Farmworkers face future of climate-related woes - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Farmworkers face future of climate-related woes

As Earth repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat last week, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings rolled out across much of the U.S., and farms in Oregon, Texas and much of the southern and central regions of the country were expected to see highs pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week.

Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health, but there is no federal heat standard that ensures their health and safety.

California is one of the few states that has adopted its own standards. Those include keeping fresh and cool water nearby, providing access to shade and monitoring workers for health issues when the temperature goes above 95 degrees, according to the United Farm Workers Foundation.

Edgar Franks describes working on farms in the heat as "a matter of life and death." He has lifelong memories of being hot and uncomfortable in the fields where he and his family worked, first growing up in Texas while working on citrus and watermelon, and later in Washington state in fields of cauliflower, cucumbers, raspberries and blueberries.

"There's no escaping it," he said of the exposure to the elements over the 20 years he's been in the industry. "No matter if you're, you know, covered from head to toe in like the best ventilated clothing or wearing the hats and all that, or in a T-shirt or anything, it's going to be hot no matter what."

Franks still works in berry fields in Washington but is also political director for farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia.

He's been tracking climate change for a long time, and recalls being summoned to a 2017 strike by dozens of farmworkers in northwest Washington state. They were protesting poor working conditions, including laboring under oppressive heat and smoky conditions from Canadian wildfires.

"It's not normal to go through these heat waves and, you know, act as if nothing is happening," he said. "And we just continue to normalize this, then, and nothing is going to be done to protect workers."

Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Farm work is particularly dangerous because workers raise their internal body temperature by moving, lifting and walking at the same time they're exposed to high heat and humidity, said Dr. Jonathan Patz, chair of health and the environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Camilo Martin picks blueberries at the Coopertiva Tierra y Libertad farm Friday, July 7, 2023, in Everson, Wash. Farms and workers must adapt to changing climate conditions. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.(AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Migrant farmworkers pick sweet corn in a field, Friday, July 7, 2023, at a farm in Waverly, Ohio. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Pedro Murrieta Baltazar places a handful of sweet corn onto a conveyor belt while working, Friday, July 7, 2023, at a farm in Waverly, Ohio. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Cameron Way grabs sweet corn off a conveyer belt while working, Friday, July 7, 2023, at his farm in Waverly, Ohio. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Pedro Murrieta Baltazar, right, and Pedro Murrieta, left, pick yellow squash, Friday, July 7, 2023, at a farm in Waverly, Ohio. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Pedro Murrieta Baltazar carries a handful of green onions while working, Friday, July 7, 2023, at a farm in Waverly, Ohio. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Anna Lopez works picking blueberries at the Coopertiva Tierra y Libertad farm Friday, July 7, 2023, in Everson, Wash. Farms and workers must adapt to changing climate conditions. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.(AP Photo/John Froschauer)

A farm worker's hands are shown picking blueberries at the Coopertiva Tierra y Libertad farm Friday, July 7, 2023, in Everson, Wash. Farms and workers must adapt to changing climate conditions. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Camilo Martin, left and Jesus Pablo sit in the shade of a truck to eat lunch at the Coopertiva Tierra y Libertad farm Friday, July 7, 2023, in Everson, Wash. Farms and workers must adapt to changing climate conditions. As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.(AP Photo/John Froschauer)