weekend commentary ... the real world results of a $7 per hour US minimum wage ...
(snip)"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Starting Monday, health inspectors will halt the shipment of ingredients common to Mexican cuisine from Mexico to the United States, sources familiar with the salmonella poisoning investigation said.
The inquiry, which initially focused solely on tomatoes, has expanded to include cilantro, jalapeño peppers, Serrano peppers, scallions and bulb onions, said Tommy Thompson, former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who said he has been informed of the plan.
Thompson said the plan involves intercepting food samples at the border and sending them to laboratories to examine them for possible salmonella or E. coli.
A former director of the Food and Drug Administration's import operations said the expanded search raises a number of questions.
"Where's the contaminated product?" asked Carl Nielsen. "How would you know? And where along the supply chain did it happen? Was it at the retail level? Is somebody doing something to expose the product at the retailer? Is it at the wholesale? Is it at the grower? Is it at the processor? Is it in transport? Where is it? They don't know.""(snip)
This is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences ...
- raising the US minimum wage (in conjunction with increased enforcement against illegal immigrant farm workers) forces US vegetable growers to raise prices in order to break even on their now higher labor costs
- vegetable growers in Mexico (and other countries not bound by the minimum wage law) undersell US vegetable growers
- US vegetable growers go out of business (with associated loss of minimum wage US farm worker jobs)
- US supermarkets become more and more reliant on imported vegetables as their former US sources leave the business
- US FDA / health dep't is unable to directly monitor foreign vegetable farming and processing due to lack of jurisdiction
- 900 Americans contract Salmonella from imported vegetables, with the US FDA / health dep't being unable to specifically identify the foreign source
- US FDA applies the only remaining authority available to stop foreign vegetable imports at the US border
- US supermarkets face a shortage of vegetables due to the reduced levels of US vegetable production plus the FDA stoppage of some imported vegetables
- US customers pay more for vegetables, with no guarantees that the imported vegetables they are buying aren't contaminated with Salmonella (or some other health risk).
- US customers also pay more in taxes to provide unemployment benefits and later social welfare benefits to the 'permanently' unemployed former US farm workers.
Sooner or later we seriously need to wake up and acknowledge the realities of today's global economy !
Re: weekend commentary ... the real world results of a $7 per hour US minimum wage ..
I don't think one can blame all this on minimum wage.
More like a part of the over all deterioration of the US right now.
Re: weekend commentary ... the real world results of a $7 per hour US minimum wage ..
then how do you explain the following ...
- Mexican tomato growers pay the same 'world market' prices for fuel and fertilizer and black plastic as US tomato growers
- US tomato growers have abandoned the business (see below) while imports of Mexican tomatoes have increased significantly
(snip)"After a rotten season last year, two large tomato growers in Florida have decided to pull up their roots and walk away from the business. Another major player isn't planting tomatoes this season. Big Red Tomato Packers in Fort Pierce has closed its doors after 30 years.
Thomas Produce Co., one of the state's largest vegetable growers based in Boca Raton, has backed away from tomatoes this season. Taylor & Fulton, headquartered in Palmetto, says it will produce its final tomato crop this year. The family business is one of the largest and most widely-known tomato growers in Florida.
"Given the kind of season we had last year and the lack of profitability, it's not a surprise," said Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee in Maitland. In the past three years, the value of Florida's tomato crop has dropped by more than $200 million. Last season, there were six weeks when growers earned less than $5 a box on average. It costs them $8 to $9 to produce a box of tomatoes.
Thomas Produce had fields near Immokalee. So does Taylor & Fulton. Together, the two companies have been growing tomatoes on more than 4,000 acres in Hendry County, employing hundreds of farmworkers, said Gene McAvoy, a multicounty vegetable agent based in LaBelle. "It's a bit of a shock. Taylor & Fulton seemed to be a pretty strong, progressive company," he said.
Jay Taylor, the company's president, could not be reached for comment. He recently told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that his company would only grow tomatoes until March or April. He did not discuss the reasons behind the decision. Jay and his brother, John, operate the family business together. Thomas Produce has been growing about 2,800 acres of tomatoes near Immokalee, and about the same amount on the east coast.
"We will probably grow green beans mostly on that land that was tomatoes. They are harvested by machine," said Richard Wilson, the company's director of regulatory compliance. He cited foreign competition and higher labor costs as the main reasons for not planting tomatoes this season. "Labor cost is what kills us. It's one of the biggest factors anyway," Wilson said.
He said there's a possibility the company will plant tomatoes again. "We don't know if it's going to be a permanent decision forever and ever because you never say never," Wilson said. Other growers say there are a litany of reasons for getting out of the business. Challenges include more regulations for food safety, greater uncertainties in finding labor and mounting production costs.
Higher petroleum prices have driven up the cost of everything from the plastic growers put on the ground to the fertilizer they put on the plants and the fuel they put in their tractors.
"I don't see expenses lessening any. Expenses are going to continue to go up, which is going to put more pressure on profitability," said Tony DiMare, president of DiMare Ruskin Inc. and DiMare Homestead Inc., a major tomato grower with operations in Immokalee.
The North American Free Trade Agreement has created more competition from other countries, making it tougher for U.S. growers to turn a profit. The supply of tomatoes has been much greater than the demand, driving prices down."(snip)
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