From THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA – By MICHAEL PELTIER
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, Feb. 4, 2009…Florida growers may soon see federal assistance for the freeze that devastated winter crops as far south as Homestead. Farmworkers, however, are waiting for similar relief.
Despite an emergency disaster declaration made last week by federal officials, farmworkers whose livelihoods are indelibly linked to the frozen crops have yet to receive any federal aid.
A small group of farmworkers made the trek to Tallahassee on Thursday to urge Gov. Charlie Crist to submit a formal request for emergency aid, a request that could bring unemployment benefits, food stamps and USDA commodities to more than 100,000 families who work the fields.
Those benefits, however, can only come with a presidential declaration. A presidential declaration can only come in response to a governor’s request. .
“While growers are now able to apply for programs to help them… farmworkers are unable to feed their families, to pay their rent and utility bills, to buy school supplies for their children, to put fuel in their vehicles and to otherwise provide for their families,” said Tirso Moreno, general coordinator for the Farmworker Association of Florida, which is urging Crist’s office to act quickly.
A spokesman for Gov. Charlie Crist told the News Service that the request is still being considered.
“We are working with the Division on Emergency Management and the Agriculture Commissioner’s office to gather data and information that may be used to support a declaration request,” spokesman Sterling Ivey said.
On Jan. 29, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared 60 of Florida’s 67 counties primary natural disaster areas, which qualifies growers affected by the freeze for low interest emergency loans to help cover part of their actual losses. The declaration came in response to a request by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson.
Most farmers have crop insurance – to be eligible for federal disaster relief, they must have insurance – but claims aren’t usually paid immediately, and in many cases farmers have to pay out of pocket before they are reimbursed.
Farmworkers are not part of that declaration. They also do not qualify for traditional unemployment benefits because they work for several different employers and often don’t spend enough time with a single grower to be eligible for benefits.
Even under ideal circumstances, it will be six weeks before crops are sufficiently mature to translate into callbacks for many workers, Moreno said.
In the meantime, Elias Chaires, a tomato packer from Immokalee has dipped into meager savings to feed his family.
“So far I’ve been able to provide,” Chaires said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Tomorrow? I don’t know.”
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