Tag: congressional hearing

America’s farms are presently far too dependent on immigrant labor to pick our fruits and vegetables. Now, the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. And if you look at the recent obesity statistics, many Americans have already started.

After all, it was the ancient Israelites who built the first food pyramids. But this is America. I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.

My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That’s the rumor.

I’ll admit I started my work day with preconceived notions of migrant labor. But after working with these men and women … side by side in the unforgiving sun I have to say — and I do mean this sincerely — please don’t make me do this again. It is really, really hard.

This experience gave me some small understanding why so few Americans are clamoring to begin an exciting career as seasonal migrant field workers.