Priceless commentary from Mark Krikorian:
When will the long national nightmare of mechanized harvesting come to an end?
Tags: illegal hiring
Priceless commentary from Mark Krikorian:
When will the long national nightmare of mechanized harvesting come to an end?
Tags: illegal hiring
Joe,
Understand. I am only playing devil’s advocate here. When you look at this from a capitolistic viewpoint, it does make sense. How much does slave labor cost compared to fuel? And look at the current costs of maintenance on equipment compared to illegal labor. Plus, with illegal labor, you get to plant and harvest what YOU want to-not just what the machines you own can handle. And as far as global warming; those machines produce carbon emissions whereas those illegals….eating beans and….the beer and….hum. You got me on this one. BUT THE REST IS VALID! You should try to look at this from a rational point of view. Not just from your illegal racist (racist in terms of hating mechanized equipment) mindset.
I think the lesson in this is, it is racist to use machines for harvesting, just like it is racist to hire legal workers, and in fact it is racist to enforce any law that inconveniences illegal aliens and their enablers.
There was a Penn tomato farmer on the local news being interviewed as a sob story because he could not get illegal labor to harvest his tomatoes.
Guess he needed on of these bad boys :
http://www.pikrite.com/tomatoes.html
http://www.tomatoharvester.com/about.htm
Capitalism at it’s finest, American made iron that will improve productivity for less money. Let’s say your tractor burns 5 gallons an hour at $4 a gallon. How many illegals can you hire for that same $20 an hour, and will they match the harvesting capabilities of the picker ?
I believe Oregon has already conducted that experiment and found that productivity per dollar spent increased by something like 10%.
Dan,
Such a foolish follie. What about the wear and tear on the equipment? The initial cost of the equipment? When does it get replaced? All these points don’t pertain to an illegal. You wear one out, there are 5 million more waiting to take there turn! You silly tomato(e) picker, you.
ACT, but the machine won’t piss on your tomatoes, will it ?
Think about that the next time you order a Cobb salad or BLT !
dan – Guess you don’t any but homegrown veggies.
Besides, urine is not going to kill you. Those trapped at sea for days have been known to survive by drinking their own urine.
Lovisa:
I just handed you the shot glass, you first.
I said “their OWN”. I’ll be kind and let you save yourself.
Jacob — this conversation reminds me of the one about the guy who goes into a bar and orders 12-year-old Scotch!
Dan,
Or strawberries. Whenever I order, other than sauce, I always have tomatoes removed. They grow in poop, you know!
NoVisa,
So if I understand you correctly, by Dan’s statement, those “pickers” would have to eat only those tomatoes they pissed on, right? And that will keep them alive when they go to sea? And I don’t have to share my water with anyone? BTW I don’t care how you do it up north, what does drinking urine have to do with relieving oneself in a crop field before/during harvest?
Lovisa,
Feel free to have a tall glass of Lovisa’s Hard Lemonade, but me, I’m gonna pass..
My joke earlier touches on a broader issue. Food recalls used to be a rarity. Now they seem to have become very commonplace. Is the quality of farm labor causing a decrease in the quality of our food supply ?
Mechanized is faster, safer and VERY cost effective. Some things can only be done by hand (delicate fruit and vegetables) and that is where you are seeing the kootie alerts! Still, you can’t beat the cost of a fruit/vegetable/nose picker.