Undated – Pine Tree Legal Assistance – Maine Mobile Health Program (“MMHP”) provides low-cost care specifically to Maine’s farmworkers. More links Healthcare for Farmworkers in Maine During COVID-19
September 6, 2020 – By Jennifer Mitchell, Maine Public – In recent decades, farms have faced difficulties in finding enough people to work. This year, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry decided to try and do something about it with an initiative called FarmingForME, including a social media blitz, an awareness and education
September 1, 2020 – By Mary Bilecki, Brattleboro Reformer – More than 11 percent of farm work in Vermont is accomplished by seasonal H-2A Temporary Visa farm workers, a majority of whom are Jamaican — an estimated 400 individuals. Established in 1986 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the H-2A Visa Program
August 31, 2020 – By Lisa Held, Civil Eats – Food safety advocates say the move, despite COVID-19 risks and longstanding worker safety concerns, is due to industry influence at the agency. More links USDA Seeks to Permanently Speed up Poultry Plant Line Speeds
August 27, 2020 – By Gosia Wozniacka, Civil Eats – Workers on H2-A visas are being hard hit by COVID-19 because they work in large groups, know little about their rights in the U.S., and live in remote camps and other communal housing cut off from outside resources. More links Isolated in Crowded Conditions, Guest
August 25, 2020 – By Evan Popp, Maine Beacon – Each year, migrant farmworkers come to Maine from places as far away as Jamaica and Mexico and, along with the farmworkers already in the state, harvest iconic crops like blueberries. More links As harvests begin, Maine farmworkers may be at risk from virus
July 24, 2020 – By Jennifer Mitchell, Maine Public – With harvest on the horizon and the summer slipping away, COVID-19 continues to wreak new havoc on Maine farms in diverse ways. Some farmers say the pandemic is dealing blows to their business plans and complicating an already complex labor market — even driving some
July 23, 2020 – By Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, The Walrus – If you’re paying $1 for lettuce, somebody’s being exploited. So is the environment. More links The Struggles of Sustainable Farming
July 7, 2020 – By Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post – A cash-strapped rancher, a virus-stricken meatpacker, an underpaid chef, a hungry engineer: The journey of a single burger during a pandemic. More links The lives upended around a $20 cheeseburger
July 7, 2020 – Organic Trade Assoc., GlobNewswire – The Board of Directors of the Organic Trade Association has voted unanimously to take strong action to support the health, safety and legal standing of the nation’s farmworkers, and called for more attention to be paid to the well-being of this vital workforce that is toiling
