Virus’s unseen hot zone: The American farm [Washington Post]
At the height of harvest season, growers supplying some of America’s biggest agricultural companies and grocery store chains flouted public health guidelines to limit testing and obscure coronavirus outbreaks, according to thousands of pages of state and local records reviewed by The Washington Post. At the same time, state agencies and growers were slow to determine how and when to test workers, what protocols to adopt when workers tested positive, and how to institute contact tracing, advocates say. … The struggles to contain the virus among migrant farmworkers are documented in internal state and county agriculture and health department records, as well as email exchanges with farm bureaus, grower associations, and public health and worker advocacy groups that were obtained by the Documenting COVID-19 project at Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation through public records requests and shared with The Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/24/seasonal-farm-workers-coronavirus/
Foster Farms reports COVID-19 rate under 1% for turkey plant workers in Turlock [Modesto Bee]
Foster Farms said fewer than 1% of its turkey workers in Turlock tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. Wednesday’s announcement came a few weeks after a serious outbreak among the company’s chicken plant employees in Livingston. Foster Farms said it conducted 2,134 tests among the 1,119 workers at the two plants in Turlock that handle all of its turkey. Most were tested twice. … The outbreak at the Livingston chicken plant has resulted in at least eight deaths and 358 positive tests, Merced County health officials said. It closed for about a week for a deep cleaning, then reopened Sept. 7.
https://www.modbee.com/news/coronavirus/article245979350.html
Daughters of the field: East Bay women provide essential goods to farmworkers working through pandemic, wildfires [KGO TV, San Francisco]
… Hijas del Campo, which translates to Daughters of the Field, are raising awareness about the farmworkers plight. … The group is made up of four women who are daughters of immigrants. … The movement which started with a social post announcement about a caravan has grown with support. … In a survey conducted by the group, the majority of the farmworkers asked for masks and food. “Just knowing that these people are working seven days a week, 10-plus hours a day, and they still need help with food, as essential as they are, it just made me so sad,” says Dorina Moraida. https://abc7news.com/community-events/east-bay-women-provide-essential-goods-to-local-farmworkers/6530171/
Is property tax measure a lifesaver for schools or business job-killer? [Vida en el Valle, Fresno]
… The proposition would require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value rather than on their purchase price. … Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen disagrees with Proposition 15 supporters who say ag will not be affected. “We are looking at the largest property tax increase in California state history,” said Jacobsen. “This does affect ag. Essentially, anything beyond the dirt is going to be taxed.”
https://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/politics-government/article245796125.html
Calif. Democrats decry federal inaction in Congress’ first hearing on Salton Sea in 23 years [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
In a congressional hearing Thursday that starkly illuminated partisan divides, California Democrats called on the federal government to provide greater assistance in remedying environmental and public health crises at the Salton Sea. … The water level at the Salton Sea has been falling for nearly two decades, exposing thousands of acres of lakebed that are laden with toxic chemicals carried there by agricultural runoff. … While California is in charge of responding to the problem, local officials argued at the hearing that Congress needs to act because the federal government owns much of the land under the lake and once mandated that the body of water be an agricultural sump.
Emails show how pesticide industry influenced U.S. position in health talks [New York Times]
The emails, from a pesticide industry lobbyist to employees at the Department of Agriculture, expressed alarm over proposed guidelines issued by a United Nations task force working to combat the rise of drug-resistant infections that kill thousands each year. … The emails, which were written in 2018 and obtained through a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group, offer a behind-the-curtain peek at how the powerful pesticide industry influences policy decisions that can affect billions of people across the globe. … Public-health and food-safety advocates say the Trump administration has vastly expanded access for industry lobbyists who are determined to thwart regulations and guidelines that might affect their bottom line.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/health/pesticides-drug-resistance-trump-anifungals.html
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