farmworkers

A bus carrying farmworkers that police said left from the Immokalee area earlier, overturned on Tuesday in central Florida, killing eight people and injuring about 40 other passengers, authorities said.The bus was transporting 53 farmworkers at about 6:40 a.m. when it collided with a truck in Marion County, north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said.The Florida Highway Patrol said the bus had left from the Immokalee area earlier in the day.

Lucas Benitez is a founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. He is now in the company of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, John Lewis and the 14th Dali Lama of Tibet

Biographer Laura Tillman recounts Lalo Garcia's memories of working in the Florida fields.

The Fair Food Program, the signature creation of Coalition of Immokalee Workers, is expanding internationally.

An Immokalee-based organization has earned a $100,000 prize that it will use to expand its network.

The risk of harm from pesticide exposure in the U.S. is up to five times greater for people of color and that a weak regulatory environment and lax enforcement of existing protections play a significant role in the disproportionate risk faced by Black, Indigenous and people of color, as well as people in low-income communities. We’ll explore the comprehensive study’s findings and recommendations.

If no action is taken to reduce emissions by the end of this century, intense heat will cost Florida’s economy roughly $8 billion in lost work every year. And tens of millions of outdoor workers in the U.S. risk losing a collective $55.4 billion dollars in earnings each year by midcentury.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, attention was paid to the farmworkers who are essential to keeping food on U.S. tables. Here in Florida, they also face extreme, even life-threatening heat, especially as temperatures rise with climate change.

State health officials reported 6,772 new COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths, Wednesday. So far more than 7.5 million people in Florida have been vaccinated including more than 2.9 million people who have received a first dose and more than 4.6 million who have completed the series.Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a letter to school district officials, Wednesday, advising that mask wearing for students will be optional this fall.School districts in Southwest Florida are planning to scale back their virtual learning options for the 2021-2022 school year. Area school districts are also reporting a surge in new infections after students returned from spring break.Due to reports of rare blood clots, Florida has paused distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Gov. Ron DeSantis says despite the pause, Florida’s vaccine supply is still strong. The state’s effort to vaccinate people in prison is also not affected by the pause.Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is calling on Gov. DeSantis to loosen vaccine residency restrictions in an effort to get more undocumented farmworkers vaccinated.