How Many More Workers Will We Let Die in the Fields This Summer?

By Adriana Maestas, AlterNet. Posted July 22, 2008.

Editor's note: The Department of Agriculture estimates that 50 percent of all agricultural workers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, and unofficial estimates range as high as 70 percent. Those who would dismiss the tragedies that have befallen them because these workers had "broken the law" should therefore keep in mind that between 30-50 percent of farmworkers are perfectly legal, including U.S. citizens, and they share the same plight. Only by fixing a broken system of legal immigration and cleaning up these illegal jobs can we hope to humanely deflect "illegal" immigrants into the system and out of the shadows of our largely unregulated low-skilled workforce.

A week ago, 46-year-old Ramiro Carrillo passed away at his Selma, CA home after picking nectarines for about four hours in 112-degree heat at Sun Valley Packing. Two weeks ago 42-year-old Abdon Felix died after working in the fields at Sunview Vineyards near Delano, California. His body temperature was 108 degrees when he arrived at the hospital. Last month Jose Macarena, 64, collapsed in a field in Santa Barbara County and later died during a 110-degree day. Back in May, 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who was two months pregnant, died in a vineyard near Stockton, after working eight hours in the heat without adequate water or shade. When she collapsed, the labor contractors who hired her opted to not rush her to the hospital and instead attempted to cool her off in a car by putting rubbing alcohol on her skin.

As we enter the dog days of summer, we should expect more days of 100-degree temperatures in the Central Valley of California and other agricultural regions. With the extreme heat, we'll see more farmworker deaths as well, unless there is stronger enforcement of labor laws designed to prevent heat related deaths.

Kerry Trueman of the Huffington Post recently connected the dots between global warming and heat-related deaths in the fields. The EPA has given contradictory statements about whether global warming poses a health risk to humans - it's stated that there isn't a connection between increased and man-made global warming, and it's said that we must regulate green house gases under the Clean Air Act. The valleys of California have trapped smog for as long as residents have been heating and cooking with fire. With the addition of the automobile, millions of people, and industrial farming techniques, the valleys have come to feel like ovens, especially during the summer months. The Central Valley is also experiencing one of the driest seasons on record since 1962. In late June, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought. The National Weather Service is recommending that people use swimming pools and drink plenty of water to avoid heat related illness, but it seems that this message isn't resonating with the farmers or labor contractors. Not everyone in sunny California has a swimming pool.

When American society was more agrarian, consumers of produce and livestock felt more of a connection with the food that they consumed, and that connection reached to those who labored to produce the harvests. With the rise of global food supply chains, we no longer feel a connection to those who labor for our fruits and vegetables. The traditional media mentions these farmworker deaths in passing and fails to connect global warming, immigration, and the global food supply chain together. Big agribusiness is driving up the cost of corn in countries like Mexico by pushing ethanol to ease the use of fossil fuels. Symptoms of global warming are exacerbated by the chemical pesticides used in the fields, while undocumented farmworkers who come to the U.S. to earn more money are deemed "illegal aliens" and denied basic human rights while putting food on our tables. With multiple factors in play, it's no wonder the average citizen doesn't know much about the food he or she consumes, who helped bring it to market or even why undocumented people are driven to work in such extreme heat.

See more stories tagged with: immigration, agriculture, climate change, workplace violations

Adriana Maestas is a free-lance writer based in Southern California.

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