ABSTRACT

From the farms to the packing plants, essential workers in critical food production industries keep food on our tables while risking their and their families’ health and well-being to bring home a paycheck. They work in essential industries but are often invisible. The disparities illuminated by COVID-19 are not new. Instead, they are the result of years of inequities built into practices, policies, and systems that reinforce societal power structures. As a society, we are now at an antagonizing moment where we can change our collective trajectory to focus forward and promote equity and justice for workers in agriculture and food-related industries. To that end, we describe our experience and approach in addressing COVID-19 outbreaks in meat processing facilities, which included three pillars of action based on public health ethics and international human rights: (1) worksite prevention and control, (2) community-based prevention and control, and (3) treatment. Our approach can be translated to promote the health, safety, and well-being of the broader agricultural workforce.

摘要

从农场到包装厂，关键食品生产行业的重要工人将食物摆在我们的餐桌上，同时冒着他们和家人的健康和福祉的风险带回家薪水。他们在重要行业工作，但往往不为人知。COVID-19 所揭示的差异并不新鲜。相反，它们是多年来强化社会权力结构的实践、政策和系统中不公平现象的结果。作为一个社会，我们现在正处于一个对抗性的时刻，我们可以改变我们的集体轨迹，专注于并促进农业和食品相关行业工人的公平和正义。为此，我们描述了我们在解决肉类加工设施中 COVID-19 爆发方面的经验和方法，其中包括基于公共卫生伦理和国际人权的三大行动支柱：（1）工作场所预防和控制，（2）社区预防和控制，以及（3）治疗。我们的方法可以转化为促进更广泛的农业劳动力的健康、安全和福祉。