Food pickers and the virus

I heard a strawberry grower on R4 talking about her pickers, and she has many return workers coming over from EU and staying for months. They are quarantined for 2 weeks on arrival, and are paid during this time. They are paid the minimum rate plus a piece rate, and it is a skilled job.

She said one of her workers can earn £350 a day. When there were ads aimed at U.K. pickers who were furloughed or out of work, earlier this week she had no suitable applicants. Perhaps the 4.30am start put them off.

This seemed a decent employer, but selling to high end stores. If we want good conditions for workers, we will have to pay more for our food. It’s the same thing as cheap clothing.

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merlotgran

The farm is in Hereford.

Please don't jump to conclusions about insanitary conditions although social distancing might be difficult.

I think either way, though, the employers have a total duty of care and responsibility for keeping their workers safe.
Is this the farm in question?

A HEREFORDSHIRE farm has gone into lockdown after 73 workers tested positive for coronavirus, sparking fears the harvest season could fuel further outbreaks. Around 200 staff at A S Green and Co, which supplies Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s Aldi and Asda, will spend the next two weeks isolated in mobile home accommodation in a bid to control the spread
Last night, Public Health England (PHE) described the outbreak on the family owned farm at Mathon near Malvern as the first of its kind. It comes as tens of thousands of seasonal farm hands congregate across the country as the harvest season gets into full swing
Contacts between farms and their local communities are likely to be higher than usual this summer because travel restrictions have forced farmers to rely more on local labour rather than foreign workers. Wide-scale testing on Rook Row Farm was introduced early last week after a handful of staff developed symptoms of Covid-19
Local officials said initial results showed “a significant percentage of positive cases, despite these individuals being asymptomatic”
Although a warm outdoor environment is believed to hamper the spread of Covid-19, as at A S Green and Co, many temporary farm workers spend the season in shared accommodation

Farms also have to make a profit - is this another result of our constant pressure on supermarkets etc for cheap food ? .

Do viruses replicate in freezer conditions NanHev? I thought they just remained stable for years, ready to replicate when they defrost?

But that’s 6 People per mobile home terrible crowded and of course a hot bed for CV
lemongrove they do advertise for locals but they don’t want the jobs it’s notoriously difficult to get local people to do these mundane jobs I remember listening to a radio interview with a taxi owner and him being asked why he didn’t employ more local drivers and he said he'd. tried and tried but Local drivers didnt wanted the late hours the early mornings and the weekend work so he employed ‘foreign’ drivers who were happy to do them

Of course I wash fruit and veg I just don’t wash it in chemicals the thought of washing it with chemical laden washing up liquid or bleach or disinfectant makes my toes curl

lemongrove

It would have been much better if at the start (March) the owners had started advertising for local pickers who don’t have to be put up in mobile homes to ease the crowding factor.

Local workers would be travelling to and fro. Their families would have been at risk of infection and some of them might be married to key workers.

There was a lot of uncertainty way back in March (how long ago that seems now) so there would have been some reluctance to commit.

And some would have thought, 'In your dreams, Matey!'

welbeck Sun 12-Jul-20 18:06:04
a kentish girl enquired and agreed to work then told she must pay big chunk of it for accomm on site. she said i don't need that i live down the road. then we don't need you, was the answer.

BlueBelle Mon 13-Jul-20 10:05:17
they do advertise for locals but they don’t want the jobs it’s notoriously difficult to get local people to do these mundane jobs

I applied TWICE via the national website that was set up when it became clear that there would be a shortage of pickers (I wouldn't have been physically up to the job in reality). No reply to either application.

Does give the lie to not being able to get British staff though, if they ONLY recruit foreign nationals. Not that I personally have an opinion on that. I'm not a Brexiteer.

Do they know where the virus originated in this case? Were some of the workers already carrying it when they came into the country?

merlotgran

The farm is in Hereford.

Please don't jump to conclusions about insanitary conditions although social distancing might be difficult.

I agree merlotgran.

I really don’t think six people to a static caravan is ‘overcrowding’!

ladymuck

Do they know where the virus originated in this case? Were some of the workers already carrying it when they came into the country?

It doesn't really matter.

Fruit pickers go shopping and visit the local town, just like everybody else. Given that the UK has a higher infection rate than other European countries, it's highly likely that infection was picked up in the UK.

Responsible growers quarantine pickers when the first arrive from abroad.

Six people per static van is not overcrowding; they have at least three bedrooms, a lounge and separate kitchen and bathroom. But are they all plumbed in? If they are using the toilet and shower facilities usually provided by campsites that would be dangerous.

There's a lot of unfounded speculation on this thread.

It was migrant workers in Germany who were ‘blamed’ for the coronavirus outbreak in the meat factory. They were housed in crowded dilapidated buildings. Similarly in Singapore it was migrants in crowded dormitories.
Migrants should be checked on arrival and housed in decent accommodation. Not sure about the caravans in Herefordshire.

Callistemon

There's a lot of unfounded speculation on this thread.

Yes, there is! Farms that accommodate seasonal workers are inspected by environmental health officers just like any other business.

The mobile homes are on a permanent site. Their washing and toilet facilities will be plumbed in. Some farms also have an additional shower block.

Why on earth would an established and respected farming company such as AS Green take chances with the welfare of their workers during a pandemic? They also provide entertainment facilities by way of a social club although I suspect this will now be closed.

They are not paid reasonably well - how ridiculous to compare them to the Leicester pay scandal. They are sharing kitchen and washing facilities and not able to observe social distancing either living or working. £50 a week pp sounds like a good return on the trailers to me.

I’m just going to carry on washing my fruit and veg as normal. No going overboard. It all gets a bit silly.
I believe these seasonal workers come every year.
I’m sorry they have got sick. That’s not fun for anyone.

At the end of the season a good employer will make sure the accommodation is left in a reasonable condition and before the new season begins it will be inspected, cleaned, refurbished. The rent goes towards the maintenance of the accommodation.
Yes, farms will be inspected and standards have to be maintained. Workers return year after year.

I am surprised that Germany does not have higher standards.

However, if the public continues to demand cheap food, together with the supermarkets all competing and generally screwing the farmers down on prices, then the farmers will continue to struggle.

Whoever claimed that the workers are more likely to have picked up the virus locally rather than bringing it in, catching it en route, don't seem to realise that Herefordshire's rate of infection was very low.

If we fail to take the necessary precautions with people entering the country from overseas, whether they be workers coming in or people returning from holiday, we will not get rid of this virus.

There's always the chance that the infection can have been taken in via lorries/drivers travelling to and from distribution centres which are situated all over the country.

Callistemon It was me. I realise that Hereforshire's infection rate is low, but it only takes one contact for it to spread.

The implication was that these workers had brought the infection with them from foreign lands. That could be the case for all I know. However, they were apparently tested and quarantined on arrival. I have no idea whether there are "locals" also working on the farm or whether the workers had previously been working in the UK.

My point was that it doesn't really matter who was first infected. Once one person was, it was inevitable that it would spread, given the living and working arrangements.

I was uncomfortable with the idea that these foreign Eastern Europeans had brought infection with them, when it's pure speculation. As far as I know, very few travellers from any country are tested now, whatever nationality they are.

PS. Was there any less social distancing than there will be when schools are fully open again?

BlueBelle the thought of washing it with chemical laden washing up liquid or bleach or disinfectant makes my toes curl

But baby's bottles are sterilised in Milton and then rinsed - it's no different.

Many of the workers may well be British anyway and most of those tested positive for the virus were asymptomatic.
That could be the case throughout many other areas.

X post growstuff

Yes, the farm management said they had received more applications from UK people this year.

They have quarantined the farm and they are also living in 'bubbles' there to try to contain it.

It's quite worrying how many people are asymptomatic. Presumably they feel confident to go about their lives as normal, but who knows how many people they could be infecting?

I suppose they do go about as normal because they have no clue they have the virus.

Testing, testing, testing
And for antibodies.