User:JessicaPachecoR/Eastern Coachella Valley

Agriculture
Due to the year-round warm weather and desert climates home to the area, the rural Eastern Coachella Valley has become one of the main agricultural producer bases in California. The Eastern side of the Coachella Valley is the primary region in which agriculture cultivation processes take place and where most farm works tend to reside. Most farm workers reside in this area for seasonal terms or year-round to work in the agricultural fields or crops. The valley is fundamentally the most important region responsible for date crops in the United States. Although the Coachella Valley is well known for its dates, it is also the agricultural land of other vegetables and fruits cultivated year-round or seasonally. Table grapes, for example, are also cultivated seasonally in a great majority of the agricultural fields that make up the Eastern Coachella Valley. Other vegetables and fruits include but are not limited to mangos, peaches, tomatoes, watermelons, melons, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, corn, spinach, cauliflower, aristoches, garlic, onion, green beans, strawberries, celery, potatoes, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit; and also bell peppers of different colors which include yellow, green, and red.

Farm workers play an important role in sustaining the US workforce and economy. Companies such as the Prime Time Produce company describe the Eastern Coachella Valley as “[o]ne of the richest growing regions in the world. ” [10] The Eastern Coachella Valley has become the base of Prime Time's operations and many other companies to this day due to its mass production of diverse fruits and vegetables. Farm workers in the US are seen as supply and demand leaving behind the challenges they face in their community. Even though the US benefits from their labor, they lack the essential need for health care. Some farm workers aren't able to afford health insurance because of language barriers and because it's expensive. Besides not having access to health care they also lack from socioeconomic factors. Agriculture in the US is demonstrated to be one of the most dangerous jobs since farm workers have to do repetitive movements like heavy lifting, and lengthy periods of standing and/or kneeling that are associated with injuries, fractures, chronic pain, and more. These form the Climate Gap where farm workers in the Eastern Coachella Valley are facing health concerns and barriers to healthcare access as well as climate change, especially the heat. The heat in the Eastern Coachella Valley has become one of the major challenges these people face. Heat has become the biggest climate hazard that farm workers have experienced as they are exposed to conditions that are expected to be long and with high intensity while they are working outside in the fields. Farm workers usually don't report their health concerns because they don't want to be fired, be questioned as some are immigrants, and lose their wages that help them provide for their families.