health consequences of industrialized agriculture for farmers in the United States, The

Human Organization, Fall 1998 by Thu, Kendall M

Results from the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, a statewide representative sample of Iowa farmers, indicate that farm spouses and children are increasingly suffering the consequences of these conditions. Between 1989 and 1997, the proportion of farm children and spouses in Iowa suffering serious farm injuries increased, while injuries to the primary operator decreased (Lasley and Thu 1997). It is likely that increasing off-farm work by the spouse -- combined with the lack of available and affordable daycare in rural areas -- results in pressure to bring young children along on dangerous farm tasks that place them at risk. Moreover, labor laws and OSHA regulations do not apply to farm children of any age engaged in work on their parents' farm.

It will be difficult to discern whether an industrialized form of agriculture is more dangerous or poses greater health risks to farm workers than other forms of food production until such comparative studies are undertaken. For example, historical data on farmer morbidity and mortality rates prior to the advent of industrialized agriculture are scarce if not lacking altogether. However, evidence from other areas of the world with comparable forms of industrialized agriculture reveal similarly elevated rates of health and traumatic injury problems among agricultural workers (Thu, Zwerling, and Donham 1998). Historical and cross-cultural research is needed to clarify these issues. Nonetheless, it is clear that economic arguments lauding the efficiency and productivity of industrial agriculture will remain flawed and incomplete without a full accounting of its attendant health consequences.

NOTES

1All names are pseudonyms.

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