Coronavirus: California farmworkers, growers continue working in fields through pandemic

The work of farmworkers continues in the time of coronavirus. Rebecca Plevin of the Desert Sun (Palm Springs) writes that California farmworkers and growers are continuing to work to ensure that produce aisles remain stocked.

The federal government has identified the agricultural sector as “essential critical infrastructure” that has a “special responsibility” to continue operating during the pandemic. And California, which supplies more than one-third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts, plays a huge role in the nation’s food supply chain.

So even as California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week called for the state of nearly 40 million people to shelter-in-place to slow the transmission of the virus, the agriculture industry has continued chugging, albeit with some changes.

“We’re not slowing down at all,” said Janell Percy, executive director of Growing Coachella Valley, which advocates for agriculture in the Southern California desert. “We are part of the crisis infrastructure and we have a special responsibility to supply food.”

KJ