The Impact of Immigrants in the Food Industry and the Way They Are Treated

The Impact of Immigrants in the Food Industry and the Way They Are Treated
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The Impact of Immigrants in the Food Industry and the Way They Are Treated
The introduction of machinery to the farms has enabled the mechanization of the production of crops, especially corn and soybeans. The use of heavy machines with in-built computers has automated the planting, spraying, and harvesting of farm produce. Fewer people are required to operate the machinery, which reduced the need to employ more workers. However, mechanization has not been successful in areas that rely primarily on human labor. For instance, the production of vegetables, poultry, and fruits needs more workers. In the United States, a majority of these farm and food workers are immigrants, many of whom remain undocumented. Most of these workers operate in harsh conditions and are often poorly remunerated. The exploitative conditions in the agricultural industry are not anything new, considering that the practice dates back to slavery. At the same time, restrictive immigration policies are making it challenging for undocumented immigrants to operate effectively. Despite the huge contribution of immigrants, exploitative practices continue to dominate the food industry.
History of the U.S. Food Labor
The U.S. has relied on immigrants to sustain the food industry. The 1600s saw indentured servants taken from England to work on the fields and be rewarded by a passage to the New World. The supply of workers from England could not meet the growing demand for the farms, which prompted the owners to turn to the African slave trade to fill the gap (Angeles, 2013). The use of African slaves went on legally for about 200 years until the Civil War in 1865. The war led to constitutional amendments that prohibited any form of slavery while at the same time allowing the slaves to gain citizenship. Despite the new dawn for the slaves, the passage of the Jim Crow laws in the 1890s disfranchised the African Americans.
The high level of discrimination ensured that the former slaves continued to work in the same farms for decades so that they could survive and pay off their debts to the whites. At the same time, farming was becoming a booming business hence demanding more laborious. The farm owners shifted to China and the Philippines to meet the increasing demand for labor. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 banned immigration workers from China, which saw a drastic drop in the workforce from Asia. During World War I, the U.S. turned to Mexico under the guest worker program. Henceforth, U.S. growers have continued to rely heavily on immigrants to produce most of the food consumed in the country (Nesheim et al., 2015). Immigrants work in farms, processing plants, grocery stores, and restaurants.
The Impact of Immigrants
Farmworkers are essential workers because, without them, America has to rely on the importation of food to meet the increasing food demand of the population. Imported food can sometimes be expensive and may not meet the required quality standards. Without farm labor, it would be challenging for Americans to put food on their tables and support the nutritional needs of the communities. With farmworkers bei...