As the nation settles into COVID quarantine, all are adjusting to disturbances. However when it comes to food, most Americans are probably not worried about shortages. After all food is essential and for the most part the grocery stores are still stocked. But with spring upon us, thousands of agricultural workers are arriving in the United States to participate in seasonal harvests of fruits and vegetables. Outbreaks of the virus among these workers could spread quickly in crowded living conditions and result in serious labor shortages, the consequences of which could be felt at the supermarket. 

Reproduced for educational purposes from Gross and Honig: “A migrant farmworkers’ dorm room in central North Carolina. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)”

American farmers, particularly in the fruit and vegetable sector, rely heavily on migrant laborers (40-70% of whom are undocumented) to cultivate and harvest (Gross & Honig). For many of these workers, risk of infection is simply less pressing than earning money, so travel plans are unaltered (Honig). Many workers will be risking their lives this season, yet 90% report that their employers have made no effort to inform them of the dangers and necessary precautions associated with the pandemic (Gross & Honig). Even in times absent of pandemic, US migrant agricultural workers are systematically denied basic rights and working condition standards. While performing grueling and dangerous work, many live in horrible conditions without access to healthcare, vulnerable to the whims of their employers and fearing deportation. 

While I hope that the US food system does not become disturbed to the point of serious shortage, the pandemic could be a needed rude awakening to the vulnerabilities of our industrial and impersonal food system. Particularly, the structural vulnerability steaming from the mistreatment of those at the bottom. It is beyond time for us as a nation to re-examine the inhumane treatment and disenfranchisement plaguing those we depend on for our food supply. Perhaps now that our food supply could be at risk, we will.

-Aisling Doyle Wade

Sources:

Gross, Liza & Honig, Esther. 2020. “Migrant Farmworkers Feed America — And

They’re At High Risk For A Coronavirus Outbreak.” Huffpost, March 26, 2020. https://preview.www.huffpost.com/entry/farmworkers-coronavirus_n_5e7cd0b2c5b6cb08a9298f68/preview?preview=f43c0d46-dc82-4add-8208-c7b959487616. 

Hoing, Esther. 2020. “For Mexico’s migrant farmworkers, virus risk may be worth it for

what they’ll earn in U.S.” Fern’s Ag Insider, March 18, 2020. https://thefern.org/ag_insider/for-mexicos-migrant-farmworkers-virus-risk-may-be-worth-it-for-what-theyll-earn-in-u-s/.