Agribusiness
European pesticide victims left to fend for themselves
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Suffering from Parkinson’s disease or cancer, European farmworkers experience inadequate recognition and failing compensation schemes.
Climate Change
‘Temperatures continue to rise and farmworkers continue to be at risk’
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At least 65 farmworkers have died from heat-related causes since 2002, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of OSHA data. The Biden administration has promised to address the dangers of extreme heat in workplaces.
Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: The people who pick America’s fruits and vegetables are getting older
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The average age of farmworkers born outside the U.S. steadily increased from 2008 to 2019, while the average age of U.S.-born workers has stayed about the same over the same period.
Foreign-born farmworkers are on average 5 years older than their U.S.-born counterparts.
An analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Research Service attributes the trend to a decline in younger immigrants entering the U.S. workforce.
The age of the average immigrant farm worker was nearly 42 in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available. Three quarters of hired farm workers were foreign-born as of 2016, and about one quarter are women, according to the USDA.
Coronavirus
‘We need an emergency plan now’: Housing problems persist for Imperial County farmworkers
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With a history of double-digit unemployment and poor health indicators, Imperial County was among the hardest hit in the state in the early months of COVID-19. Its farmworkers, the backbone of the county’s $4.5 billion agriculture industry, have continued their high-risk work during the pandemic.
Agribusiness
The CDC recommended states prioritize farmworkers for the COVID-19 vaccine. A few large agricultural states have not.
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A few states with large agricultural populations have, so far, left farmworkers out of their COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Agribusiness
Biden administration reviews Trump regulatory rollbacks likely to harm farmworkers
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In one of his first acts Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered federal agencies to review Trump-era rules that advocacy groups said harmed public health and the environment.
Coronavirus
Building Trust Is Key To Ensuring Farmworker Access To COVID Testing, Vaccine
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The rollout of coronavirus vaccines provides hope that the end of the pandemic is near. But the virus is still spreading across the U.S. and efforts to expand access to testing and build trust with the farmworker community are still needed, Tellefson Torres says.
After #MeToo, This Group Has Nearly Erased Sexual Harassment in Farm Fields
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Nely Rodríguez stands in front of 43 farmworkers and supervisors who sit side by side at picnic tables wearing various protective workwear—hats, ski masks, bandanas, socks as sleeves.
Rodríguez, a member and worker-leader of the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), points to a drawing of a female farmworker bent over picking tomatoes while a male supervisor stands over her saying, “¡Mamacita, qué rico te vez!” or “Hot momma, you look so sexy!”
Coronavirus
‘Either I Risk It All Or Nothing At All’: Migrant Workers’ Need To Work Outweighs COVID-19 Concerns
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Since June, there have been 21 COVID-19 cases linked to the hotel where an entire crew of migrant workers are living, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, which tracks COVID-19 cases across Champaign County. The hotel is tied for third largest outbreak in the county, based on internal statewide public health data from July through September obtained by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
Government
Newly confirmed Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue joins ‘farmers roundtable’ discussion at White House as Trump issues executive order
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a new executive order targeting economic development in rural America.