Breaking Point in Immigration Debate - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog

Breaking Point in Immigration Debate - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times
Blog:

"Around this time last year, pear growers mourned major crop losses,
and one told The New York Times that “there weren’t any people to pay” higher
wages to. Here are two sides of the debate from Julia Preston’s most recent
article on immigration in The New York Times:

Some academics say warnings of a farm-labor debacle are exaggerated. “By
and large the most dire predictions don’t come true,” said Philip Martin, an
agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. “There is no
doubt that some people can’t count on workers showing up as much as they used
to,” Professor Martin said. “But most of the places that are crying the loudest
are exceptional cases.”"

One report I read last week (and can't remember where) said that paying Americans $50 an hour wouldn't induce them to pick crops. I find that difficult to believe. If nothing else, some Americans who have been marginalized from the work force, like mothers who cannot afford day care or who choose to work only part-time, are out there, ready to work for the business with the ingenuity to meet employees' needs.

However, it seems virtually accepted as fact -without, so far as I know, any attempt to disprove it - that ONLY Mexican immigrants can, and will, pick food crops. So I propose a solution: food banks. Let the poor work in the fields in exchange for free fruits and vegetables. Let volunteers work in the fields in exchange for free fruits and vegetables for the elderly and sick. Contact churches and food banks, and tell them to send volunteers to your farm, and you'll send the volunteers back with food.

If that doesn't get farmers enough workers, then it's time for reform welfare - able-bodied folks who need assistance can be sent out on work crews to help farmers. For many crops, no day care is needed - very young children can be carried in a pack, while older children can play quietly or even help. That's the way it's been done for thousands of years, right?

If that still doesn't get the crops picked, then farmers need to improve their recruiting methods. Hire college and high school students during vacation. Heck, innovative farmers' coops could offer scholarships to students who spend an entire summer working the farms. Senior citizens have more time than money - and many of them want to do something productive. Have farmers tried recruiting seniors? For younger workers, advertise the advantages of doing temporary farm labor (get exercise, be out in nature, feel the sun on your back, etc.) and, most importantly, get out the word that stereotypes about farmers underpaying their workers are false stereotypes. If Americans thought they'd earn a fair wage, I bet they'd be lined up to work the farms. It's not a stable job, it's not a secure job, but it's a source of income for which almost anyone is qualified.

Do you know there are Americans who pay dude-ranches and dude-farms for the privilege of working on a farm/ranch? Yet farmers can't find enough paid laborers to harvest their crops. There's a massive disconnect here. Let's get it fixed before food prices go crazy.