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Chelsea Wood uploaded a new media, Wine Harvest and Fire Season Means Bad Air for Agricultural Workers
2 years ago
Wine Harvest and Fire Season Means Bad Air for Agricultural Workers
Wine Harvest and Fire Season Means Bad Air for Agricultural Workers
Late summer is grape harvest season in Sonoma County, an extremely important time for Sonoma County’s billion dollar wine industry. Unfortunately, now, because of climate change, harvest coincides with California’s annual fire season.
That puts harvest workers, like Anabel Garcia, on the front lines. They have to endure long, hard days working in hazardous conditions and breathing smoky air. “You can feel it in your throat,” says Garcia. “And it’s harder to breathe.”
Although farm and agricultural workers, like Garcia, are protected by California’s strong labor laws, some don’t feel that enough is being done to protect these workers.
“If we value the wine, we should value the people who do the work to produce this wine,” says Max Bell Alper, Executive Director of North Bay Jobs With Justice.
Produced by Adam Grossberg and Chelsea Wood
Northern California
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