An ideal farm community
An ideal farm community should have suitable working conditions for the Agricultural farmers. Working conditions in Agricultural farms are likely to be hard, precarious, as well as hazardous since jobs in rural areas are mostly informal and the lack of written contracts. Moreover, agricultural jobs have little or no protection for workers. Individuals usually work long hours and at the same time earn low wages that can barely sustain them. Additionally, they have to do so many jobs to make a decent living.
Agriculture is one of the most dangerous sectors regarding work-related injuries, occupational diseases as well as non-fatal accidents (Mancini, Jiggins, & O'Malley, 2009). Farmers face a variety of risks including operating heavy equipment and machinery, working with animals and lifting heavy weights daily. They are regularly exposed to climatic conditions that are harsh, excessive vibration and noise, dust, infectious agents, chemicals, and other organic substances. Farmers periodically do not have access to the necessary training, information, and health services to sufficiently deal with these health risks.
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An ideal Agricultural farm should promote safer practices for the farmers. There should be less occupational risks related to the use of pesticides (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2017). The farmers should be taught how to use the pesticides and the risks involved in using them. When farmers have the necessary knowledge concerning pesticide use, they will be able to use the pesticides appropriately hence minimizing the hazard associated with using pesticides. Owners of farms should also come up with strategies for growing healthy crops and also encourage mechanisms of pest control that are natural to limit the utilization of pesticides.
Farmers should also not be exposed to dangerous chemicals that may threaten their health unless they have the knowledge and expertise in using the compounds. Employees should employ chemical experts in the farms if there is need to use chemicals in the farms to minimize the harsh working conditions for the farmers. Furthermore, rural farmers should be trained adequately on how to use the massive farm equipment and machinery. When workers receive training on how to use the machines, there would be fewer accidents hence the farmers would have good working conditions.
It is imperative for farm employees to educate their worker. Additionally, farmers should be paid well because their job is not easy and they should be given allowances like medical and house allowances. A medical allowance is important as agriculture is one of the most dangerous work sectors. The employees should pay for the medical services for injuries incurred in the job. Their houses should be in good condition since they need good relaxation after work (Rural Health Information Hub, 2016). Proper housing will motivate the farmers to work harder. Most importantly, farm workers should not be working for many hours a day. The ideal working hours for them is at least eight hours a day because they need time to recuperate from the hard labor.
The situation in Immokalee
Most individuals living in Immokalee town are involved in farm work. The city is known to be the largest city of immigrant workers. Roughly fifty-two percent of the farmers are not documented and cannot work legally in the United States of America. Immokalee’s effect on Agricultural produce is outstanding. Most tomatoes come from Immokalee. The industry of Agriculture strongly depends on cheap labor from migrant workers.
Immokalee workers earn less money, and they experience dangerous working conditions. The exposure to many types of pesticides and the hard physical labor involved make agriculture a very hazardous occupation (Cano, 2014). The working conditions of Immokalee workers have been documented for decades mostly paying attention to the harsh sanitary conditions, lack of enough housing, deficiencies in the health sector as well as abuses on the farms. Issues concerning health often brought about by exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides make it hard for older farmers to pass the age of 40. Also, the workers have limited access to health care which makes it challenging for them to perform well on the agricultural farms. Because the immigrants are not legally documented and they fear being deported back to the countries, the farmers experience a hard time requesting for improved working conditions, labor rights as well as better wages.
In the growing season, the workers get paid an average of forty-five cents per bucket of tomatoes. If they want to earn just fifty dollars in a day, farmers must collect roughly two tons of tomatoes which is equivalent to one hundred and twenty-five buckets (Paul, 2015). The buckets weigh about thirty-five pounds. Moreover, the workers live in terrible conditions. They live in old trailer houses which are technically inhabitable. The homes are rusty and have mildew stains. Also, they do not have insulation or air conditioning.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
The efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has successfully been able to break out of the barriers that the farmers face. The coalition came up with the Fair Food Program (FFP) which is a partnership among rural farmers, tomato growers in Florida, and retail buyers like Subway, Walmart, as well as Whole foods. The program has enabled the farmers to receive extensive education concerning the new standards of labor dictated in the program’s code of conduct. Therefore, farmers dare to demand suitable working conditions as stipulated in the program (Coalition of Immokalee workers, 2012). Also, the participating buyers such as Subway are required to pay a small Fair Food premium which the growers of tomatoes pass on to their workers as a form of a bonus on their regular wages. As a result, the farmers have been able to earn a decent living since they receive better payments because of the rewards.
In conclusion, an ideal farm community should have suitable working conditions for the farmers such as better wages, medical insurance, housing allowance, and less working hours. For a long time, Immokalee workers have been experiencing harsh working conditions on the Agricultural farms. The efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee workers has helped to improve the working conditions of the farmers.
References
Cano, M. (2014). Immokalee Farm Workers and their Social Crisis in Education and Health. University of Miami Scholarly Repository , 48-52.
Coalition of Immokalee workers. (2012). about/ . Retrieved from http://www.ciw-online.org: http://www.ciw-online.org/about/
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. (2017, January). rural-employment/work-areas/working-conditions/en/ . Retrieved from http://www.fao.org: http://www.fao.org/rural-employment/work-areas/working-conditions/en/
Mancini, F., Jiggins, J., & O'Malley, M. (2009). Reducing the Incidence of Acute Pesticide Poisoning by Educating Farmers on Integrated Pest Management in South India. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health , 143-151.
Paul, E. T. (2015, April 27). eve-turow/you-need-to-know-the-slavery-conditions-on-tomato-farms_b_6735842.html . Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-turow/you-need-to-know-the-slavery-conditions-on-tomato-farms_b_6735842.html
Rural Health Information Hub. (2016). topics/agricultural-health-and-safety . Retrieved from https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/agricultural-health-and-safety
