Here’s what you better know.
It looked like the entire field had been devastated by disease or drought.
Surveying his crop, Serrano shook his head.
I couldn’t tell whether he was embarrassed, depressed or simply resigned.
Leaves that had not already turned brown were yellowing.
His plants were stunted and shriveled, where there were any surviving plants at all.
Long sections of farmland showed no signs of anything ever growing there-just bare plastic covering the raised rows.
Rotten, blackened fruits lay among invading weeds on the loamy soil.
The plants were vigorous, covered in blossoms and heavy with squash in all stages of ripeness.
“Summer squash are this farm’s bread and butter,” he explained.
“I had to give them first dibs on workers.”
“Now, we farmers are the ones who are begging for workers.”
Serrano had achieved the American dream.
In addition to strawberries and summer squash, Serrano raises tomatoes, artichokes and cabbages on about 100 acres.
Thousands of dollars' worth of nutritious-and delicious-food was going to waste all around us.
“Now, we farmers are the ones who are begging for workers.”
A Growing Problem
He is far from the only American farmer begging for help.
Hollay told me thatthe shortage of labor was the “No.
1 issue” members talked about at the group’s annual convention last fall.
And Hollay insists the problem has grown worse since.
“It’s a shame,” he said.
“We have the crops but not enough workers to harvest them.
He personally feels that the issue goes beyond the businesses he represents.
“Food insecurity is a national security threat.
And that is not something I say lightly.
A country that can’t provide food for its people is simply not secure.”
“Before, farmers could churn through people-‘You don’t like it here?
‘-and there were 10 others waiting for their job.
The crisis extends everywhere from the tomato fields of Florida to the apple orchards of Washington state.
The same applies to seven of the top 10 vegetables we eat.
There would be no tomatoes, onions, head lettuce, bell peppers or cucumbers.
And that’s just to name a few.
In addition, large numbers of employees are required to operate machines and work in packing houses.
Reliance on those laborers makes California central to today’s crisis.
The vast majority of the state’s farmworkers were born in Mexico.
Other farmworkers-whether immigrant or not-are leaving agriculture for higher-paying jobs in sectors such as construction and landscaping.
Creating what amounts to a perfect storm, many experienced laborers are also opting to move back to Mexico.
Their reasons were primarily economic.
“The pay is low in California,” he said.
“The rents are high.
Two to three families are living in the same house.
It is getting impossible to live here now.
In the past, it was better.”
The average rent for a two–bedroom apartment in Salinas is $24,400 per year.
“The atmosphere is also bad,” Martinez continued.
“There’s a lot of anxiety in the community.
Immigration agents are invading people’s homes using the excuse that they are looking for criminals.
Once they even came to an apartment I was living in and arrested someone.
It concerns us a lot.
Especially with the new president in Mexico, people are more hopeful that conditions will improve there.”
Most of all, though, he wants a little respect from American consumers.
“I would like to see that the public values our work,” he said.
Hundreds of workers toiled elbow-to-elbow over rows of plants that extended as far as I could see.
The lesson was clear: It takes a lot of human hands to harvest our food.
A receptionist at the packinghouse ushered me into a conference room where Farley greeted me from behind a laptop.
In many ways he is Serrano’s opposite.
But he is dealing with the same workforce issues, only on a much larger scale.
Sunday is a day off.
That has been happening to us often.”
Andrew & Williamson is big enough to be able to supplement its labor force with legal guest workers.
Farley and his business partners are also utilizing technology to speed up harvesting.
The company has invested in machines that creep through fields at the same pace as its harvesting crews.
“We venture to consider every time labor is involved,” -Farley said.
“Is using a forklift more efficient than hand-moving?
We’re also growing plants in buildings on counters that are high enough that workers can pick standing up.
Overall, we can now get the same amount harvested with a third fewer workers.”
The holy grail for farmers facing a future of labor shortages is replacing workers with robotics.
Andrew & Williamson is on the forefront of that, as well.
“Remember, we are managing biological systems with an almost infinite number of variables.
Using the example of watermelon, he explained that a picker must first determine how ripe the fruit is.
If not, he may choose to leave it to ripen a bit further.
All of this has to be done in a split second.
“Right now, only humans can sort all that out,” Farley said.
American farm companies are increasingly moving their operations to countries such as Mexico where workers are abundant.
“American consumers have a choice.
Do you want a system where we import workers or import our food?”
-John Hollay, United Fresh Produce Association
“American consumers have a choice,” said Hollay.
“Do you want a system where we import workers or import our food?”
“All we are looking for is some sort of legal status for farmworkers.
There was a long pause before he said, “Stranger things have happened in this city.”
Table grapes*
4.
Cantaloupe*
Vegetables
1.
Heads of lettuce*
6.
Mixed salad greens
8.
Bell peppers*
9.
Cucumbers*
BARRY ESTABROOK is a three-time James Beard Awardwinning journalist.
An updated edition of his expose, Tomatoland, was released last year.
