“We want shade, water and a break” (Letty Pineda)
Florida farm workers (Packer)
“We want shade, water and a break”
A Florida farmworker story
By Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, guest editor and podcast host.
In the USA, Farmworkers are 400% times more food insecure than the rest of the population.(1) Nationwide, 83% of those who pick vegetables and fruits consider themselves Hispanic.(2) Florida is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables.(3) In times of climate change, outdoor workers in this State, including farmworkers, are amongst the most vulnerable to heat waves, and the least protected.
Currently in Florida there are no state or federal protections against heat stress for outdoor workers. Instead, there are efforts in Congress to pass a House Bill 433 (4), which would prevent local communities from passing laws to protect outdoor workers from excessive heat exposure and heat-related injuries. Sponsors claim these protections might kill the construction business; meanwhile, farmworkers see their health, wealth and livelihoods affected.(5) In 2023, a young farmworker died on the job in Florida, an easily preventable heat stress had there been laws to support workers, and not just business profit.
Since access to water, shade, and breaks is vital for farmworker health, the Farmworker Association of Florida, in partnership with Emory University’s School of Nursing,(6) has launched an initiative to educate workers, supervisors, and employers on how to prevent, recognize and respond to heat stress on the job and avoid deaths.
In this episode of the AllCreation podcast, Letty Pineda, a Salvadorian farmworker now in Florida for 20 years, shares her experience with the effects of pesticides and increasing heatwaves in the last 5 years on farmworker health. Both have become unbearable. Today, she works with farmworker families on behalf of the Farmworker Association, as an organizer in the Agroecology program. In her new role, Letty facilitates opportunities for farmworker families to grow organic food in a communal plot, or Huerta comunitaria, that belongs to the Association. For farmworkers, what grows in the commercial fields belongs to the business or the owner of the land. In the Huerta, people have authority over what grows and are free to take and enjoy what is planted and harvested. Farmworkers themselves choose what is grown and participate in the keeping of the communal garden, and everything that grows has cultural value.
Letty believes Creation is there for us to enjoy, and has seen how Earth responds, giving and healing, when we take good care of her.
Florida farmworkers today.
Letty and friends gardening in a communal plot, or Huerta comunitaria.
Notes
1 https://nfwm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/HOJ-Farm-Workers-and-Food.pdf
2 https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/naws/pdfs/NAWS_Research_Report_13.pdf
3 https://vimeo.com/325989337
4 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/433
5 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heat-osha-regulations-workers-congress-employers/
6 https://www.nursing.emory.edu/initiatives/girasoles
For more information: Farmworker Association of Florida: https://floridafarmworkers.org
Gracias por leer. Este artículo es parte de nuestra colección Una transición climática apoyada por la fe: de las voces de mujeres islámicas e indígenas, editada por el Reva. Dra. Neddy Astudillo. Consulte esa colección para obtener más información. Visite nuestra lista de correo electrónico, podcasts y canal de YouTube para obtener más contenido. Regístrese para recibir nuestros correos electrónicos trimestrales aquí.
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