We’re headed into peak agriculture season in Florida. That includes tomatoes and strawberries grown in Hillsborough County and oranges in Polk County.
Farm laborers — most of them are migrants from Mexico, Central America, and Haiti — will pick the bulk of those crops.
On this week's Florida Matters, we learn more about how the coronavirus is impacting Florida’s agricultural sector. We travel about two hours south of Tampa Bay to Immokalee.
It's a town with few resources: there is no hospital, and workers often live in close quarters.
Farm labor advocates have complained about these conditions for years, with the calls for change gaining new urgency during the ongoing pandemic.
You'll hear two perspectives about what’s being done to protect the health of farm workers.
First, Kelly Morgan, the director of the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, which is part of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The center has developed a COVID safety training program for farmworkers.
After the break is Gerardo Reyes Chavez, a farmworker activist with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
He said, while his group has been getting information out to the farming community, it's often hard for laborers to put it into practice.
"It's been difficult because as you know, farmworkers are considered essential workers. So there's no staying at home," Reyes Chavez said. "Recommendations and orders that were given by the government make no sense when you have the task to feed the country with your work, with your sweat."
Adding insult to injury, he said there are instances where growers are "going against the logic of science, and challenging the usage of masks and making fun of workers."
But Reyes Chavez said there has been progress with a few growers who are part of the Coalition's Fair Food Program. One provides industrial-sized hand washing stations for workers.
You can listen to the rest of the conversation above.
