Donna Williams, founder of Field Goods
Is there one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on?
The answer is YES… farmworker immigration reform. On July 31st, Field Goods organized a meeting with U.S. Representative John Faso (R-19), Hudson Valley farmers, and Cornell Cooperative Extension and Farm Bureau representatives to discuss the current migrant farm labor situation.
Field Goods’ goal in pulling the meeting together was to drive home that a crisis for our small farmers is a crisis for the locavore movement, slow food movement, local food movement, sustainable agriculture movement, or whichever label you wish to apply to our need to get healthy food into the hands of consumers and support sustainable farming. To put this in context: Farm Credit East reports that, “Approximately 1,080 New York farms are highly vulnerable. That is, they could go out of business or have significantly reduced operations.”
To read about our meeting with Congressman Faso: “Faso says migrant labor critical for farms” published by the Register-Star.
So, what is the big deal about farm labor?
- U.S. agriculture faces a critical shortage of skilled workers every year. Various attempts to draw domestic workers to farm work have been met with limited success. It is important to note that skilled farmworkers are compensated above minimum wage.
- Current guest worker programs are mired with problems, delays, and regulatory burdens.
- Reforming the immigration system can help ensure that agriculture has a legal and stable supply of workers, while providing security to the current workforce. Farmworker immigration reform will allow these workers to move out of the shadows and become full participants in their communities. It will also protect them from being taken advantage of while migrating to the U.S., or while they are here.
The good news that came out of the meeting is that there truly is bi-partisan support for fixing – and addressing – federal policies that have created a labor crisis for small farmers. Here’s the legislative action underway:
- A bill sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), that proposes replacing the existing H-2A agricultural visa program with a new H-2C program, clearly has bi-partisan support.
- In May, five Senate Democrats, including Dianne Feinstein and Patrick Leahy, came out with the “Blue Card” bill that would protect undocumented farmworkers from deportation. It is yet to be seen how this bill we be received by Republicans, but we can hope.
For folks that believe that illegal immigrants should be deported, I’d say, “it’s a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Imagine what it would be like if one day you came to work and a good portion of your best co-workers or employees were simply gone. How do you recover from that? We really, really do not want to lose our farm workers.
So, if you care about maintaining our supply of farm fresh food and growing sustainable agriculture for the benefit of our environment, please ask your representatives to support Bill A4050 by clicking here.