UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue VII

Critical Study Has Far-reaching Influence on Farmworker Health & Well-being

Farm laborers suffer a variety of debilitating ailments and have disproportionately poor health outcomes, studies show.

T e health study thrust the plight of laborers into the spotlight and as hoped for, informed legislation and helped usher in new policies regarding their treatment. CLC’s faculty director, sociology Professor Edward Flores, said his team has been contacted by state and federal organizations looking to develop or revamp workplace standards. One such example is that architects of a USDA pilot program that supplies organizations with grants to support U.S. farmworkers and seasonal workers on visas contacted CLC for guidance on job quality for laborers. In its first year, the program awarded $50 million in funding. at set a precedent directly attributable to the report, Flores said. “ is was the first time public subsidies were given to growers with the intent of raising labor standards,” he said. “We normally see this in other industries, such as construction, but never in agriculture.”

By Sam Yniguez T e UC Merced Community and Labor Center (CLC) released its landmark Farmworker Health Study two years ago, and the report’s findings continue to have significant positive impacts in the U.S. and abroad. Several years in the making, the report provided an in-depth and eye-opening account of farm laborers’ working conditions and health issues. Since its release, the study — which surveyed over 1,200 agriculture workers in California — has been viewed as a touchstone for the agriculture industry and used to enact sweeping changes. e report’s findings have been cited in countless news articles and are referenced regularly in publications.

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