Child Work Safety on the Farms of Local Agricultural Market Producers: Parent and Child Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is a hazardous industry, yet there are few regulations on the ages at which children may engage in farm work. Local agricultural market producers (LAMPs) are a growing subset of farmers within “sustainable agriculture” who engage in direct-to-consumer and direct-to-retailer enterprises. This study explores the occupational health and safety perceptions of parents and children for children who work on their families’ LAMP farms. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 parent–child dyads from LAMP farms in Illinois and North Carolina. Four themes emerged from these 24 interviews; parents and children perceived that: (1) the nature of small farms makes them safer than industrial agricultural operations; (2) child safety on farms is common sense; (3) avoiding hazardous tasks keeps children safe; and (4) parents know best (compared to regulations) about ways to keep their children safe. Some of these themes echo the results of earlier studies conducted with more conventional farms. Further research is needed to develop programs to improve child occupational safety on LAMP farms.

KEYWORDS:

• Agricultural health and safety
• child labor
• occupational health and safety
• rural health

Funding

This research was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health by Award U540H009568 through a grant from the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety. We would like to acknowledge the Program in Community Engagement of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WF CTSI), which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001420.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health by Award U540H009568 through a grant from the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety. We would like to acknowledge the Program in Community Engagement of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WF CTSI), which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001420.