INTERVIEWS
Andy Kane, PhD
University of Florida Associate Professor
Dept. of Environmental and Global Health
Marcos Crisanto trains farmworkers on the effects of pesticides, worker's rights, immigration rights, and social rights. Crisanto worked on farms for 8 years, and currently works for the Farmworkers Association of Florida as an area coordinator for Volusia County, Florida.
Marcos Cristanto
Volusia Co. Area Coordinator
Farmworkers Association of Florida
Charlie Grinnell Jr.
Linda Lee
Former Farmworker
Lake Apopka, Florida
Farmworkers Association of Florida
Pesticide Health and Safety Coordinator
Jeannie Economos
Farmworker
Maria Pineda
Yessica Ramirez
Former Farmworker
Kirsten Rodriguez
Food Safety Coordinator
Long and Scott Farms
Tatiana Sanchez, PhD
Alachua Co. Commercial Horticulture Agent
UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Greg Schell
Deputy Director
Southern Migrant Legal Services
Sonny Scott
Field Prep Manager
Long and Scott Farms
Antonia Trejo
Former Farmworker
Antonio Tovar
Co-Principal Investigator
Jeannie Economos is the Pesticide Health and Safety Coordinator for the Farmworkers Association of Florida. Economos coordinates trainings for farmworkers in Florida, identifies workplace violations of the Worker Protection Standards, and conducts trainings on pesticide exposure.
Like his father, Charlie Grinnell Jr. is a former Zellwood muck land farm owner. He is the former president of Grinnell Farms, a farm that produced radish. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Zellwood Community Center, which houses the Zellwood Historical Society, a museum about the Zellwood settlement and farming days.
Andy Kane is an associate professor of environmental and global health, in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, at the University of Florida. Kane engages in community-based science to bridge environmental and public health concerns. His program includes surveillance of occupational hazards associated with agricultural and seafood harvesting in the southeastern and coastal US.
Linda Lee began doing farm work in the 60’s with her grandparents, when she was just eight years old. During her time as a farmworker, she worked alongside her seven sisters and daughter. Lee was diagnosed with Lupus in 1991, an autoimmune disease that has been linked to pesticide exposure. Lee’s daughter and granddaughter have both died from Lupus.
Maria Pineda immigrated from El Salvador to the United States and worked in agriculture for 19 years. While working for nurseries, she never received proper training and did have side effects to pesticide exposure. She left nursery work to work for Agristarts and says her health and work conditions have improved since working there.
Yessica Ramirez is originally from Mexico, and has lived in the United States for 17 years. Ramirez came to the U.S. when she was 16 years old, because of poverty in Mexico, and she believed she would have a better opportunity in the U.S. Ramirez’s parents were farm workers, and she grew up on a farm herself. One Ramirez arrived, she began working in nurseries. She said at the time, pesticides weren’t used in Mexico, so no one had any knowledge of the dangers of the chemicals. Ramirez worked on a farm while pregnant with her daughter. Her daughter was born with craniosynostosis, a birth defect where joints between the bones of a baby’s skull close prematurely before the baby’s brain is completely formed. Ramirez believes her child’s condition was a result of her mixing chemicals on the farm while pregnant.
Kirsten Rodriguez first began working in farming, when she moved to Florida in 2011. As the Food safety Coordinator for Long and Scott Farms, Rodriguez is in charge of making sure the farm meets governmental food safety standards, as well as their customers'. Rodriguez facilitates plans and training, among other duties.
Tatiana Sanchez is the Commercial Horticulture Agent for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension in Alachua County, Florida. Sanchez's work focuses on helping farmers identify and troubleshoot issues affecting vegetable, nut, and fruit crop production. Sanchez is also responsible for the professional certification and training for green industry professionals in Alachua County, as well as beekeeping education. An important component of her responsibilities include pesticide education and testing for licenses contemplated under chapters 482, 487 and 338 of the Florida Statutes.
Greg Schell currently serves as Deputy Director of Southern Migrant Legal Services. Schell has represented farmworkers in immigration, employment, and workers’ rights issues for over 37 years. Schell has a history of farm ownership in his family, and being close to people who run migrant labor camps. The firm Schell works for also offers free legal services to migrant workers.
Sonny Scott is a fourth generation farmer. His grandfather came down from Virginia in 1963 to start the very farm Scott works on today. Scott has worked on the farm his whole life, and is currently second in command as the Farm Manager. As Farm Manager he has to know what is going on all over the farm, and does anything and everything that is necessary to keep the farm running.
Antonia Trejo started farm working in 1979 with oranges in Florida. When the season was over her and other farm workers would travel to Michigan where they would cut tomatoes, peppers, cherries, and blueberries. Then they would come back to Florida to work with oranges. Trejo began working in nurseries, and that’s when she started developing rashes from pesticide
Antonio Tovar currently serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for the Farmworkers Association of Florida (FWAF). Tovar has worked for the FWAF for 11 years. Tovar’s job is to do research for FWAF on a variety of topics in regards to farmworkers. The research done by him, can sometimes be in collaboration with academic universities, and is done to have recorded data on issues in order for policy makers to make a change, because they have concrete proof. In the past, Tovar has done research on citrus workers’ eye injuries, female farmworkers’ reproductive health, the effects of disasters on farmworkers, and traces of pesticides in breast milk. Tovar is currently working on two major projects: the Impact of heat stress on farmworkers, and developing trainings for farmworkers on the worker protection standard.