Current:Home > StocksTakeaways from AP story on dangerous heat threats to greenhouse workers -PureWealth Academy
Takeaways from AP story on dangerous heat threats to greenhouse workers
Charles H. Sloan View
Date:2025-04-08 10:26:14
MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — Many farms, from vertical farming startups to traditional specialty crop growers, are marketing greenhouses as a way to shelter crops from climate extremes. But overlooked are the experiences of workers inside, who may swelter under high heat and humidity.
The number of greenhouse and nursery workers has increased by over 16,000 in recent years, according to the latest U.S. agricultural census, and there are still no federal heat rules to protect them.
The data, along with stories of current and former greenhouse workers, shows a growing population of people increasingly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, injuries and death as global temperatures rise and greenhouses become more popular.
Here’s what to know from AP’s report.
Many farms, from vertical farming startups to traditional crop growers, are marketing greenhouses as a way to shelter crops from climate extremes. But that promise overlooks the experience of the workers inside, where many experience bad conditions (AP Video: Donavan Brutus)
Heat and humidity, a dangerous combination
Heat combined with humidity makes it harder for sweat to evaporate to cool the body, creating a potentially more dangerous scenario.
Eulalia Mendoza said temperatures could spike between 105 and 115 degrees (41 to 46 C) in the summer inside the California greenhouse she worked in. She described being drenched in sweat and suffering from heat illness — headaches, nausea, ceasing to sweat.
Other workers across the U.S. described losing weight, dizziness and fainting from extreme heat.
In those conditions, workers who don’t get enough breaks in cooler environments, whose shifts are not pushed earlier or later in the summer and whose managers ignore their concerns are the most at risk.
A former greenhouse worker at AppHarvest, who wishes to remain anonymous, poses for a portrait behind a sheet of plastic, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Morehead, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Little research or regulation, more workers
Between 2010 and 2019, nursery and greenhouse operations nearly doubled their hiring of H-2A agricultural visa holders. Without protections, their ability to speak up about working conditions becomes harder.
California recently approved heat rules for indoor workers, joining states like Oregon and Minnesota, but enforcing them can be tricky. For instance, workers are entitled to a 10 to 15-minute break, but that may be too short to shed and don their gear, so they may stay inside to ensure they’re back to work on time.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has two complaints about heat stress specifically in greenhouses, in 2005 and 2017. The low number of documented complaints may reflect workers’ concerns about retaliation if they report workplace conditions, said Abigail Kerfoot with Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, a migrants’ rights organization.
A former greenhouse worker at AppHarvest, who wishes to remain anonymous, poses for a portrait behind a sheet of plastic, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Morehead, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Few trainings for the vulnerable
Some current and former greenhouse workers said they didn’t get training to identify symptoms of or protect themselves from heat.
Emily Hernandez, who worked for a summer in a greenhouse in Orange County, said she never received heat safety training despite temperatures that could rise up to the high 80s.
“When I did bring it up, there was a company meeting about not complaining about the heat,” she said.
At the University of California, Davis, students, staff and researchers are required to take greenhouse safety trainings that cover heat illness protection, injury reduction, emergency guidance and the federal worker protection standard.
On 100-degree days, researchers working in older greenhouses are encouraged to work early mornings, stay hydrated and take breaks in cooler areas.
A former greenhouse worker at AppHarvest, who wishes to remain anonymous, poses for a portrait behind a sheet of plastic, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Morehead, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Greenhouses as a climate solution
In what was supposed to be a “climate-resilient food system,” workers say temperatures frequently reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) inside facilities at the now-bankrupt AppHarvest, a startup with greenhouses in Kentucky that touted itself as a climate solution.
Workers say they saw colleagues carried out on makeshift stretchers, and dozens more helped outside on others’ shoulders.
“I started getting really sick from the heat. And my body started shutting down on me,” said one worker.
Indoor growing companies maintain that with the right management, greenhouse growing is a promising climate solution. To account for excessive heat, some say they adjust workers’ schedules, starting them earlier in the morning or later in the day when temperatures are cooler.
Aaron Fields, vice president of agriculture at greenhouse-based vertical farming company Eden Green, thinks the startup culture of “high-tech” greenhouses, which can include leaders and founders without prior farming experience, has led some to miss the importance of working conditions.
But Rebecca Young with the nonprofit Farmworker Justice said greenhouses can be healthy places to work, beginning with establishing worker protections. When temperatures are monitored; when workers get adequate breaks, water and training, then growing in greenhouses can be sustainable for humans and agriculture alike.
“It’s sort of thinking about, how can we interact with the climate around us in a way that keeps people and the food that we’re eating healthy and safe?” she said.
___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
veryGood! (51788)
Related
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Taylor Swift brought back this song cut from Eras Tour for surprise set in Amsterdam
- It’s a fine line as the summer rainy season brings relief, and flooding, to the southwestern US
- USA Basketball men’s Olympic team arrives for camp in Las Vegas
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Lindsay Hubbard is pregnant! 'Summer House' star expecting after Carl Radke split
- LaVar Arrington II, son of Penn State football legend, commits to Nittany Lions
- 1 killed, 10 injured as speedboat crashes into jetty in California
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- A Florida woman posed as a social worker. No one caught on until she died.
Ranking
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Who won Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Hot Dog Eating Contest 2024? Meet the victors.
- Powerball winning numbers for July 3: Jackpot rises to $138 million
- Critically endangered gorilla with beautiful big brown eyes born at Ohio zoo
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- Residents of small Missouri town angered over hot-car death of police dog
- Hurricane Beryl leaves Armageddon-like destruction in Grenada, field of devastation on Union Island, Caribbean leaders say
- Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott spotted in walking boot ahead of training camp
Recommendation
Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
How a unique Topeka program is welcoming immigrants and helping them thrive
Judge says Nashville school shooter’s writings can’t be released as victims’ families have copyright
Brooke Burke says women in their 50s must add this to their workouts
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
A Low-Balled Author, a Star With No Salary & More Secrets About Forrest Gump
Suspect with gun in Yellowstone National Park dies after shootout with rangers
The Minnesota Dam That Partially Failed Is One of Nearly 200 Across the Upper Midwest in Similarly ‘Poor’ Condition