"Canadian-Owned" Greenhouse Operation Hotbed of COVID-19 in New York StateWhile it is not something that has made the
news in Canada, it turns out that a major
COVID-19 outbreak among migrant farm workers in
the U.S. has a Canadian connection, and to
Southwestern Ontario specifically. This year the
largest greenhouse grower in Essex County,
Mastronardi Produce, with its headquarters in
Kingsville, opened what is on track to be the
biggest greenhouse in all of North America, in
upstate New York. Green Empire Farms located on
the outskirts of the city of Oneida, is
Mastronardi's seventh operation in the U.S. The
company, which specializes in gourmet tomatoes,
peppers, berries and other specialty produce,
has operations in other countries as well, and
big plans for further expansion on a global
scale.[1] Media in the Syracuse area of New York state report that as of May 19, 168 of the around 300 migrant workers at Mastronardi's Green Empire Farms had tested positive for COVID-19, turning it into a hot spot for the virus. It is generally believed that the outbreak did not originate in the mammoth new greenhouse where sanitation and distancing measures were said to be in place, so much as in the cramped, substandard living quarters the company provided for the workers. They were housed four or more to a room and even two to a bed at three hotels the company arranged for them to stay at since the company's own residences next to its greenhouse were said to be still under construction. These conditions were in place before the pandemic was announced and continued during it. A longtime employee who cleaned the workers' rooms of one of the hotels became infected with COVID-19 and transmitted it to her husband, who died. She has no doubt she contracted the virus at her place of work. The owner of the hotel also became infected. The woman said the migrant workers told her they were scared. One young worker asked her not long after he arrived, "How can they make us sleep together in the bed?" She told him she did not know, that it was not up to her boss, but his boss, the one that hired him and brought him there to work. The worker told her he was afraid he would get sent home if he spoke up, and that he needed to work. Dun and Bradstreet, a firm that provides financial profiles on businesses, indicates on its website that Mastronardi Produce has annual revenues of over U.S.$946 million. A report by the New York State media company CNY-Central indicates that the company received a total of $15.3 million in tax breaks and grants from the State of New York, Madison County and Excelsior tax credits to open its giant new Empire Farms greenhouses. Excelsior tax credits provide eligible companies with either 6.85 or 7.5 per cent of wages per net new jobs created. The report states that the Canadian owner promised that Green Empire Farms would create 200 new full-time jobs, at least 175 construction jobs, and a private sector investment of U.S.$120 million. It notes however, that answering questions about the health and safety of workers and the community was not part of any deal, and for nearly two weeks after the COVID-19 outbreak became known, CNY-Central's calls to Green Empire Farms had not been returned: "We've sent them emails and messages through social media. You can see that someone read the message, but no one replied.” Mastronardi's website boasts that for 10 consecutive years it has been designated one of Canada's "best managed companies." Peter Brown, a partner with Deloitte and co-leader of the Canada's Best Managed Companies program was then quoted as saying, "Well-run companies are important to the economic health of our country. These companies serve as role models to help make all Canadian businesses better." It's doubtful the migrant workers and others
who have paid the price for the abuse they
suffered at the hands of this global monopoly
that touts its owners' passion for giving people
greater "access to local, sustainably grown
fruits and vegetables," would agree on it being
any kind of a role model. Note1. For example, in an
August 2019 promotional piece in the industry
magazine Greenhouse Canada, Mastronardi
Produce announced a new venture called Green
International Ventures LLC (GIVE) formed in
partnership with a U.S. investor. GIVE's first
project, planned for an unnamed country in the
Middle East, is slated to be "the world’s
largest and most technologically advanced indoor
farming project." CEO Paul Mastronardi says it
"will allow us to reach over half the world's
population in less than eight hours, and this is
just the start." (With files from Syracuse.com, CNYCentral.com)
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