An Interview with Lupe Gonzalo, on the challenges farmworkers face in a pandemic
Gonzalo is a farmworker staff member for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in southwest Florida.
Our full Q&A on the issues Florida farmworkers are facing during the pandemic.
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The U.S. food system remains mostly intact thanks to the essential-but-often-thankless work of the nation’s 2.5 million farmworkers. Despite their officially designated “essential” status, many of these farmworkers lack the protections and rights needed to keep safe and prevent COVID-19 from spreading in their community. The disregard has led to frightening work conditions and deadly outbreaks.
Matt spoke with Lupe Gonzalo, a farmworker staff member for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in southwest Florida, about the conditions that local farmworkers are confronting during the pandemic. The CIW is a worker-led human-rights organization focused on improving the working conditions of agricultural laborers, many of whom are immigrants. They’ve made great strides for workers’ rights in areas like wages and sexual harassment. But the spread of coronavirus presents an unprecedented challenge for farmworkers in Immokalee and across the country.
Lupe, 39, is originally from Guatemala and used to pick tomatoes in Florida before becoming a staff member for the CIW almost a decade ago. She told Sunshine + Microbes about daily life for farmworkers during the pandemic, why Immokalee needs a field hospital, and the irony of immigrant workers being called “essential” by a hostile federal government.
☀️Sunshine + Microbes: How is day-to-day life changing during the pandemic?
Lupe Gonzalo: It's been changing a lot. Farmworkers have been classified as essential workers during the pandemic by the federal government and even though they receive that classification, the government isn't doing anything to step in and make sure these workers are protected.
Agricultural workers are very vulnerable when it comes to the pandemic. especially when we're talking about the spread of the virus. Already workers live in crowded places. They also are transported to work where it's also crowded, and so when we talk about measures like social distancing, which is being required, it's not possible for them to be able to keep that distance.
☀️So conditions remain the same because there's not much you can do to change them?
Yes, exactly. there's not a lot being done right now. There are some farms right now that are transporting workers in buses and keeping distances in between the aisles and in between different workers. They've installed handwashing stations for workers to use. So they've taken some action, but even then it's very limited what the growers are able to do.
When this virus starts to spread and it affects one farmworker, you're essentially looking at an entire group of farmworkers who are going to be affected because that farmworker travels in a bus with many other people. Then when they're done working they go to a trailer, where they share the space with several people, they share a kitchen, they share a bathroom, they share the common spaces. So in reality it's something that's going to quickly affect many others.
☀️Are the farm owners helping or giving advice on the pandemic or providing more opportunities to disinfect?
There are certain growers [that are participating in the CIW's fair food program] that have agreed to take different measures to protect workers. Some of them are providing protective equipment, disinfecting buses and bathrooms. Some of them are putting in handwashing stations, and these growers that participate are 90 percent of the tomato industry in the state. But anyone who works outside of these farms, if they work in any other product then you are stuck with a farm that is likely not doing anything. We've been hearing of farms that are not even educating their workers properly about how to prevent infection and what they can do to be safe. They're not providing any protective equipment. They don't have any materials that announce on the buses, for example, how to take care of yourselves. There's a lot of places where people are working and not getting the protection they need.
☀️How does healthcare work for farmworkers in Immokalee now? If somebody feels sick, what happens?
Right now we have a clinic here in town in Immokalee where workers can call to make an appointment if they believe they have symptoms. If they show extreme symptoms, the clinic will work with them to figure out what they have to do to see care. But then there's also workers who aren't calling or reporting any kind of symptoms that they might be feeling. If a worker does decide to go to a hospital, you're talking about a hospital that's 40 minutes to an hour away. They have to go a great distance to get somewhere where they might get some care.
Another issue that we're having right now is testing because it's not widely available. That's one of the most urgent needs we have, to be able to test it. We have no idea which workers have the virus and which ones don't have the virus and then on top of that there are more workers who are refusing to call at all and refusing to seek any sort of medical attention because the fear that they have is they're going to lose their job or something is going to happen to them for reporting their possible sickness.
☀️What is the idea with the mobile hospital?
What we are asking the Florida government is to take the crisis more seriously, especially with farmworkers who are more vulnerable and live in poverty. We are trying to get a field hospital in town. We have an online public petition that we have set up to pressure the governor to build this hospital, but also to recognize how the lack of action by the state is going to impact farmworkers. The petition asks the governor to build a local field hospital, in Immokalee. Not in Naples, not in another city. A field hospital in Immokalee would make it accessible to thousands of workers who would depend on it and arrive on foot or by bicycle. We're also asking for the state to provide a location where workers can self-isolate. If any workers are showing symptoms they can't go anywhere to self-isolate right now. We're requesting them to build facilities so workers can quarantine themselves away from other people they live with.
At the same time, we ask for medical personnel because obviously a hospital by itself won't work. We also need people to run the hospital and to attend to the community, and the petition also asks that the governor require that farms provide protective equipment for farmworkers.
We also want tests here as soon as they make them available because we know there's a shortage of testing, but we want testing to be made available as soon as possible. That way we can start keeping track of what this virus looks like here in our community. We also ask for public funds to be made available to support farmworkers throughout this pandemic because there are going to be workers who will be in quarantine or who will be isolated and that's one of the biggest issues — a lot of farmworkers are not reporting [health issues] because their fear above anything is that they're not going to be able to earn money to support their families and get through this time.
☀️How much work is available at this time? Have workers struggled to pay rent or other bills?
Right now we are coming to the end of the [Florida growing] season. Farmworkers follow the season and they'll move themselves around. Typically here in Immokalee the tomato season starts in November and it'll go until this time of year. What we're starting to hear from a lot of people is they're making plans to move and follow the season up north to other cities and other states. Who's to say what will happen as soon as people start moving? Right now is a crucial time to provide workers with the education they need to understand those risks, and to make sure they have here the resources that they might need because people are making plans to move.
Insofar as paying rent, I haven't heard of any community members with that issue. The season is slowing down but there's still work available. But that might become a concern over time.
☀️How do you receive information either about new government orders or updates about the coronavirus?
We have a team of staff members who are in different conversations to keep updated on everything that's happening right now. For example, there are some team members who if I'm not mistaken have at least two calls a week with Collier County to keep up on the status of things and the efforts that are happening. We as a staff have weekly calls where we update each other on the different conversations that are happening. As a community we are going out every single week and posting flyers and information in the community, so people in town have a sense of what the updates are and the new measures that are being recommended.
One of the growers [that works closely with CIW] is called Lipman Family Farms, and they've actually contributed seven hand-washing stations and so these hand-washing stations have been placed around town where workers get picked up and dropped off after work. In the community, there's a new project happening right now. There's a group of women who are dedicating some of their time to sewing face masks for farmworkers and so they're working on that project to make them more available.
☀️What do you think of the paradox where you're called “essential workers” but not receiving the necessary measures to help and survive?
They can't call a worker essential and then leave them abandoned, putting them at risk. this is inhumane. It's cruel, simply put. The way they see workers are as machines, as a means to profit. When they risk the health of thousands of workers, they're not viewing farmworkers as the human beings they are that need different measures for protection. All this brings to surface the cruelty that farmworkers have actually faced for many years. It's not new treatment. It's just something that's really elevating the reality that they've been confronting for a long time.
I say machine deliberately because when you view something as a machine, you view it as replaceable, and because of the actions they're taking right now that's exactly what it looks like, as if we're replaceable, as if any farmworker can be replaced by another farmworker. That's why it's such a cruel and inhumane situation to be in. These authorities have to make themselves responsible for the way essential workers should actually be treated, which is provided with the resources they need to actually stay safe.
☀️Do you have anything else you want to add?
The last thing I'd add is for the consumers. Right now people are at home and spending time with their families. I think this is a time to be able to reflect on many different things, and that includes farmworkers and where our food comes from. Right now we are focusing our efforts on dealing with this pandemic but we still have our Wendy's Boycott campaign, and we're still asking people to support and put pressure on Wendy's. Also we think it's a time for people to reflect on where their food comes from and who's picking it during this time and to think about the sacrifices that workers make. As consumers there's always more we can do to educate ourselves and be aware of what's happening in this moment.
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Sunshine + Microbes team
Jackie Vitale is the current Chef-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and co-founder of the Florida Ferment Fest. Her newsletter explores the intersection of food, culture, environment and community.
Matt Levin is a freelance reporter based in Colombia. He edits Sunshine + Microbes and contributes other scraps to each issue.