Cesar Chavez Day: Honoring Those Who Feed Us, Even Through a Pandemic

8:00 AM PDT on April 3, 2020

Today, Friday, April 3, the California Streetsblog sites will not publish, in honor of Cesar Chavez Day and of the farmworkers who harvest and pack the food we eat.

These hard-working people are often taken for granted, but in these times of shelter-at-home orders we need them more than ever. Many are working in the fields to ensure those of us staying at home have access to food. Their jobs are essential, and they can't telecommute. They arrive at stores after a day in the fields and find empty shelves. Some don't have access to proper protection, or information about how to protect themselves, from the coronavirus, and many are excluded from the $2 trillion federal relief bill.

Here are a few recent videos, shared on Twitter, of farmworkers in California harvesting food for the nation.

Let's hear it for the farm workers, the essential workers who are still out in the fields laboring hard to keep food on our tables and supermarket shelves. Let's let them know how much we appreciate the hard work they do to keep us fed during the #COVID19 pandemic. #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/QQHyBSGujW
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) March 22, 2020

Martin sent this vid from CA's Central Coast. During the #COVID19 crisis, he's been deemed an essential worker.

What’s our nation doing to protect the essential workers keeping our food supply intact? From field to checkout, be grateful to the workers feeding us. #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/DagsbjYlQ4
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) March 23, 2020

During the #covid19 pandemic, farm workers in Oxnard, CA hustle to bring in the harvest. Let's show our appreciation for these #EssentialWorkers.#WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/VitxgqaW6W
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) March 29, 2020

Respect and gratitude to the farmworkers of California.

Melanie Curry @StreetsblogCal

Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry has been thinking about transportation, and how to improve conditions for bicyclists, ever since commuting to school by bike long before bike lanes were a thing. She was Managing Editor at the East Bay Express, editor of Access Magazine for the University of California Transportation Center, and earned her Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.