Farmworker advocates are celebrating the recently announced updates to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard. At a news conference in Washington D.C., last month, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the previous standards were more than 20 years old and were not enough to adequately protect workers from the harmful health impacts of pesticide exposure. Farmworker advocates had been lobbying for increased protections for years. We’ll take a closer look at what the updated regulations will mean for Florida’s nearly 300,000 farmworkers, their employers and the health care industry. We’ll also explore where advocates say further protections are still needed.
Guests:
Andrea Delgado, Senior Legislative Representative with Earthjustice
Jeannie Economos, Pesticide-Safety and Environmental Health Project Coordinator for the Farmworker Association of Florida
Karla Martinez, Senior Attorney for the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project