Despite High Unemployment, Americans Won't Work as Farmhands

With all the glory we give to growing our own — getting our hands dirty, urban farming, rooftop gardens, and so on — it's surprising that so few American citizens are actually employed as farm laborers. As you'll remember, comedian Stephen Colbert testified before Congress earlier this month to bring attention to the struggles of undocumented workers and even pretended to work on a farm for a day. But comedy aside, there's a serious debate in this country about whether employing immigrants — undocumented or otherwise — to do work farm work prevents Americans from taking those jobs.

A recent piece on NPR found that even when Washington state increased wages for agricultural work, Americans still didn't apply for jobs in the sector. A survey of government data conducted by the Associated Press reached the same conclusion. Even Dan Rather, who investigated questionable hiring practices on farms in Georgia's Colquitt County, demonstrated that even though it's less expensive and less of a hassle for farm employers to hire Americans, most farm employees are working under the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to hire non-citizens for temporary or seasonal work.

Is it true, then, that Americans just don't want to do farm work? The owners of these farms and their closest associates reach a common conclusion. From Rather's piece:

Roy Baker, an attorney for local growers, including J&R Baker Farms, said his clients simply cannot find local workers who will actually do the work.

"You can ask any of these guys that do these H2A programs, they would much rather not have to import any labor. It costs them a lot more," he said. " But when they get sent convicts and other people like this that come out here at a point of a gun...and they just come out here and act like total heathens and savages, it's just a no-win situation."

From NPR:

Bob Brody, who has an apple orchard next door to Gebbers, says he thinks the visa system is too expensive, and the other alternative — hiring Americans — is a fantasy.

"They won't do it," he says. "Talk to any grower."

The Associated Press concurs with a quote from UC Davis resource economics professor, Philip Martin: "I don't think a lot of U.S. workers are going out there looking for a seasonal job paying the minimum wage or a dollar more."

Low pay is the most commonly cited reason Americans won't do farm work. The physical intensity of the labor follows. Some Americans who have worked in the field say the current cultural barriers that exist make it unlikely for English-speaking Americans to take the jobs, while others claim that those on H-2A  visas are working to stay in the country, and are therefore more susceptible to work longer hours for less pay.

Before we go blaming the farmers on how little they pay their workers, it's important to remember that those low wages are reflected directly in our grocery stores. To repeat a mantra of the times: It's the economy, stupid. NPR notes that farms in Chile and China often undercut the prices of local produce, making it even more difficult for farmers in the U.S. to remain competitive, let alone raise the pay of their workers. Once again, it comes down to simple math: If we want to employ American citizens as farm workers, the pay for farm labor would have to increase. And if that pay goes up, so does the cost of food at the market. In this economy, that's a hard reality to swallow.

You can push supermarkets to pay more for their produce (and thus, increase wages for farm laborers) by signing our petition asking Trader Joe's to join the Coalition for Immokalee Workers' Fair Food campaign.

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