The extreme heat that is hitting huge parts of the US West is threatening the working conditions of the laborers that pick America’s fruit and vegetable crops. Temperatures have hit the triple-digits in parts of California, for instance. And while laborers have always picked everything from blueberries to peaches under the scorching sun, the potential for record-breaking heat over the next several days is magnifying the threat.
US farmworkers’ risk of heat-related death clocks in at about 35 times that of the general labor force; it’s higher compared to that of people in other outdoor occupations, like construction. That peril can climb even higher under the intensifying heat. The next several months — when fieldworkers are in high demand to tend to crops and pick them by hand — are expected to be particularly brutal.
On top of the most immediate concern — the danger these workers face — the sweltering conditions are also a threat to food supplies. If farmhands get too sick to pick crops, or end up leaving the job because of the harsh conditions, that could deepen labor shortages in an industry already struggling to attract employees.
Source: bloomberg.com
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