Key ag leaders talk immigration reform

Northwest Report May 31, 2011 The Secretary of Agriculture and the President of the nation’s largest farm organization teamed up last week to put a spotlight on a topic vital to American agriculture, immigration. Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack: “Everytime someone in America takes a bite of American food someone has picked it, processed it, stored it, trucked it and shelved it. And many of these folks who have done all of these tasks are immigrants.”

American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman joined the Secretary.

Stallman: “I think consumers have such a disconnect with modern ag production they think that fruits and vegetables come from the fruit and vegetable factory down the road and that is not the case. The farmer is the producer but he needs workers to plant, to tend to harvest that crop, to provide the high quality supply, in this case high quality fruits and vegetables, that our consumers have come to expect.”

Stallman and Vilsack agreed that instead of band aide measures to deal with the issue Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Secretary Vilsack:

Vilsack: “It is not enough to simply secure the border. There needs to be a comprehensive immigration system that deals with the 12 million people that are here, many of whom are working in our farm fields, and to allow us to enjoy the kind of agricultural production, diversification of food, the affordability nature of the food we have in the United States. All of this is tied to ultimately getting an immigration system that works. That allows the farmers and ranchers of this country to be confident they will always have the work force they need to get the work done.”

Now today’s Food for Thought from Lacy Gray.

Ahh, the arrival of spring and summer. At least I hope it arrives soon; right now I’m not too sure as its the middle of May and I’m still wearing my woolies! History though assures us that it will warm up, and with warmer weather comes outdoor barbecues of flame broiled steaks, hot dogs and hamburgers, or picnics with grilled chicken, or ham sandwiches. Alas, along with the barbecue and picnic season arrives an increased barrage of anti-meat fanatics who, in a warm weather frenzy, blame everything from cancer, global warming, and even impotency on the consumption of meat and livestock farming. This absurd link between eating meat and climate change just doesn’t add up. Even if farmers stopped raising livestock and focused solely on growing grains, fruits, and vegetables to fill the resulting food void, they would still have to continue with ordinary farming activities; tilling the soil, fertilizing crops, harvesting, and transporting. Whether growing veggies, or raising livestock farming activities remain relatively the same, so a world of strictly vegetarians would still be a world producing carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane.