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Conclusions: An Agenda for Farmworker Social Justice in the Eastern United States

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Latino Farmworkers in the Eastern United States

Abstract

Improving the health, safety, and justice of farmworkers in the eastern United States will require advocacy to effect changes in labor, health, occupational, and environmental policy. This chapter summarizes three common themes on the health and justice of farmworkers that emerge from the chapters in this volume: (1) information to document farmworker health and safety is incomplete; (2) the limited information that is available provokes grave concerns about farmworker health and justice; and (3) deficits in farmworker health and farm labor justice result from current agricultural policy. Positive trends in farmworker health, safety, and justice in the eastern US are also documented in the chapters, including the efforts of advocacy organizations, victories by farmworker labor organizations, and the expansion of community-based participatory research. Finally, an agenda for farmworker social justice is outlined. Achieving farmworker social justice will require changing expectations of the US consumer to include fair treatment for those who labor to grow their food, research that documents the conditions of farm work, and changes in policy.

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Arcury, T.A., Wiggins, M.F., Quandt, S.A. (2009). Conclusions: An Agenda for Farmworker Social Justice in the Eastern United States. In: Quandt, ., Arcury, T. (eds) Latino Farmworkers in the Eastern United States. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88347-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88347-2_10

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