California is by far the largest food producer in the United States. In 2023, our state’s agricultural economy was worth nearly $60 billion. The state’s roughly 63,000 farms grow over a third of all vegetables and around three-quarters of the fruits and nuts produced nationwide.
The lettuce and tomato on your hamburger very likely came from California. The almonds and pistachios you snack on as well. There’s a good chance the olive oil on your pasta is from California. Did you pair that with a glass of wine? Probably California, too.
This bounty all depends on a reliable, skilled and experienced labor force that is overwhelmingly made up of immigrants: Over 80 percent of California’s hired farmworkers surveyed between 2015 and 2019 were from Mexico, and more than half were undocumented. Nationwide, an estimated 80 percent of farmworkers were born outside of the United States, and around half are undocumented.
These immigrants are nothing less than the backbone of America’s food supply, doing jobs that few native-born Americans seek. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting them now will have real consequences for all Americans, very likely including higher grocery prices and fewer options in the produce aisle.
Scaring immigrant farmworkers and depleting the agricultural work force will weaken an industry that has been one of our nation’s strengths since its founding.
These workers are not strangers, and they’re not a burden on California or the nation. They are part of the fabric of our communities. Many have lived and worked here for decades. Our kids go to school together. We live in the same neighborhoods. We worship in the same churches and shop in the same stores.
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The post California Farms Feed America. They Can’t Do It Without Immigrants. appeared first on New York Times.
