Central Valley Daily

Nov. 25: It’s Legal For Children To Work In California's Fields. Lax Enforcement Can Make It Unsafe.

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Published November 25, 2025 at 4:45 AM PST

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Thousands of children work in California’s agricultural fields – and while child labor is legal in the ag industry, lax enforcement means kids are suffering. On today’s episode, journalist Robert J. Lopez tells the stories of dozens of child laborers whom he spoke with for his report for Capital and Main entitled “California’s Child Farmworkers: Exhausted, Underpaid and Toiling in Toxic Fields.”

Plus, the latest news headlines: A federal funding fight might be back on for Fresno; and Valley food pantries are struggling to meet the need.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

See stories by Jonathan Linden