Exploited farm workers pick the tomatoes we eat

They'd not be "expoited" if they instead went home.
If the living conditions are so awful, call the
ACLU, they'll be happy to represent the illegals.

I grow my own tomatoes and all other vegetables. I know who handles them-me!

I am a member of what would be considered a "white" family (actually Scotch/Irish Cherokee mix).

3 generations of my family sought work in the Immokalee area, they worked under the same conditions as current workers do now.
I partially grew up there, but traveled much as a child.

This has NOTHING to do with illegal aliens as Americans used to be treated just as bad.

Dallas wrote:

They'd not be "expoited" if they instead went home.
If the living conditions are so awful, call the
ACLU, they'll be happy to represent the illegals.
I grow my own tomatoes and all other vegetables. I know who handles them-me!

I agree with Dallas. Like a lot of others, I grow and pick my own tomatoes (and other vegetables)-- so have no problem with dispensing with the migrants' services. As far as I'm concerned they can go back to the home they fled.

Actually last week it was reported on Fox News Channel many FL growers are tilling their crops under, due to the low market.

If people are not happy with what can be paid for there work.They should find them selves another job that pays them more. Maybe they can then live in a better place. With all the regulations and laws they make everyday .It's hard to pay more money when a business only gives so much.

END THE EXPLOITATION!!

Deport the ILLEGAL COCKROACHES and give the LEGAL immigrants and citizens a living wage.

I'd gladly pay 10% for my produce if our immigration laws were enforced.

My kids do the stoop labor here on my farm just like I did when I was young.

From what I've witnessed, your 'immigrant farmworkers' are slow and lazy.

Les

Get rid of all the immigrants and I just bet you will find many USA citizens running for the job to pick a bucket of tomatoes and cucumbers for 45-50 cents a bucket or for 7.25@ hour.all day,sun up and sun down. I am sure we USA citizens would love putting veg.and fruits on our own tables.So try it for aday or two.We all need to watch the movie,A day without Mexicans.That will open everyones eyes.

anna wrote:

Get rid of all the immigrants and I just bet you will find many USA citizens running for the job to pick a bucket of tomatoes and cucumbers for 45-50 cents a bucket or for 7.25@ hour.all day,sun up and sun down. I am sure we USA citizens would love putting veg.and fruits on our own tables.So try it for aday or two.We all need to watch the movie,A day without Mexicans.That will open everyones eyes.

And how much did the illegals make at home for their labor? Oh, yeah, not enough to stay in their own country. Meanwhile, California is so overloaded with illegals that the state is going broke. Think about how much it costs a community to educate the kids of the illegals, provide those kids with free lunches, etc.

Like I said: I grow and pick my own tomatoes (and other veggies.) The plants cost very little, the water a little more -- and the fruit and veggies taste great! Picking the fruit is easy -- and takes me so little time. In fact, I ENJOY the gardening. I for one won't miss the services the illegals provide.

Linda Cheney wrote:

I AM A 59 YEAR OLD WHITE LADY AND HAVE LIVED IN IMMOKALEE FOR ALMOST 59 YEARS. IMMOKALEE IS A NICE MIGRANT TOWN AND HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS. BACK YEARS AGO YOU HARDLY SEEN MANY SPANISH OR MEXICANS WORKING IN THE FIELDS BECAUSE THERE WERE NOT THAT MANY HERE. BUT NOW DAYS THEY DO WORK IN THE FIELDS PICKING OUR CROPS. HOW MANY OF YOU WHITE PEOPLE WOULD ACTUALLY GO OUT AND PICK IN THE FIELDS FROM SUST TO DAWN ALMOST. IT IS VERY HARD WORK YOU SHOULD TRY IT HARD WORK WILL NOT KILL YOU. IF YOU HAVN'T EVER DONE IT DONT KNOCK IT IT IS A LIVING. NOT SELLING DRUGS OR STEALING!!!! SURE WE HAVE MIGRANTS OF ALL NATIONALITIES HERE AND ARE VERY GOOD HARD WORKING PEOPLE. MY HUSBAND AND I USE TO CONTRACT THATS TAKING PEOPLE TO THE FIELDS TO WORK AND I CAN ONLY COUNT ON ONE FINGER HOW MANY WHITE PEOPLE GO TO THE FIELDS. SO WHO ARE YOU GONNA HIRE? LET THE CROPS JUST DIE? OUR FARMERS DEPEND ON WORKERS TO PICK THEIR CROPS THAT IS THEIR LIVELYHOOD. SO UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN THERE DONT KNOCK AND WRITE ALL THESE NEGATIVE STORIES LIKE GO HOME COCKROACHES, HOW DISCUSTING AND ILLITERATE OF YOU. DOES THAT MAKE YOU ANY BETTER THAN THEM. IN GODS EYES WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND HE SAYS TO LOVE THY NEIGHBOR NOT HIS RACE OR CONDITIONS OF HIS LIFE. I WOULD NOT LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD I JUST LOVE IMMOKALEE FLORIDA ( YES A FARMING TOWN) SINCERELY LINDA CHENEY

Linda why is it that you would recruit and hire illegal labor? Why not legal workers ? Is it because you might have to actually pay them ? You my dear are key to this problem . It is your responsibility as an employer to be certain those who are contrancted to work for you are either with current legal working visa or LEGALLY able to work in the USA . Two key words LEGAL & ILLEGAL , es mui importante !

Linda Cheney wrote:

I AM A 59 YEAR OLD WHITE LADY AND HAVE LIVED IN IMMOKALEE FOR ALMOST 59 YEARS. IMMOKALEE IS A NICE MIGRANT TOWN AND HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS. BACK YEARS AGO YOU HARDLY SEEN MANY SPANISH OR MEXICANS WORKING IN THE FIELDS BECAUSE THERE WERE NOT THAT MANY HERE. BUT NOW DAYS THEY DO WORK IN THE FIELDS PICKING OUR CROPS. HOW MANY OF YOU WHITE PEOPLE WOULD ACTUALLY GO OUT AND PICK IN THE FIELDS FROM SUST TO DAWN ALMOST. IT IS VERY HARD WORK YOU SHOULD TRY IT HARD WORK WILL NOT KILL YOU. IF YOU HAVN'T EVER DONE IT DONT KNOCK IT IT IS A LIVING. NOT SELLING DRUGS OR STEALING!!!! SURE WE HAVE MIGRANTS OF ALL NATIONALITIES HERE AND ARE VERY GOOD HARD WORKING PEOPLE. MY HUSBAND AND I USE TO CONTRACT THATS TAKING PEOPLE TO THE FIELDS TO WORK AND I CAN ONLY COUNT ON ONE FINGER HOW MANY WHITE PEOPLE GO TO THE FIELDS. SO WHO ARE YOU GONNA HIRE? LET THE CROPS JUST DIE? OUR FARMERS DEPEND ON WORKERS TO PICK THEIR CROPS THAT IS THEIR LIVELYHOOD. SO UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN THERE DONT KNOCK AND WRITE ALL THESE NEGATIVE STORIES LIKE GO HOME COCKROACHES, HOW DISCUSTING AND ILLITERATE OF YOU. DOES THAT MAKE YOU ANY BETTER THAN THEM. IN GODS EYES WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND HE SAYS TO LOVE THY NEIGHBOR NOT HIS RACE OR CONDITIONS OF HIS LIFE. I WOULD NOT LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD I JUST LOVE IMMOKALEE FLORIDA ( YES A FARMING TOWN) SINCERELY LINDA CHENEY

Migrant workers are vastly different from illegals. Loving thy neighbor does not include welcoming a theif into my home or onto my property.

Turning the other cheek does not cut it when you are being carjacked or mugged in a big city.

You're right, Linda. Working in a garden is different than harvesting thousands of acres of veggies. It is done for pleasure as much as for sustenance. Then again, it why there will never be charges such as these, taken from this site:
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03...

Is Immokalee is "nice migrant town"? Well, of course, I've been through there many a time, and would certainly argue that point, but here's what the article says:

"Rounding a long curve, you enter Immokalee. The heart of town is a nine-block grid of dusty, potholed streets lined by boarded-up bars and bodegas, peeling shacks, and sagging, mildew-streaked house trailers. Mongrel dogs snooze in the shade, scrawny chickens peck in yards. Just off the main drag, vultures squabble over roadkill. Immokalee’s population is 70 percent Latino. Per capita income is only $8,500 a year. One third of the families in this city of nearly 25,000 live below the poverty line. Over one third of the children drop out before graduating from high school."

In short, it's a crap hole, or maybe a Cheney's idea of a nice Mexican town.

And ... "According to Douglas Molloy, the chief assistant U.S. attorney based in Fort Myers, Immokalee has another claim to fame: It is “ground zero for modern slavery.”

Makes you proud, doesn't it Linda, to be part of this culture? Try paying a decent wage and you might find legals who are willing to work to support your business.

In the meantime, growing one's own produce eliminates dependence on these farms.