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Dr. Jess Sparks

@jesssparks.bsky.social
53 followers 66 following 7 posts

Assistant Professor @tuftsnutrition.bsky.social researching working conditions from #DecentWork to #ForcedLabor in #fisheries. Educating conservationists @tuftsvet.bsky.social. She/her

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Dr. Jess Sparks @jesssparks.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
@tuftsnutrition.bsky.social PhD student Dhini Purnamasari's new paper is out today highlighting how #ClimateChange is exacerbating critical regulatory gaps necessary to protect #MigrantFishers fundamental #LaborRight to refuse hazardous fishing work. Read here 👇: www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | Climate change and the right to refuse hazardous fishing work
Climate change is worsening occupational safety and health risks for fishers. Few legal frameworks adequately protect fishers’ right to refuse hazardous work...
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Kate Roberts @k8roberts.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
As the immigration white paper is implemented migrant fishers must not be left adrift. We’ve set out policies to make sure they are recognised as workers & able to exercise rights
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Trump Administration Lowers Wages for Guest Farmworkers civileats.com/2025/10/06/l...
civileats.com
Trump Administration Eases Application Process and Lowers Wages for Guest Farmworkers
United Farm Workers said the shifts will hurt both migrant and domestic farmworkers. Farm groups praised the changes.
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Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions @oceansolutions.stanford.edu · 05/09/2025
#NewPaper in Science Advances finds that domestic fishing vessels account for the majority of port visits around the world. Comprehensive inspections at port for both foreign and domestic fishing fleets are a key deterrent for #illegalfishing. 🔗 stanford.io/45LXlB2 📷 Hong Wu/Getty Images
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Civil Eats @civileats.com · 20/07/2025
Most avocados sold in the U.S. come from Mexico, where farming methods have serious environmental and human-rights impacts. But importers continue to market the fruit as sustainably grown.
buff.ly
US Importers Sued for ‘Greenwashing’ Mexican Avocados
Most avocados sold in the U.S. are imports from Mexico, where farming has environmental and human-rights impacts little known to consumers.
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Dr. Jess Sparks @jesssparks.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
A courageous and harrowing account of what it’s like in ICE women’s prison as written by Tufts’ doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...
vanityfair.com
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
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Dr. Jess Sparks @jesssparks.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
🚨Our new paper examines how #ClimateChange threatens the achievement of #DecentWork in fishing, underscoring the urgent need for worker-driven, climate-sensitive labor policies. .https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X25002623#fig0005 @tuftsnutrition.bsky.social
Conceptual framework showing the linkages between climate change and decent work in industrial fisheries.
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Civil Eats @civileats.com · 19/05/2025
The dismantling of the once expansive agency will not only affect fisheries but also the oceans and weather forecasting. Across the U.S., fishers are already feeling the impact. buff.ly/g7G7JyI
What Deep Cuts to NOAA Mean for U.S. Fisheries
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Focus on Labour Exploitation @focusonlabour.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
With the Employment Rights Bill going through Parliament right now, we have a singular opportunity to turn the tide on the rampant labour exploitation that migrant workers face in this country. Our latest video highlights the problems caused by restrictive visa systems, and the essential solutions.
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Civil Eats @civileats.com · 29/03/2025
Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
buff.ly
H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A guestworker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
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Civil Eats @civileats.com · 24/03/2025
Civil Eats Scoop: Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
buff.ly
H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A guestworker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
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International Transport Workers' Federation @itfglobalunion.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Many migrant fishers like Vishal are falling prey to unscrupulous companies in the UK who are keen to exploit them. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Exploited, recognised as a slavery victim, now facing deportation: one seafarer’s UK ordeal
After years of helping Scottish criminal investigations and despite fearing for his life in India, Vishal Sharma’s asylum claim has been rejected
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Fair Food Program @fairfoodprogram.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
ciw-online.org/blog/2025/03... Lucas Benitez, @immokaleeworkers.bsky.social co-founder, on Worker-driven Social Responsibility: “How beautiful it is that we can say: here’s the formula for this medicine and you can adapt it to your reality…”
ciw-online.org
In feature series, Mexico’s respected daily journal, La Jornada, shows why the Fair Food Program is global beacon of hope
La Jornada: Both the administrators and the CIW explain that, in the end, the agreement not only directly benefited the workers but also improved the company's business and reputation.
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Dr. Jess Sparks @jesssparks.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
🚨New paper! We use data from the UK Nephrops #FIP to demonstrate how FIPs are fundamentally missing the mark on #WorkingConditions and #LaborRights, harming fishers in the process. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The illusion of social improvements: A case study of the role of Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) in fairwashing the UK Nephrops fishery
Fishery improvement projects (FIPs) are attempting to manage the labor dimensions of social responsibility through non-binding mechanisms that directl…
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Dr. Jess Sparks @jesssparks.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Teaching @tuftsnutrition.bsky.social students about the transformative change in agricultural working conditions driven by the #Worker-drivenSocialResponsibility model of the @fairfoodprogram.bsky.social with a visit to the @immokaleeworkers.bsky.social now.tufts.edu/2025/02/28/v...
now.tufts.edu
Visiting Immokalee: A Lesson in Worker-Driven Social Responsibility
Yamilet Perez Aragon, a second-year student studying Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Emma Morris, a first-year student in the Food and Nutrition Polici
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