Real Pay, Real Farmers

I live in North Carolina--one of the top agricultural producers in the U.S. I also used to cover the organic food space. You can't write about organic foods, without ever mentioning farmers and talking about farm issues. The latest issue affecting our farmers--part immigration, part a push for jobs for Americans--is the use of illegal or migrant workers for planting and harvesting. A story that appeared in the Kansas City Star newspaper about a month or so ago featured quotes from farmers who say they have to use migrant (read mostly illegal) workers because no American will do such back breaking work. They go on about how they pay to sponsor these foreign laborers, pay to house them and pay them a wage on top of all that. The story is same, whether it's Kansas City or North Carolina. And my gripe is the same: I don't buy the excuse farmers can't find solid American workers--especially in this economy. What they can't find is someone willing to work for nearly nothing. Farmers can and should take the money they would've spent housing, transporting and paying for visas to pay their fellow Americans--neighbors, friends, associates--a living wage. Not the $7 or $8 an hour you want to pay them. That's not enough to feed and clothe families. I would urge today's farmers to start small. Sponsor a few less out-of-towners and put a little more real pay back into your community. That's one way to create jobs.