Posted on 02/12/2016 9:24:30 PM PST by JimSEA
The tomatoes I remember from my youth would generally be the size of a tangerine but we’d get a few big ones. Of course, the industrial smelter smoke, desert heat and dry air couldn’t have helped. Then there were the green, squishy, horn worms to deal with. They would strip a plant in half a day if allowed. However, it was worth it for the fresh tomatoes.
We all know that most farm workers live in a state of abject poverty. Having said this, just how much more would we have to pay for agricultural products, such as lettuce, if farm workers were paid a decent living wage? That's the sixty four thousand dollar question. Economists at the University of California Davis have studied this issue at some length, I believe the results of their research will surprise you.
Presently, a head of lettuce costs $2.99 at WalMart. Only six percent, or 17.94 cents of what consumers pay for the lettuce goes to the farm workers who raised it. Ninety four percent, or $2.81 of the cost of that head of lettuce goes to the farmer, truckers, middle men and retailers. At present the migrant workers who cultivate and pick the lettuce are paid a mean annual wage of around $13,500. The vast majority of these workers are illegal aliens from Mexico because Americans refuse to perform stoop labor for a meager $6.50 an hour, and rightly so I might add.
Now back to the question I originally asked. What would the head of lettuce cost at WalMart if farm workers were paid a decent wage? Let's say $26.00 an hour or approximately $54,000 a year? The cost paid the farmers, trucks, middle men and retails would remain unchanged at $ $2.81 but the farm labors share of the pie would increase four times to 71.76 cents a head; thus, the cost of a head of lettuce, that originally cost $2.99 when produced by wages approaching slave labor, would cost a whopping $3.53 if produced by workers who were paid a decent wage. How many people, do you think, would stop buying lettuce if they had to pay $3.52 a head for it rather than the $2.99 it now costs when Mexican illegal's produce it? More importantly, do you think Americans would be willing to work in fields if they were paid $54,000 a year to do so? I think the answer to both of these hypothetical questions is obvious, don't you.
The homegrown tomatoes of my childhood varied. Slicing tomatoes were big, dark red Beefsteaks, one slice was bigger around than the bread of the tomato sandwich, they were awesome. Canning tomatoes were Better Boys, more orangey-red, smaller, maybe baseball size at most, more tangy. Then there were the Cherry tomatoes for salads and such.
I listened to a radio show recently about the lack of use of wood ash on fields (don’t recall which show) and my initial thought was this was about Dioxin in the food chain.
However, this person (I tuned in late) said that one of the reasons that produce is different, lower in nutrients is the lack of use of wood ash that farmers used to spread on their fields.
According to this person, farm land depletes the minerals after so many years of use. This used to be maintained by the wood ash use (the minerals that were left after burning replenished the soil).
Even agriculture has gotten into fast food production, at the expense of flavor, nutrition, and taste.
#1- Our current commercial banana production is the "Cavendish", all of which is a 'clone' of the mother plant.
Its success is based on being picked while the fruit is still green, is easily transported, matures in transit, and is relatively blemish free.
#2- Tomatoes which are picked green, gassed with ethelene, are of uniform size, and transport well.
An experiment with 'square shaped' tomatoes failed because while more could be shipped in each box,
the average consumer couldn't adjust to the 'square shape' rather than the expected 'round' shape.
#3- In meats and poultry, emphasis is based upon growth rate and meat produced per pound of feed rather than flavor.
As a result, there is an empahsis on growth hormones, steroids and antibiotics in meat production, not just the distinction between 'free range' vs. 'feed lot'.
We are geneticly breeding out some of the flavor enhancing components of our food for the sake of increased food production and transport.
Who puts it in the plastic bag?
I saw a PBS video on it. The pickers do all of it in the field. After it gets into the cardboard box that is the last human contact until it reaches the store..
What would it cost if all illegal aliens were kicked out and farm labor was performed by the millions of welfare parasites, in exchange for their "benefits"?
I guess you didn’t read the whole thing. Go back and read the entire piece.
No, I read it.
It couples with another story, that being:
What is the total “annual income” being paid out to a professional welfare queen, with 2 or 3 kids and a live-in drugdealer boyfriend.
They could hire some legal Mexican aliens with a good work ethic to keep an eye on the biches. (and pay them a “living wage”)
Tomatoes especially Jersey tomatoes were delicious. You could put a slice between bread and eat it as a sandwich with nothing else.They actually destroyed that crop and replaced it with tasteless varieties that can be shipped long distances. Tragic.
Dad would fry up bacon and then sit at the head of the table manning the toaster and he would assemble bacon, tomato and Miracle Whip sandwiches.
When we ate through a few and did not want to wait for the toaster, we would order a "raw one" which meant a BTMW not toasted.
I need to add that I was one of ten kids and that is our most flavorful collective memory of our youth.
There was a study or some report months ago which made the point that while things that taste good are good, it really doesn’t help all that much. What is key to releasing the various enzymes etc needed to get the benefits is smell.
As biological creatures we are hardwired to chose foods that smell right. 60 years ago the produce we bought could be smelled without holding it next one’s nose. Now, even that closeness most or all produce remains odorless or has only a faint trace scent.
If the tomato you pick has a strong tomato scent and tastes good - that is a good tomato which is good for your body, not just your stomach.
"Veggie" and "veg" appeared 4 times in this article.
“Just out of curiosity, how large do wild tomatoes become?”
Brandywines can get BIG.
I get some softball sized ones and they taste wonderful.
I grow them year around, hydroponically along with lettuce varieties, peppers, strawberries and some other stuff.
Fantastic produce all year around.
That's sad. I had a Meyer lemon tree. They tasted awesome - waaaay superior to supermarket lemons, but they do not travel well; the skin is thinner and they're more easily bruised so they do not sell them in the supermarket. I am a big proponent of people growing their own.
I am sorry, but that is not how the system works. previously stated stated how the supply line works.
In you example you mention Walmart. Walmart has numerous, large distribution centers located around the U.S.
The lettuce has to be shipped to one of these before it is shipped to the individual store. Ergo, the cost of shipping and the cost of handling, sorting and then the distribution to the store. The amount shipped to the store is based upon what the store orders. Hence, the added cost at this level placed upon the lettuce.
Then, there is the cost of transportation from the distribution center to the individual store that is added to the price of the lettuce.
Then the store has to put its designated mark-up onto the lettuce. Then, that determined the price that the consumer is charged.
So, contrary to you statement that the lettuce is touched only twice is not correct.
In addition, the lettuce is inspected by Walmart's field staff. If it does not meet Walmart's quality requirements, it is rejected at the field. Then the grower/supplier has to find another outlet for the product or dump it if another outlet can't be found.
Also, if the product doesn't meed Walmart's standard of quality at the distribution center and is rejected, then the grower/supplier is told to haul it away, no exceptions. Then the above scenario is followed.
Question: How do I know this? I was in the fruit and produce industry for nearly 40 years and had many dealings with Walmart.
Thanks for the opportunity to post this information.
The box in the field that the pickers put the lettuce into is the same box delivered to the store 3000 miles away. It may be open a looked at but not handled individually.
Let me answer your question in this way because you bring up many points in the rest of the post.
First, one needs to understand that produce is not a permanent product. It begins to deteriorate as soon as it is picked. Meaning it is perishable.
Secondly, produce as well as the labor is subject to the Law of Supply and Demand. Meaning the price that grower receives depends upon the shortness or abundance of supply. In that the more abundant the supply is, the less the grower will receive per unit. The converse is true as well.
This holds true for the laborer as well. If labor is short in supply, then the individual laborer can charge more for his skills and he does. Again, the converse is true as well.
Then there is this little kicker that is not taken into consideration. If production exceeds supply, and the grower can see no way of breaking even with his land cost, planting costs, his growing costs, and the labor cost, then he will plow the crop under into the soil. At that point the grower looses, but he has reduced his loss and the laborer doesn't get paid because he can't work.
As far as the price at retail is concerned, the retailers know, approximately, how much volume will be sold at a particular price. They then allow the appropriate amount of shelf space to accommodate that volume of sales.
If they charge a higher price they know that the sales volume will be less, so they will reduce the amount of shelf space to accommodate that volume of sales.
The consumer bases her purchases on value for the dollar spent. Retailers have studies on this just like the insurance industry has studied and produced the actuarial tables.
Finally, I have given tours of the facilities that I have operated at the request of college professors. I have found that they have the same misconception of the produce industry and the workers in it that the economists you mention have. And, they impart this misconception to their students. Why? Because they haven't worked for a living and produced any wealth. They have spent their entire lives in the educational industry without any practical, hands on experience. It is easy to theorize, but any theory is a simplification of reality.
Calvin Cooledge, when asked if he followed the advice of economists, said that an economist for a person who observed reality and then tried to find a theory to fit.
To the contrary. It is handled individually. Orders have to be picked in the distribution centers, some in bulk and others by individual unit.
Once again, I was in the business for nearly forty years. I have hands on experience. What can I tell you, except that I know different.
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