The fruit will be rotting on the vine in the South. That is according to the farmers who used to hire migrant workers, mostly from Mexico or South America, to pick it. Some states are enacting tougher new immigration laws, and this has affected farmers and workers adversely. I'm not going to jump in on the states, their laws, or other conflicts. I'm not that well-read about them.
I will say though that I knew of a local family, who could probably trace their roots to before the civil war, on American soil, non-hispanic, who used to be migrant workers. The parents have passed away, and the "kids" are now senior citizens, but they would talk about going out to California and working their way up or down the coast, picking fruit, vegetables, etc. They never talked about how hard it may have been, just that it's the way they found themselves living in California for many years before moving back to the Ozarks, which was their primary home. So it wasn't just Hispanics who worked as field hands.
Nowadays it would seem Hispanics are the only people who are willing to do those jobs. But with these new laws, those people have disappeared from the fields. One would think that with all the folks supposedly out of work, they could do the picking, right? Are they showing up at the "Day-Hire" storefronts (or wherever one looks for such positions) or do they consider themselves too good for such work?
The younger generation, with strong backs, and little education...here's a job for you! Might not be fancy, but it's legitimate, and might be a stepping stone to something else. It's also a paycheck! Oh, you might not be able to keep your iPod plugged in, or text between tomatoes. Is that a problem?
What I do worry about is that their soft bodies won't stand up to the task, since it seems everyone spends too much time eating at a fast food chain, and not enough time walking, running, just playing outside. I worry that if they get hurt, even in the most menial way, they will turn to worker's compensation and/or that ultimate...disability, and never have to do a reasonable day's work again, and we the taxpayers will pay, and pay, and pay.
Am I sounding too cynical? Do I want to eat? Would I prefer to eat American-grown food? Would I prefer to help out my fellow American farmer by buying American? You bet! Like the bumper stickers say "If you enjoy eating, thank a farmer."
If you don't want "foreign nationals" coming in to the country to harvest your food, then you'd better prepare to harvest it yourself! And I'm not talking to the farmers here, I'm talking to the consumers, of which there are millions more.
Just my opinion, on Day 188!
I will say though that I knew of a local family, who could probably trace their roots to before the civil war, on American soil, non-hispanic, who used to be migrant workers. The parents have passed away, and the "kids" are now senior citizens, but they would talk about going out to California and working their way up or down the coast, picking fruit, vegetables, etc. They never talked about how hard it may have been, just that it's the way they found themselves living in California for many years before moving back to the Ozarks, which was their primary home. So it wasn't just Hispanics who worked as field hands.
Nowadays it would seem Hispanics are the only people who are willing to do those jobs. But with these new laws, those people have disappeared from the fields. One would think that with all the folks supposedly out of work, they could do the picking, right? Are they showing up at the "Day-Hire" storefronts (or wherever one looks for such positions) or do they consider themselves too good for such work?
The younger generation, with strong backs, and little education...here's a job for you! Might not be fancy, but it's legitimate, and might be a stepping stone to something else. It's also a paycheck! Oh, you might not be able to keep your iPod plugged in, or text between tomatoes. Is that a problem?
What I do worry about is that their soft bodies won't stand up to the task, since it seems everyone spends too much time eating at a fast food chain, and not enough time walking, running, just playing outside. I worry that if they get hurt, even in the most menial way, they will turn to worker's compensation and/or that ultimate...disability, and never have to do a reasonable day's work again, and we the taxpayers will pay, and pay, and pay.
Am I sounding too cynical? Do I want to eat? Would I prefer to eat American-grown food? Would I prefer to help out my fellow American farmer by buying American? You bet! Like the bumper stickers say "If you enjoy eating, thank a farmer."
If you don't want "foreign nationals" coming in to the country to harvest your food, then you'd better prepare to harvest it yourself! And I'm not talking to the farmers here, I'm talking to the consumers, of which there are millions more.
Just my opinion, on Day 188!
