Lack of Immigration Reform Means More Imported Food

There is good and bad news when it comes to American families getting more fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet — a new report shows that much of the increase of fresh fruit and vegetables have come from imported sources. One of the key findings of the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Ag Coalition for Immigration Reform report shows that in recent years, the share of imported fresh fruits and vegetables consumed by American families has grown by nearly 80 percent.

Labor challenges faced by U.S. farmers and the inadequacies of the H-2A visa program are key reasons why American farmers have been unable to maintain their share of the domestic market. Gebbers Farms Government Affairs Director Jon Wyss says that immigration laws are woefully outdated.

Wyss: “If we have a immigration system that was build for the ‘70s — you can’t replenish a 2014 or 2015 workforce with something from the ‘70s because it has all changed. Technology has changed. Modernization has changed. Mechanization in orcharding has changed. We use to plant a couple of hundred trees per acre. Now we’re doing 1500 trees to the acre. So less acreage, higher production. That higher production equates to needing more labor. Well you need to be that labor in on a legal program. We are a nation that respects the rule of law, but the rule of law has not modernized as quickly as the labor force has modernized. We need that change.”