“If I feel like I am in danger, I leave”: pesticide exposure, agentic strategies, and gender among Latine farmworkers in Idaho

Rebecca L. Som Castellano (), Lisa Meierotto, Carly Hyland and Cynthia Curl
Additional contact information
Rebecca L. Som Castellano: Boise State University
Lisa Meierotto: Boise State University
Carly Hyland: UC Berkeley, Environmental Health Sciences, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Cynthia Curl: Boise State University

Agriculture and Human Values, 2025, vol. 42, issue 3, No 46, 2015-2031

Abstract: Abstract Pesticide exposure is a common occupational hazard for Latine farmworkers laboring in the United States, causing harm to farmworkers’ wellbeing and the wellbeing of their families and communities. While existing scholarly literature documents various issues related to occupational pesticide exposure for farmworkers, limited research has centered on farmworkers’ voices to understand their views on pesticides, including the degree to which they express or experience a sense of agency in managing pesticide exposure. This paper outlines key findings from mixed methods research conducted throughout 2022 focused on pesticide beliefs and exposure among Latine farmworkers in Southwestern Idaho. Drawing from survey and interview data, we focus on findings related to the following questions: Do farmworkers believe they have agency in protecting themselves from pesticides? What strategies do farmworkers use to protect themselves from pesticides in their agricultural work? What factors limit or facilitate farmworkers engaging in agentic acts as they work to protect themselves from pesticides? We further consider these questions through a lens of gender, utilizing concepts of carework, hegemonic masculinity, and familism to frame how gender and intersectional factors may shape the degree to which and the ways in which agency is expressed and enacted by farmworkers in their agricultural labor.

Keywords: Farmworkers; Gender; Labor; Agency; Carework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-025-10748-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:42:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-025-10748-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10460

DOI: 10.1007/s10460-025-10748-7

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture and Human Values is currently edited by Harvey S. James Jr.

More articles in Agriculture and Human Values from Springer, The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().