This summer, like so many now before it, has brought deadly heat across much of the world. And with the rising heat and climate instability comes compounding dangers for all those who must work outdoors, including farmworkers.

Not only does this represent a systemic human rights crisis for outdoor workers, but it is a crisis that is largely preventable.

The CIW and its partners within the FFP, recognizing the need to implement heat stress standards on as many farms as possible, forged a set of heat stress protections within the Fair Food Program that safeguard workers against the worst effects of heat by mandating shade, water, electrolytes, and regular rest breaks, providing training on heat stress symptoms, and empowering workers to stop work and to request immediate medical treatment if requested. By collaborating with participating growers in the FFP, these protections were swiftly agreed upon and implemented in 2021.

Now, after three years of proven success, these heat protections serve as a living, breathing case study as to how the Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) model can quickly respond to shifts in living and working conditions, and is saving the lives of farmworkers across the US and beyond. 

And as the FFP quickly expands, its transformative power is receiving national attention from outlets including the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Univision, which we are excited to share. And last but not least, be sure to check out The Packer’s coverage of our expansion on our site! First up is the Thomson Reuters Foundation: 

Farmworkers in the US cultivate their own heat safety standards

The Fair Food Program works to boost farmworker safety by appealing directly to major brands and consumers

• • Fair Food Program seeks alternative to slow regulations
  • Agreements with Walmart, Whole Foods and McDonald’s
  • Active in 10 states, but that set to double

WASHINGTON – Heat records have repeatedly been toppled in recent weeks, just when farms in some of the hottest parts of United States are at their busiest.

That has Lupe Gonzalo worried.

“A lot of places in the field, you don’t have access to shade, to clean and fresh drinking water,” said Gonzalo, a senior staff member with the non-profit Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who works with farmworkers across several southern states.

For years Gonzalo picked tomatoes, berries, sweet potatoes and other produce, and the heat was always an issue. But her concerns are mounting.

“It’s getting hotter and hotter as climate change continues, and it will continue to be an issue for workers,” Gonzalo, 43, told Context.

“We’ve already seen far too many people become ill and even lose their lives. So this is truly an urgent issue,” she said.

While regulations to protect agricultural workers from the heat have been held up by political wrangling, Gonzalo and her colleagues have spearheaded an alternate strategy.

They seek to sidestep the slow and increasingly politicised government machinery and instead appeal directly to consumers and large brands.

Gonzalo and others in the CIW set up the Fair Food Program to strike deals directly with large companies.

The companies pledge to pay fair wages, eliminate sexual harassment and other issues – including increasingly stringent heat protections – in return for Fair Food Program certification for their products.

The heat-related measures include providing shade, having required breaks, training for workers and supervisors, electrolyte-infused water, and the ability to seek care without fear of retaliation.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
110 S 2nd St
Immokalee, FL 34142
United States

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