Good post and good question. The short-term answer ultimately is a matter of politics (homeland security vs economic demands) and economics (higher short-term prices of produce/fruit). However, this does not preclude the following possibility:
The price of labor increases so much due to high demand for farmhands and low supply that the following things happen 1) further mechanization of picking/sorting processes 2) genetic engineering/better breeding of fruit/vegetable varieties that require less human handling during the mechanized picking process.
One thing that is being overlooked is CAPITAL's (eg. automation, machines, plant genetics, etc etc) ability to substitute for labor.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by escorpio
"WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Some fields in the Pajaro Valley in Northern California's Santa Cruz County are being abandoned because farmers can't find enough workers.
Farmers say there are ten percent to 20 percent fewer workers available to work in the strawberry, raspberry and vegetable fields.
Most farmers attribute the lack of available workers to tightened borders.
One farmer says the labor shortage is the worst he's seen in 30 years.
A spokesman for the Western Growers Association says illegal laborers may make up as much as 80% of the agricultural work in California."
http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp...nav=menu216_10
Where are the American workers that these illegals were putting out of work? Don't they want to work the fields? |