California

California AgrAbility staff joined Migrant Clinician's Network for "UPDATES: Working in the times of COVID-19. Protecting vulnerable workers and their families," a webinar held in Spanish for promotores. Dr. Eva Galvez spoke on disparities in the Hispanic communities where many are essential workers. She also spoke on the differences between cleaning and disinfecting and the importance of having an action plan should someone in the family fall ill. The webinar closed with an overview of the vulnerabilities of agricultural producers and workers: living conditions, transportation of work crews, food access, stress, anxiety, and lack of mental health resources.

California AgrAbility staff members have been participating in weekly meetings with the Yolo Promotores Network to join efforts in providing community members with direct connections to support them through this evolving pandemic. The working group is currently planning a webinar for Spanish speaking promotores on the topic of COVID-19. AgrAbility staff have connected farmworkers to their local public health offices, community clinics, and testing sites. Staff have advocated for accommodations at worksites for farmworkers at field and processing sites. They have also distributed to farmers and farmworkers COVID-19 toolkits to inform them about safety precautions.

California AgrAbility staff joined the "Promoting Mental Well-being for People of Color within the Realms of Environmental Health and Safety" webinar from the Blacks in Safety Excellence (BISE) common interest group in the American Society of Safety Professionals. The webinar gave an overview of concepts of mental illness and psychological safety, risk factors contributing to mental illness, including those in the workplace, and factors and components that should be considered in promoting psychological safety in the workplace. Psychosocial factors and hazards can be implemented into the "Plan, Do, Check, Assess Cycle." Psychological hazards are known to have a powerful impact on organizations and individuals, and include lack of psychological support, lack of physical safety, psychological demands and other chronic stressors. These highlight the importance of partnering with mental health providers and resources to keep employees safe.

California AgrAbility is staying informed on the effects of the pandemic on agricultural communities in order to collaborate with other boots-on-the-ground organizations and effectively conduct outreach during these times. The COVID-19 Farmworker Study provided preliminary results from the California surveys. Highlights included data showing that Monterey county farmworkers are three times more likely to become infected when compared to workers of any other industry. Due to the collapse of the foodservice demand, farm work is becoming more competitive. Families have lost 50% of their incomes as one parent has to stay home with the children due to school closures, and the increase in food prices has impacted the farmworker food basket. This study includes a wide array of farmworker advocacy groups, many of which collaborate with California AgrAbility. It is these collaborators which support reaching farmworkers in different areas of the state during the cancellation of typical in-person outreach efforts.

Submitted by Sara Wat