There are some basic facts about agriculture. One ; you cannot do away with agriculture; you have to eat after all. Two; However much you mechanise agriculture, there are large portions of it that have to be done by hand and you need manual labour. Three; agricultural labour is hard hard work. You and I cannot do it. Four; everywhere in the world, the natives do not want to do agricultural labour. Five; You therefore have to "import" labour - poor people from places other than where the farms are and usually from another country. Six; the natives do not want these "immigrants" to come.
This is a real problem, which as stated, does not have a solution. Witness what's happening in the UK.
The Brits don't want to work in the fields. Therefore most of the agricultural labour comes from Eastern Europe (white Christians, mind you; the problem is compounded in the US because the labour is Hispanic). The Brits have voted to leave the EU and don't want anybody coming into their country. End result - fruit is rotting in the fields as reported in the article linked.
This was not even about illegal immigration - these workers all came perfectly legally from Eastern Europe and since it was seasonal work, actually often went back to their countries after the picking was over. And yet the Brits have spat on their face and told them they are not welcome.
The same rural folk in the UK are the ones who voted for Brexit. London overwhelmingly voted for staying. And the main reason for voting exit ? Immigration. We don't want foreigners; period.
The UK farming lobby wants to reinstate the seasonal workers scheme. The deal is , please come and do the dirty work we don't want to do, stay in some ghetto so that we don't see you, give us all the fruit and then bugger off to where you came from. Couching it in polite language does not detract from what it really is meant to be.
Agricultural labourers should simply organise themselves and show the middle finger to the UK. If you want us to work, treat us as decent human beings and give us the respect we deserve. Or else, you can do your own dirty work.
To paraphrase the Duke of Norfolk - you cannot have your fruit and eat it too !
