UNITED STATES
SPREADING THE FACTS Michelle Miller - michelle@thefarmbabe.com
The Deep Connection Between Agriculture & Immigrants The Real Story Immigrant farmworkers make up an estimated 73% of agricultural workers, without their important efforts we simply would not have any fresh fruits or vegetables grown in the United States.
B 8 | agairupdate.com
U.S. Agriculture is often held in a negative light regarding its labor force. You can find many claims about how farmers are simply using immigrant labor to underpay & downright abuse their workers so the farmer can rake in the profits. But, this has little evidence to back it up. U.S. agriculture depends on immigrant labor. Without this workforce, crops would be left in the field to rot, and farmers would make zero profit; therefore, they care a lot for this precious resource. Immigrant farmworkers make up an estimated 73% of agricultural workers. Without their important efforts, we would not have any fresh fruits or vegetables grown in the United States. These are immigrants, meaning they weren’t born in the U.S., but they don’t fit the bill of what many people picture as “illegal immigrants.” More than 80% of hired crop farmworkers live within seventy-five miles of the farm they work on and have lived in the U.S. for over 10 years. Yes, 50% of the farm labor workforce is undocumented, yet they still pay taxes and contribute to our local economy as they live here and spend
their money here. They are husbands & wives (59% are married), parents (52%), and our neighbors, members of our local community, and frankly, we depend on them as part of the process to provide us with a safe and steady food supply. Foreign-born workers have been hard to come by in the last few years. There are ten states responsible for the majority of U.S. Agriculture production, with California boasting the largest share of production. Labor shortages were being experienced onfarm long before the covid-19 pandemic. A recent survey shows that 56% of California farmers reported being unable to find the necessary number of workers over the last five years. Fewer immigrants are looking for work in the United States as immigration policies impact and incomes rise in Mexico, lowering the need to seek foreign-based jobs. Without the workers’ foods sit in the fields unharvested, contributing to food waste and millions of dollars in lost production. One common rumor is that workers aren’t paid appropriately for the vital work, but workers are paid well and what we are able to. ➤
