Environmental Health

Today and tomorrow on Capitol Hill, more than a dozen farmworkers from across the nation are meeting with their members of Congress to call for the implementation of stronger protections for farmworkers from pesticides. MCN's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ed Zuroweste, MD, will join the farmworkers and a coalition of allied groups at a briefing for members of Congress and their staffers about the urgent need for an update to EPA's Worker Protection Standard. Here is the statement he will deliver today at the briefing:

   On the heels of International Worker Memorial Day, the day slated to honor the ultimate sacrifice of workers and families throughout the world, the Obama administration released a statement saying it will no longer pursue protections for children working in agriculture.

As part of our series of continuing education webinars, MCN partnered with the National Farm Medicine Center and Agrisafe Network in March to present the Nuts & Bolts of Cholinesterase Monitoring for Farmers, Ranchers and Agricultural Workers.

During the month of March, MCN is taking the opportunity to share with you a series of blog posts about poisonings and poison prevention. This week marks the 50th Anniversary of National Poison Prevention Week and MCN wants to highlight a range of topics around this emerging issue.

One of my colleagues at MCN has recently reminded us of the need to tell the stories of the people that we encounter and the work that we do.  So often we put our nose to the grindstone and don’t look up to appreciate and share with others the stories we hear of day-to-day struggles and success.  Fortunately, this past summer we had the pleasure of working with an intern from Chico State named Joel Zorillo who spent his time with us collecting stories to share. 

Excerpt of this article taken from: Liebman, Amy K. and Augustave, Wilson 'Agricultural Health and Safety: Incorporating the Worker Perspective', Journal of Agromedicine, 15:3, 192 - 199

“We are proud to be farmworkers and proud to work. We are not looking for handouts. Work gives us dignity. At the same time, when policies and laws are decided, it is important that you please include us in that process. It is more dignifying that way.” - Wilson Augustave