Symposium Addresses Foreign Ag Labor
Farm worker organizations, growers and ag interests examined labor issues at symposium.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jul 20, 2012
The future of foreign-born labor in U.S. agriculture was the subject of a two-day national symposium last week in Chicago.
The symposium was organized jointly by AGree and Farm Foundation, NFP. The focus was to increase understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with foreign-born labor in U.S. agriculture; identify options for policies and programs to address these issues; and provide a forum for continuing conversations among key stakeholders.
In 2011, there were 40.3 million foreign-born immigrants in the United States, of which 37% were naturalized citizens, 31% had legal permanent resident status, and 11.1 million were unauthorized, according to Jeffrey S. Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center. Among the unauthorized migrants, about half are adults with children, some of whom are U.S. citizens.
Farm worker organizations, growers and ag interests examined labor issues at symposium. About 75% of the hired workers in U.S. agriculture are foreign-born, and about half are unauthorized immigrants, according to Phil Martin of the University of California, Davis. Unauthorized workers are employed in fruit and vegetable production, livestock production and in the food processing sectors.
The 50 participants in last week's symposium included agricultural growers, leaders of farm worker organizations, and representatives of other organizations working on agricultural labor issues.
"We invited thought leaders in agriculture and labor to come together to have open and frank discussions about this very critical issue," said Deb Atwood, executive director of AGree. "The common goal of symposium participants was to identify ways to achieve a stable and legal workforce for U.S. agriculture."
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Tagged: livestock, Vegetable Production, fruit and vegetable production
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