Source: Cass Herrington, WUNC, 10/2/20


It’s apple season in Western North Carolina. Hand-painted roadside signs boast cider doughnuts and homemade pies. The beloved seasonal fruit is picked by thousands of migrant farmworkers. But with the pandemic, advocates want the government to provide safer living and working conditions for the at-risk population. On a dusty gravel road in Polk County, a rustic cabin sits facing an apple orchard. After each 12-hour workday, six men kick off their muddy boots and unstrap their picking buckets and leave them here on the porch before going in for the night. 

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