Extreme weather events make it difficult for California farmworkers to put food on their own tables

Published January 26, 2023 at 1:11 PM EST

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In this aerial picture taken on January 14, 2023, the Salines River overflows its banks, inundating farms near Chualar, California, as a series of atmospheric river storms continues to cause widespread destruction across the state. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)

California farmworkers harvest much of the nation’s food. But extreme weather events, including the recent rains and last summer’s heat, have taken on toll on some of the crops. That, in turn, is making it more difficult for farmworkers to afford to eat themselves.

Teresa Cotsirilos of the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) reports.

Center for Farmworker Families board member Eloy Ortiz helps distribute groceries at a food distribution event in Watsonville, CA on January 13, 2023. The farmworkers who harvest the nation’s food are paid so little that they can’t always afford to eat it themselves. (Teresa Cotsirilos/FERN)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.