Farms Aren't Able To Hire Enough Workers To Harvest Crops So Fruit And Vegetables Rot In Fields

Oct 22, 2019 by apost team

Many don't pause to think about how fruits and vegetables get to supermarket shelves while they're grocery shopping. But we might have to soon because the supply chain has recently been disrupted. There is a dire labor shortage, which might lead to a produce shortage in local stores.

A large portion of the nation’s food comes from California. It draws in more than $50 billion in products annually according to the CFDA. Current labor shortages have left substantial quantities of produce out in the field, waiting to be picked. Thousands of dollars of nutritious fruits and vegetables never reach the store because there is a tremendous labor shortage. One farmer Tony Serrano recognizes the impact of this in his strawberry fields in Watsonville, California.

“When I first started the farm, people were always showing up at the gates begging for work,” Serrano said to Eating Well. “Now, we farmers are the ones who are begging for workers.”

Even when he gave workers double the earnings to pick strawberries than his zucchini, he still had trouble filling the jobs. He ultimately had to drop his strawberry harvest which lay rotting in his fields in favor of the summer squash, of which he holds a deal with Costco.

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This dilemma is one that numerous American farmers face. According to John Hollay, senior director of government relations for the United Fresh Produce Association, the worker deficit is the main problem in the trade.

Since 2012, it has cost roughly 1.3 billion in lost revenue. His organization and 70 others signed a letter to President Donald Trump requesting “a lawful path for foreign workers to enter the United States on a nonimmigrant basis.” This covers US workers obtaining legal status, changes to the guest worker program, and no additional enforcement laws according to Eating Well.

The worker deficiency touches all crops and locations. From cornfields in Florida to apple farms in Washington, growers are feeling the impact of the labor crunch. In 2011, laborers avoided Georgia because of new legislation cracking down on immigrants. Farmers lost about $75 million. Another issue is that people are dropping farm work for more profitable jobs.

According to Oswaldo Cisneros Martinez, a farmworker, living in the US is difficult. People are moving back to Mexico because of financial motivations.

“The pay is low in California…The rents are high. Two to three families are living in the same house. It is getting impossible to live here now," he said to Eating Well.

Farmers are utilizing technology as well as giving workers benefits to attempt to maintain their workforce. Some American farm businesses are relocating to Mexico to fill their labor needs.

What do you think about the news of this labor shortage? Tell us your thoughts below and be sure to pass this on to those you might know in the agricultural industry.