Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Why we report on farmworker housing in the U.S.
Each year, before farmworkers arrive at job sites across the country, state inspectors visit thousands of employer-provided dwellings. They walk through rooms in houses, barracks and motels.
The inspectors have found common problems — smoke detectors with no batteries, fire extinguishers that need to be refilled, pooling water.
To better understand what problems farmworkers face, Investigate Midwest obtained more than 6,600 records from 19 states. The analysis shows what issues are typical for farmworkers, the men and women who pick America's fruits and vegetables.
— Sky Chadde, assistant editor/senior reporter
Farmworkers endure unsafe and substandard housing across the country
By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
Across the country, when farmworkers arrive at employer-provided housing, they often face problems, according to Investigate Midwest’s review of more than 6,600 inspections of H-2A housing and migrant labor camps from 19 states.
Read more.
GRAPHIC: Women are a growing share of farmworkers
By Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
Women make up more than a quarter of all U.S. farmworkers, an increase of more than 55% over the past decade.
Women accounted for 28.1% of farmworkers in 2021, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service division. In 2009, the rate of women farmworkers was less than 19%.
See the graphic.
SAVE THE DATE! The Spring Storytelling Event, "Inside Scoop: The Inside Story," is Friday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. in Iowa City.
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Renewed legislation aims to safeguard Mississippi River amid growing environmental concerns By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public as a watchdog over influential corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
