[rcocean]

People have investigated the "$5 for a head of lettuce" argument and found it to be a myth.

Paid Labor represents on average 7% of the retail price.

You could double the wages of a field hand and the price of lettuce would go up by 14%.

BTW, 75% of the paid farmer laborers in the USA are American Citizens.

[Morgan in Denver]

76% of the farm workers are American OR LEGAL workers. xource is the NY Times, 4-2-2006. The NY Times source is the Pew Hispanic Center among others.

Thanks for the cite too. I knew I read or heard this over the past week sometime.

[masadaman]

The entire drama is mainly MSM/DNC fiction. Last week and probably tomorrow, 100,000's parade in LA, Phoenix etc. and the lame commentators in the press and network media recalled the glory of Cesar Chavez and the UFW linking his "saintly spirit and courage" to these demonstrators. But no one bothered (wanted?) to point out that Cesar ( a second or third-generation American) led marches agaisnt illegals in Yuma, Bakersfield, Fresno and Salinas in the 1970's.

I called a local news outlet for ABC to explain how they had it upside down. I referenced the Arizona Republic and the California newspapers. Guess what? The 'Tiffany' on the other end told me that although they could research the articles, they had better sources and that they 'did not have time to deal with a contention which is ridiculous.'

Truth is, there wouldn't be a UFW without closed borders: one can't enforce a union rate card when illegals are swarming. So bias seems to trump truth and logic with the MSM once again.

[CowboyJay]

"You could double the wages of a field hand and the price of lettuce would go up by 14%."

By the formula you're using, doubling wages would raise retail by 1.4%, not 14%. ;)

[rodguy911]

Key post here it's a common misconception that many people fall for.