It feels like no one thinks of any of the consequences of their so called solutions.Of course. And then people will scream bloody murder when the price of a head of lettuce goes up a little bit, let alone 100%.
Some people seem like they don't.I'm pretty sure most of us in the thread are actually aware of this.
Can't wait for farming to be the next big part time job. If the workers start actually being "protected" by the labor laws, we will be looking at a retail job situation. Workers will only ever be scheduled at part time hours so the companies who own most of the farms will avoid giving benefits and still force the minimal amount of pay that they can.That's not how price inflation works. Wage increase won't be the same as the increase in price 1 to 1. It's the classic 'why do wage increases/minimum wages even exist' fallacy.
I am not advocating for the shit pay the immigrant workers get just to keep food cheap.We should pay workers 1 penny an hour.
Just imagine how cheap groceries will be!
My parents used to work the fields and so did I during Summers growing up. It is a grueling and thankless job that needs some form of government intervention.
As how this election has shown, people are not willing to leave dying jobs to better provide for themselves and raising the wages wont magically get people to start working the fields.
The only reason why immigrants work these jobs is because it is their only option until they can get a work visa or citizenship. Their children born here in the States move on to higher education or retail jobs so the job force never is replenished by American workers because there are better options.
Then the question is asked, "What about automation?" It wont be any time soon. Not only do you need a machine that can differentiate between ready to pick produce, it needs to be able to handle it with care to avoid damage and pick at greater or faster speed than a human can.