Four vegetable farms were recently closed down by the American Samoa Department of Health after farm workers were discovered living in deplorable conditions.
The department's chief compliance officer Papali'i Marion Fitisemanu said all four farms are owned by Asians and they were supplying the School Lunch Program.
Following the inspections, they lost the contracts for the federally-funded program.
Papali'i says the workers lived in deplorable conditions in shacks built on the farms.
He says the living quarters were filthy, with inadequate sanitation systems, while discarded pesticide containers were also found.
The department official says the farmers felt the staff living conditions had no bearing on their farms.
