By Courtney Teague, Napa Valley Register, October 5, 2019
Call it ironic that farmworkers in the fertile Napa Valley region, who produced winegrapes and crops valued at more than $1 billion in 2018, may have limited access to healthy food.
The expense of produce in the more rural, northern end of Napa County is part of the reason that so many farmworkers visiting OLE Health clinics in the area struggle with obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, said Dr. Gabriela Bermudez, the medical director of OLE Health’s Calistoga and St. Helena clinics. High local housing costs, a lack of disposable income and seasonal work means some patients struggle to afford necessities such as doctor visits.
Those problems can compound for farmworkers who entered the country illegally and take a risk in returning to their home country during the agricultural off-season.
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