In the Blazing Heat of Summer, Farmworkers Are the Heroes Who Feed Us All

For everything in your summer eats, give credit to the farmworkers. So let’s support, not deport, our agricultural industry

U.S. farmworkers already face immense challenges when it comes to being able to carry out their skilled labor in safety and with dignity, from a lack of federal protections afforded to many other workers, to workplace hazards like accidents and extreme heat. Now add an unprecedented anti-immigrant agenda to the list. “US undocumented farm workers feel ‘hunted like animals,’” read one recent headline.

It’s a shameful way to treat the essential workers who feed our country – rain or shine, blistering heat or penetrating cold – and quite literally keep the entire agricultural industry alive. The simple fact is, that without these workers and their skills, farms couldn’t operate and we wouldn’t eat. Period. Many of these workers lack legal immigration status.

Of the roughly 2.4 million farmworkers nationwide, at least half are undocumented, making immigration policy an issue that affects everyone. In agriculture-rich states like California, as many as 75% of farmworkers may lack legal immigration status. Many are contributors, have U.S. citizen children, and have called this country their home for a decade or more.

In dairy states like California, Idaho, Utah, Vermont, South Dakota and Wisconsin, immigrant workers are largely responsible for producing the fresh milk, delicious cheeses, and other dairy products that are enjoyed by Americans all over the country. “Workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries make up an estimated 70% of the labor force on Wisconsin dairy farms,” the Wisconsin Examiner reported last year. In 2023, ProPublica reported that one conservative count from the University of Wisconsin at Madison estimated that roughly 6,200 workers at larger farms lack legal immigration status. And because the study excluded small farms, the total number could be even higher.

“Talk to workers in Wisconsin, and they express little doubt immigrants account for a larger portion of the dairy industry workforce today,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2019. In fact, “some farmers say they haven’t encountered a U.S.-born applicant in years.”

Enjoy citrus? Thank a farmworker. In Florida, an estimated “105,759 men and women work in nurseries and crop agriculture statewide over the course of the year,” Rural Neighborhoods said. In 2022, these workers helped make the state number one in the U.S. in the value of production of bell peppers, sugarcane, tomatoes, and watermelons. Florida is also one of the top producers of all oranges. In fact, before the state’s famous citrus industry was affected by hurricanes and other environmental factors, no matter where in the U.S. you were eating an orange, the overwhelming likelihood was harvested by a farmworker in Florida.

In addition to dairy, California also produces “1/3 of the nation’s vegetables and nearly 2/3 of the nation’s fruits and nuts,” the Center for Farmworker Families said. Do you like strawberries? Chances are that it passed through the skilled hands of a farmworker in the state. “California produces 90% of the strawberries grown in the U.S.”

But just as important as recognizing the contributions of farmworkers is acknowledging the immense risks that these laborers face every day and doing better for them. Extreme heat, for example, affects all communities but leaves outdoor workers like farmworkers at heightened risk. For many, extreme heat can without any exaggeration be a matter of life or death. “On average, 43 farmworkers die from heat-related illnesses every year, according to studies,” Reckon reported in 2023. “They are 20 times more likely to die from heat than civilian employees.”

We know that heat standards ensuring outdoor workers get water, shade, rest breaks, and relevant training recommended by experts and advocates can save lives. In its investigation of one Florida farmworker’s tragic death from heat on New Year’s Day 2023, Labor officials determined that his death was entirely preventable and that the contractor who hired him had failed to follow best practices.

“They were also subjected to unprecedented risks during the early days of the pandemic,” Civil Eats reported last October. “California’s agricultural workers have contracted Covid-19 at nearly three times the rate of other residents in the state, a new study has found, laying bare the risks facing those who keep a $50bn industry afloat,” The Guardian reported in 2020. While many U.S. workers were able to shelter, that just wasn’t a possibility for farmworkers. “You can’t pick strawberries over Zoom,” one advocate said that same year.

But even as they face increased risks in doing their essential work, farmworkers don’t have the basic resources they need in order to stay healthy. One study from U.C. Riverside in 2013 found that “many farmworkers stay quiet when it comes to unsafe workplace conditions and injuries because they fear losing their jobs. Many farmworkers lack health insurance and have little access to medical facilities, sick pay, and transportation.” Union efforts, however, have made significant wins for some:

As millions of these essential workers now also face having to feed us while under an unprecedented campaign targeting millions of immigrants, standing up for them must mean more than just recognizing their contributions (though they do deserve our thanks every single day). And, more and more growers  are demanding policies that legalize, not demonize farm workers. Standing up for them must mean legislative changes that ensure they have the stability and full rights they need in order to continue thriving, keep their families together, and live without fear. Protecting workers benefits our entire nation, generates new revenue, raises wages for all, and can finally address a long-outdated immigration system, it’s simply just the right thing to do.