Excellence in Worker Health Award
Marylanders for Food and Farm Worker Protection (MFFWP), a coalition of seventeen organizations dedicated to advocating for the basic health and safety rights of food system workers in Maryland, presents the Excellence in Worker Health Award, to be awarded seasonally to organizations and institutions whose work reflects a focused, sustained commitment to protecting food system workers’ health and well-being.
Award recipients actively implement programs that demonstrate the following:
- direct connections to Maryland’s food system workers, which includes workers employed in any aspect of the food system, from agriculture to processing
- a commitment to workers’ rights to safe working conditions and healthcare access
- dedicated staff time to providing services to worker communities
- provision of resources to address work-related illness, injury, or risk thereof
- promotion of safe working conditions that prevent injury
- efforts to make programs culturally and linguistically accessible, acknowledging that foreign born individuals and those with limited English proficiency are overrepresented in food system jobs
- partnership(s) with other organizations that serve to build trust between public institutions and worker communities
- awareness of current challenges faced by workers, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
- mechanisms and procedures to refer workers to additional resources when urgent worker needs cannot be met by program staff
- opportunities to incorporate community feedback to improve program resources over time
MFFWP will accept nominations from any member organizations once a quarter, and each member organization will be entitled to rank their top three nominees. MFFWP will contact the winner to ensure that they willingly accept the award, and MFFWP will provide a certificate as well as social media graphics that member organizations and awardees can share to publicize the recognition.
May 12, 2023: Two Maryland Legislators Awarded for Advancing PFAS Protection for Frontline Farmworkers. Read the press release.
December 15, 2022: Inaurgural award given to Somerset Co. Health Department Migrant Health Program. Read the press release.
For more information, contact us.
