Another Trump Screw-Up: Food May 'Rot In The Fields'

[douglas9]

Early signs show that the systems that get fresh fruit and vegetables to American homes is strained and may experience major failures. The Trump administration is only making matters worse, allowing his racism against Mexicans to inflict damage on American farms that depend on legal labor from south of the border.

In Florida, winter crops are rotting in the fields because the prime products like blemish-free squash, spinach and lettuce—sold to restaurants—lack buyers, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. It offers members extensive advice on how to stay in business during the pandemic.

https://www.dcreport.org/2020/03/30/another-trump-screw-up-food-may-rot-in-the-fields/

[Igel]

1. Timeline

3/30 -- no visas are being issued. Something must be done about it--and why isn't anybody doing anything about it?

3/28
https://www.kezi.com/content/news/H-2A-workers-now-able-to-cross-the-Mexican-border-569190631.html

3/27
https://www.rollcall.com/2020/03/27/state-department-agrees-to-process-more-farm-worker-visas/

There are reports older than 3/27.

[douglas9]

2. 'The watermelons will rot:' U.S. visa confusion in Mexico keeps out agriculture workers

MONTERREY/CHICAGO (Reuters) - It’s watermelon season in Florida. But as the top U.S. watermelon-producing state prepares for harvest, many of the workers needed to collect the crop are stuck in Mexico, unable to secure visas.

Restricted visa services, quickly evolving regulations and increased border controls risk wider labor shortages in the United States produce industry that may leave grocery stores scrambling for fruits and vegetables as spring and summer harvests spread across the United States.

On Thursday, more than 100 workers waited in a stifling park in the center of Monterrey, Mexico, backpacks and rolling suitcases in hand, for news about their H-2A temporary agriculture worker visas.

They had traveled from all over Mexico, aiming to secure work picking fruits and vegetables and manicuring lawns in Florida, Texas, Tennessee and beyond.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-produce/the-watermelons-will-rot-u-s-visa-confusion-in-mexico-keeps-out-agriculture-workers-idUSKBN21H1AO

[Dan]

3. Hold it a second, now just hold it....

Those illegals were taking jobs from good hard working MAGA folks.

There is no way in hell that those crops are rotting in the fields - the MAGA folks just need to be directed to the fields.