Thursday, January 2, 2014

What would a Head of Lettuce Cost if Farm Workers Received a Decent Livable Wage?

We all know that most farm workers live in a state of abject poverty. Having said this, just how much more would we have to pay for agricultural products, such as lettuce, if farm workers were paid a decent living wage? That's the sixty four thousand dollar question. Economists at the University of California Davis have studied this issue at some length, I believe the results of their research will surprise you. Presently, a head of lettuce costs $2.99 at WalMart. Only six percent, or 17.94 cents of what consumers pay for the lettuce goes to the farm workers who raised it. Ninety four percent, or $2.81 of the cost of that head of lettuce goes to the farmer, truckers, middle men and retailers. At present the migrant workers who cultivate and pick the lettuce are paid a mean annual wage of around $13,500. The vast majority of these workers are illegal aliens from Mexico because Americans refuse to perform stoop labor for a meager $6.50 an hour, and rightly so I might add. Now back to the question I originally asked. What would the head of lettuce cost at WalMart if farm workers were paid a decent wage? Let's say $26.00 an hour or approximately $54,000 a year? The cost paid the farmers, trucks, middle men and retails would remain unchanged at $ $2.81 but the farm labors share of the pie would increase four times to 71.76 cents a head; thus, the cost of a head of lettuce, that originally cost $2.99 when produced by wages approaching slave labor, would cost a whopping $3.53 if produced by workers who were paid a decent wage. How many people, do you think, would stop buying lettuce if they had to pay $3.52 a head for it rather than the $2.99 it now costs when Mexican illegal's produce it? More importantly, do you think Americans would be willing to work in fields if they were paid $54,000 a year to do so? I think the answer to both of these hypothetical questions is obvious, don't you.

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