A decrease in the number of timely-processed federal work visas hit Georgia farmers hard back in early May. As discussed in a piece from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, farmers, Kevin Eason and Russ Goodman have lost hundred of thousands of dollars from blueberry crops that were not picked on time. This is because the U.S. Department of Labor is very behind on processing of migrant worker visas. Ten percent of the visas were not processed in a timely manner, meaning approved 30 days prior to the arrival of a group of migrant workers. On this point, I recalled the long, drawn out, food additive process as detailed in Melanie Warner's 2013 novel, Pandora's Lunchbox. It made me consider why some people act shady in our food system, going through with the employment of illegal workers or new, untested additives. I feel this is because the time and money going into doing things the "right" way can mean utter failure for some businesses. One farmer even referred to the dilemma saying, " [...] if we can't get our crop, it means we'll go bankrupt"(1). Both the news article and Tracie McMillian's book, The American Way of Eating, draw attention to the need for migrant farming, especially in the case of delicate crops. Fruits like peaches and raspberries need much greater hand labor to reach the supermarkets just right (28). As a result, it is quite an unfortunate circumstance for the Georgia farmers because machine harvesting slashes their viable blueberry outputs significantly. It is on the U.S. Department of Labor to get their problems figured out so that these time-sensitive crops are harvested on time from the willing hands of migrant workers. Many of these workers have come over before and are proven to be an non-threats. However, the department's nine percent dip in on time visas processed has spelled disaster for farmers and migrant workers alike.
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