The reason is simple: an increase in immigration enforcement, including high-profile ICE raids, shook Texas farm workers to their core. The news filtered fast that workers—regardless of legal status—chose safety over a salary.

Farmers, who had been working with their crews for decades, described the loss as “devastating” and “unprecedented.” This is alarming as most farms are founded upon immigrant labor, both legal and illegal, creating a domino effect for the food system as a whole.

. . . When farm workers vanish, the effects are felt far beyond the fields. Livestock is untended, crops go unpicked, food production declines, and food prices dramatically increase. In Texas alone, where specialty vegetables and fruits must be hand-picked, worker shortages jeopardize entire harvest seasons.

This results in fewer foods on grocery store shelves, higher prices for families nationwide, and a greater reliance on imports. Threads on Reddit and YouTube are already predicting price hikes and empty produce shelves.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Funny how no part of the article mentioned hundreds of eager American workers rushing into those farm jobs. Nor the farmers/ranchers deciding they'd have to raise their prices and their pay rates.

That's probably because markets aren't going to pay more for the crops, and nobody wants to work that hard except people with no other options.

[–] Decq@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

It's the same thing after brexit. I cant find the source anymore. But something like 6000 non-immigrants signed up for farm work and only like ten showed up. And none stayed longer than two days. So it's not like they didn't have a recent example of how this would turn out.