On July 21, 2024, temperatures soared in many parts of the world, breaking the record for the hottest day ever recorded on the planet. The following day—July 22—the record was broken again. But even as the heat index rises each summer, the people working outdoors to pick fruits, vegetables, and flowers for American tables keep laboring in the sun. The consequences can be severe, leading to illnesses such as heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Body temperature can rise so high that farmworkers are “essentially … working with fevers,” says Roxana Chicas,…
