Coronavirus spreads
among fruit and vegetable packers, worrying US officials
>>
Reuters
Published: 12 Jun 2020
11:42 AM BdST Updated: 12 Jun 2020 11:42 AM BdST
Fresh
carrots are shown for sale at a grocery store in Del Mar, California, US June
3, 2020. Picture taken June 3, 2020. REUTERS
From apple packing
houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county
known as "the world's salad bowl," outbreaks of the novel coronavirus
are emerging at US fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants.
A rising number of sick
farm and packing house workers comes after thousands of meat plant employees
contracted the virus and could lead to more labour shortages and a fresh wave
of disruption to US food production.
The Trump administration
said last month it may extend an executive order to keep meat plants operating
to fruit and vegetable producers as well, a sign it is concerned fresh produce
could be the next sector hit.
While social distancing
can be more easily implemented for workers harvesting fruits and vegetables in
fields and working outside may reduce some risks for virus spread, plants that
package foods such as apples and carrots resemble the elbow-to-elbow conditions
that contributed to outbreaks at US meat packing plants.
By late May, there were
more than 600 cases of COVID-19 among agricultural workers in Yakima County,
Washington. Of those, 62% were workers in the apple industry and other packing
operations or warehouses, according to a Reuters review of data from county
health officials.
With 4,834 known cases
as of June 10, the county had the highest per-capita infection rate on the West
Coast.
"The (production)
line moves super fast. And you're working side by side and back to back,"
said Edgar Franks, political director with local farmworker union Familias
Unidas por la Justicia in Washington state.
Workers at six fruit
packing sites in Yakima County went on strike in May due to concerns they were
not being provided adequate protection from COVID-19, Franks said.
The health department in
Monterey County, California, known as "the world's salad bowl" for
its sprawling vegetable farms, reported 247 agricultural workers had tested
positive for coronavirus as of June 5, 39% of county's total cases. Monterey is
one of only a handful of health departments in nearly 30 of the largest US
fruit and vegetable producing counties that tracks virus cases among
agricultural workers, Reuters found.
In adjacent Kern county,
Martin Baca, a 53 year-old forklift operator at carrot grower Grimmway Farms died
on April 30, according to his obituary. His family said they believe he
contracted the virus at work.
Grimmway grieved the
loss of an employee and was supporting the family, a spokesperson said. The
company said it did not definitively know where Baca contracted COVID-19.
Grimmway is the largest
carrot producer in the world and dominates the market of popular packaged
"baby carrots," for snacking.
Juan, a Grimmway
employee who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of
losing his job, said at one point so many workers were out sick his shift
dwindled to a third of the needed workers.
"They made some
announcements to stay six feet apart but that's basically impossible when you
are loading boxes onto the same pallet," said Juan, who tested positive
for coronavirus himself though he showed no symptoms. "Obviously you are
going to be close to your co-workers."
Grimmway declined to say
how many workers had tested positive for the virus and said it has seen no
issues of absenteeism. When a worker falls ill, the company talks to everyone
working on that particular shift or department and offers company-funded COVID
testing, Grimmway said in a statement.
Carrot sales at US
stores rose 22% from a year ago in the 13 weeks to May 30, according to Nielsen
data, as Americans bought nearly all their food from supermarkets with
restaurants closed during coronavirus lockdowns.
'GET AHEAD OF THIS'
On May 19 the US
Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration said the government
could use the Defence Production Act to keep fruit and vegetable lines moving.
The act would give companies some liability protection if workers fall sick.
An FDA spokesperson said
the act could be used "to protect the food supply and prevent significant
food shortages."
US Senator Debbie
Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, said in an interview with Reuters farm workers
face increased risks as fruits like apples and cherries enter harvest season.
Stabenow, ranking member
on the Senate Agriculture Committee, introduced legislation on May 27 that
would offer companies grants and loans to upgrade machinery and purchase
personal protective equipment, fund COVID-19 testing and facility cleaning.
"You can get ahead
of this, which is what didn't happen in the meatpacking situation," she
said. "The best way to protect our supply chain is to keep workers
safe."
Meanwhile, coronavirus
cases near tomato-growing Immokalee, Florida, are also on the rise. The spread
of the coronavirus among Florida farm workers has significant implications for
national food production, as many agricultural workers travel north through the
summer following the harvest through Georgia, the Carolinas, and into the
Northeast.
The Florida Department
of Agriculture is planning for more on-farm outbreaks by partnering with county
health departments, hotels for quarantine housing, and educating workers.
Lupe Gonzalo, a farm
worker from Immokalee, said many laborers can't afford to miss work, meaning
many cases among farmworkers go undetected.
"A lot of workers
will hide their symptoms, or say it is just a cold or if they have a fever,
just say it is too hot outside," potentially risking more infection, she
said.
National Latino
Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association
1029 Vermont
Avenue, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC
20005
Office: (202)
628-8833
Fax No.: (202)
393-1816
Email: latinofarmers@live.com
Twitter: @NLFRTA
Website: www.NLFRTA.org 
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