Why Your Food May Taste Like Death

Hi. today we don’t need a chapter list because the episode is devoted to a sinfgle subject containing a variety of perspectives. Climate change work safety, food security, immigration, human rights, and corporate accountability. Today we are discussing the treatment of the people harvesting a majority of our food. The farmworker

The topic and article used for reference are from United Farm Workers @UFWupdates. Please follow them on Twitter for daily updates. As well @NIJC and @WelcomeWDignity or follow us @PublicAccessPod for retweets from all and more. Thank you to Jeffrey and Adam for seeing the importance of highlighting this topic and bring their unique experiences to it. 

Public Access America often is the beginning of becoming informed. The topics we cover matter at a human level and each may touch someone differently depending. Please continue learning about the topics we mention that touch you. 

I think that before we talk about our topic we need to first discuss our work environment. How our employer protects and provides for us as well as the compensation they return to us for the work we do, which allows us to provide for ourselves and our families but also ensures we have the ability to protect ourselves beyond what a company is required to provide under law. 

Safety equipment and personal protective gear can be cumbersome and often increases the affects of heat. Boots vests guards, masks, safety glasses. Helmets. All requirements that protect us but that also contribute to heat fatigue 

But in this we have mitigations we use to combat heat exhaustion. While water may be provided we have the money and access to more options that ensure we remain hydrated. We have an ability to communicate if need be to a supervisor or manager if we suddenly feel overwhelmed by heat fatigue. We get breaks which include a cooler place or air conditioning which can also be available in case of emergency. We at the end of the day get to go home to a more comfortable environment that doesn’t extend the affects of heat fatigue or exhaustion. And importantly. We have medical insurance to turn to and a knowledge of our rights as well as the ability to reference the internet to find out who to contact about any grievance we might have

Farmworkers have none of that. And yet these are the people we rely on for our food. The people we politically demonize for coming here to work in these fields, The people that are dying yearly in the conditions of these fields, People with no voice, no legal statues and no protections. 

That deserves a conversation

‘Temperatures continue to rise and farmworkers continue to be at risk’

https://thecounter.org/temperatures-continue-rise-farmworkers-continue-risk-heat-death-osha/

Farmworkers, who are mostly foreign-born and undocumented, are at a unique disadvantage from heat-related illnesses. Because of their immigration status, many workers often don’t complain about poor working conditions, such as lack of air conditioning or access to water, that complicate the risk of extreme heat. As they perform the manual labor of weeding, picking, carrying and processing the U.S.’s fruits and vegetables in sweltering conditions, climate change is expected to endanger them further.

65 Farmworkers have died in the past 19 years due to extreme heat on the job

4 farmworkers a year die due to extreme heat on the job

A farmworker dies every 3 months due to extreme heat

Farmworker deaths due to heat account for about a sixth of all heat-related workplace deaths 

Farmworkers die at a rate nearly 20 times that of all U.S. workers. 

High temps disproportionately affect farmworkers: But why?

Are the people working the farms just weak?

Are the working conditions just extreme?

The minimum hourly rate for workers on H-2A visas averages around $14 across the country, 

Is $112 a day alone enough?

Does the employer even have to think about or invest in better or human working conditions? Legally and or morally?

Is this regulated or are farmworkers protected in some way by law or agency?

Are white people allowed to apply for farmworker positions? If no. Why? 

If yes. Why are people complaining about people taking their jobs instead of taking the jobs?

 The U.S. Department of Labor 

announced OSHA would prioritize heat-related complaints.This year

The median amount OSHA fined the employers whose farmworkers died was $4,000 

Some cases remain open, but in 17 cases involving a death, OSHA did not fine the employer.

The median fine of $4,000 for the deaths of farmworkers was more than double that for all industries,

the highest fine for a heat-related death was more than $250,000.

The federal government has known heat stress is an occupational hazard for decades. 

In 1972, the CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, recommended a requirement for employers to protect their workers from heat stress, But OSHA didn’t adopt a standard then, nor did it do so in response to similar NIOSH recommendations in 1986 and 2016. 

Iris Figueroa,

“…we also are hoping to see some progress and some real tangible developments” — such as paid breaks and access to shade and water

Extreme temperatures are killing farm workers — and it's 'entirely preventable,' labor advocates say. They want Democratic governors to do something about it.

https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-temps-kill-farm-workers-democrats-urged-to-act-2021-10

Labor advocates are urging Western states ravaged by heat waves and wildfires to act in concert to develop better protections for workers, arguing that a changing climate — and increasingly common extreme weather — demands a unified response.

The initiative, led by the United Farm Workers, calls on the Democratic governors of California, Oregon, and Washington to "adopt consistent heat and wildfire smoke protection standards" to ensure that a largely immigrant workforce is not forced to navigate a patchwork of regulation.

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