“Michigan's migrant farm workers face many health challenges, but help is available”

…Dilayla Martinez came to Michigan after graduating high school to be a migrant farm worker at Riveridge Cider Company in Grant…For Martinez, the job served as a stepping stone to a college education…

Martinez’s story is not typical…While fair farms that maintain good working and housing conditions do exist, many of Michigan’s migrant farm workers contend with long hours, exposure to agricultural chemicals, dangerous heavy machinery, crowded housing, extreme heat, dehydration, and lack of access to healthy food — resulting in injuries, illness, and chronic disease. Fear of being fired and subsequent deportation prevents many migrant workers from seeking medical treatment…

"They face a variety of health disparities in Michigan specifically, but also across the United States," says Molly Spaak, an attorney with Migrant Legal Aid. "Many migrants lack stable health insurance...

Spaak shares that these health disparities shorten migrant workers’ lives by an average of 26 years as compared to the average person in the US…

While they may be surrounded by fresh produce on the job, many migrant workers subsist on nutrient-poor packaged foods with a long shelf life. Barracks housing dozens of H-2A workers typically have one refrigerator in a small kitchen…