John --
Immokalee’s 25,000 farmworkers have been abandoned from real, life-saving protections as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout our state. Florida’s agricultural industry is also at risk, and millions of people across the country depending on local supermarkets to be stocked are left unsure if they’ll be able to feed their families in the coming months. That’s the reality we’re up against as Florida’s elected officials like Gov. Ron DeSantis fail to act.
Farmworkers live in overcrowded housing units, travel to and from the fields in packed vans and buses, and don’t have the proper personal protective gear to prevent infection. And Immokalee doesn’t have a hospital to quarantine and treat positive cases. Every day that goes by is another day closer to the virus carving through the state’s agricultural workforce like wildfire. Before we know it, Florida won’t have enough workers to harvest our crops.
