[Parmy]

the component price of produce having to do with labor is about 10%. So DOUBLING the wages you pay someone would only mean a 10% raise in the price of tomatoes. Would Americans be willing to pick tomatoes if they were paid $15-$20 an hour? I have a feeling they would.

Being in the fruit and produce industry for nearly 40 years I know that labor in the price of the end product is not a factor. What is a factor is the cost of processing, freight and ultimately perishability of the product. But there is one other factor in the end price of the product is the economic 'law of supply and demand'. When there is a great amount of supply, the price to the consumer is generally cheaper. There is more to it but time and space constricts.

[babygene]

“Being in the fruit and produce industry for nearly 40 years I know that labor in the price of the end product is not a factor.”

Not only that, but the low wage illegal workers social cost of health care, schools, etc. amounts to more in taxes for the consumer than the worker is being paid by the farmer.