Toxic freedom: how middle-class seasonal fruit pickers perceive and manage agrochemical exposures

ABSTRACT In a global agricultural context that is more chemically dependent than ever, occupational exposure to pesticides typically maps onto entrenched inequalities. Existing research has documented the health hazards of agrochemical exposure facing predominantly low-income, racialized farmworkers. Yet some young middle-class people in wealthy countries are intentionally pursuing informal seasonal farm jobs. How do workers in social positions that typically protect against workplace vulnerability manage the uncertainty of toxic exposures? This study draws on ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with French, English and Spanish-speaking domestic and international farmworkers in British Columbia, Canada. I identify three pathways by which farmworkers perceive and manage agrochemical exposure: informal bodily evidence, individually managing risks and rationalizing exposure. This article introduces the concept of ‘toxic freedom’ to show how workers may downplay workplace risks by framing pesticide exposure as a reasonable trade-off for personal autonomy, countercultural idealism and temporary youthful adventure. This research underscores why individual-level agricultural health and safety interventions may be limited in protecting workers from harmful agrochemical exposures. Rather, it signals the opportunity for policy interventions such as stronger pesticide regulation, proactive spot inspections, higher penalties for non-compliance, and clearer channels for farmworkers to have a collective democratic voice in the workplace.