Salinas, California - October 17, 2007 - California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) have launched an important, new online resource to inform and educate the public about the health and safety risks facing farmworkers in California. The website, www.agworkerhealth.org, is chock-full of detailed information, powerful photographs, and hundreds of links to governmental and non-governmental organizations and resources.

California agriculture feeds the United States and many parts of the world. However, despite their key role, farmworkers are among the lowest paid and most exploited workers in our economy. Federal and state government officials consistently rank farm work among the most dangerous occupations. Serious health conditions such as respiratory disorders, chronic pain associated with muscle and skeletal damage, and symptoms of pesticide exposure are linked directly to the demands of farm labor.

The Agricultural Worker Health Project (AWHP) was created to protect the health and safety of the approximately 900,000 farmworkers in California. AWHP accomplishes its mission by educating farmworkers to protect their own health and safety, and by working closely with CAL-OSHA and other agencies charged with protecting farmworkers. When necessary, AWHP represents the interests of farmworkers in administrative hearings or in court.

The new AWHP website was created to inform and educate the general public, government officials, the non-profit community, researchers, the press, and others about the health and safety risks facing farmworkers. The website can be accessed at:

www.agworkerhealth.org

The new website is being launched during Binational Health Week, which runs from October 13 to October 21, and is one of the largest mobilization efforts in the Americas to improve the health and well-being of underserved immigrants of Latin American origin, living in the United States.

CRLA and CRLAF plan to launch a Spanish version of the AWHP website in 2008.


Contact:
Michael Marsh, Project Director
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
Phone: (831) 757-5221 x 303
Email: mmarsh@crla.org

Julie Montgomery, Project Director
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc.
Phone: (916) 446-7904 x 20
Email: jmcrlaf@earthlink.net