly anything out there any more.  A lot of restaurants are shutting down.  The whole town itself took a really big hit when they terminated the plant. 

"Not only was it us, and the vegetables grown by the farmers, but it was the ones providing materials.  It just continually snowballed.  It was such a huge, huge impact.  So it was not just us and the farmers, but everything imaginable out there."