Workers have taken to nocturnal harvesting schedules to avoid soaring daytime temperatures. Experts say more data, and more protections, are necessary.
This story was originally published by Nexus Media News and Civil Eats. In the summer months, Flor Sanchez and the members of her harvest crew rise before
Conference Focuses on Farmworker Health, Safety, and Rights miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The decision by state and county officials to prioritize Californians 65 and older delayed vaccinations for thousands of farmworkers for several weeks as infections began spreading, prompting growers and doctors to step in to fill the void.
When Monterey County finally reached out to say they had a batch of up to 1,500 vaccine doses for farmworkers, Valadez said no thanks.
“It’s all good,” Valadez wrote to Elsa Jimenez, Monterey’s director of health, in an emailon March 22. “No need to update any further.” In a follow-up interview, Valadez called the state-provided doses “almost a moot point.” They were already running their vaccination site exclusively for farmworkers so they didn’t need them.