美国国家公共电台 NPR--These are the impacts of California's worst drought on record

These are the impacts of California's worst drought on record

Transcript¹

Leila Fadel asks Hernan Hernandez of the California Farmworker Foundation about the state's worst ever drought and what it means for growers, farmworkers, and grocery shoppers nationwide.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

California farmers and farmworkers are struggling under California's worst drought ever. Officials say this year, the third straight year of drought, is the driest on record. Six million Southern Californians are under water restrictions², and the agriculture industry is upended. Hernan Hernandez used to tend crops alongside his farmworker parents during breaks from school. He is now executive director of the nonprofit California Farmworker Foundation. Welcome.

HERNAN HERNANDEZ: Yes, thank you, Leila, for having me.

FADEL: Thank you for being here. So if you could start just by giving us a sense of how this drought is impacting farmworkers and farmers.

HERNANDEZ: Yeah. So when we look at the California drought, every year, it continues to get worse with climate change...

FADEL: Right.

HERNANDEZ: ...In areas like the Central Valley that depend on the Delta³, the river that goes up from up north to the central California and to an area that produces about 50% of the nation's fresh fruits and vegetables from Fresno a hundred miles north, south, east and west. As the drought continues to get worse, we're continuing to see farmworkers struggle just to make a living. And this means that when there's a drought, when there's land that goes fallowed, when there's land that no longer gets harvested, farmworkers who rely on those fields for employment are all of a sudden unemployed⁴, and they don't have enough income in order to make their day-to-day needs because their work continues to be shortened by the drought.

FADEL: So what type of policies need to be in place to help farmworkers who are continuing to lose work? California's considering legislation that would provide a stipend⁵ to farmworkers who just have less crops to care for. The state Senate is looking at buying water rights from growers. You run an organization that aims to give farmworkers a seat at the table to shape policy. Is this the kind of policy that would help?

HERNANDEZ: You know, I think when you think about the drought relief bill, it's a good way to start the conversation in regards to what's happening in California. It's a good support service for farmworkers. But overall, I think it's going to be very complex. It's going to encompass⁶ various strategies. We have to look at infrastructure⁷. We have to look at the management of the water, and we have to look at also workforce⁸ development for the population that's currently being displaced because of the lack of availability of employment like they used to in the '90s and 2000s.

FADEL: So when you say workplace development, are you saying leaving the industry as a whole?

HERNANDEZ: I think working alongside the industry in terms of agtech but also if farmworkers need a pathway, that have to be outside of the industry, then we have to think about what those pathways are going to be in order for them to continue sustaining their families and the communities they call home today.

FADEL: You know, in the age of climate change, Hernan, are we going to have - be having these same conversations year after year about drought and unemployment and fields that are fallow and can't be used? I mean, what is the larger-picture solution here?

HERNANDEZ: I think the larger-picture solution is the state - the government has to figure out what value they want to place on agriculture and how many resources are they going to allocate⁹ to these areas like the Central Valley that are in need of resources to sustain these economies that were built on agriculture. And I think as a society, we have to start thinking if we want to continue growing the fresh fruits and vegetables in this nation, or do we want to send them abroad? And what does that mean for the individuals that made up the industry and that continue to work day to day to make sure that everybody has the fresh fruits and vegetables that they're - at their tables?

FADEL: You talked about the pressures on farmworkers and their families. If you could give me some examples of things people are dealing¹⁰ with as they have less and less work.

HERNANDEZ: One of the major issues is rent relief. This is affecting everybody. The housing crisis is real in California. It doesn't matter if you're in San Francisco, LA or Central California.

FADEL: Yeah.

HERNANDEZ: Farmworkers are being pressured in the market, and they can't afford to pay for rent in the state. We also talk about child care. We talk about the current inflation, the gas, the grocery store prices. And then you couple that with the 40-hour workweek, and farmworkers are struggling just to keep their families intact. So it's happening at a degree that we've never seen before. And I think 2022 was the year in which all these issues just compacted and are really affecting the life of the population that we serve.

FADEL: Now, you said 2022 is the worst that you've seen, and it's the driest year on record. But let's say this drought breaks next year. It's a wet year. Is that enough to fix the damage of this yearslong drought and what people are struggling with?

HERNANDEZ: No, I don't think it's enough to fix the damage. I do think it's only going to get worse with climate change. But this drought is here, and I don't see it going anywhere. So we have to start thinking about what does policy look like in the future to help this population?

FADEL: Hernan Hernandez is executive director of the California Farmworker Foundation. Thank you so much for being on the program.

HERNANDEZ: Thank you, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

6 encompass   

vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成

参考例句：

• The course will encompass physics,chemistry and biology.课程将包括物理、化学和生物学。
• The project will encompass rural and underdeveloped areas in China.这项工程将覆盖中国的农村和不发达地区。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

9 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。