The
trillion-dollar American food industry has changed in many ways over the past
50 years. The driving force behind much of this change is profit. Everyday,
farmers constantly seek newer technology and better farming techniques to
increase efficiency and decrease the cost to raise crops, in order to make the
greatest profit. This has resulted in large companies taking control of the
food industry, largely due to the use of many immoral farming techniques. The
documentary Food, Inc., does a great
job of analyzing and showing the atrocities of these many immoral actions
within the food industry, especially the exploitation of workers. Obviously one
of the greatest costs of farming is labor, and to have the lowest labor costs,
large food companies often higher immigrant workers and force them into low
paying jobs that are very labor intensive and require them to work in poor
conditions.
In my
opinion, this claim is certainly valid and has a large impact on our country.
In my experiences and reading, I have found the exploitation of immigrant
workers is prevalent in America and that the government is doing little to stop
it.
Last
summer, I experienced such exploitation of workers first hand. Working for a
small landscaping company, which enlists mostly Mexican migrant workers, I
found that the low wageworkers were treated as expandable resources or tools
rather than human laborers. Once a week, our boss would call a short meeting
before heading out to discuss the work schedule for the upcoming week. On
multiple occasions, I remember several workers say that they will not be able
to work weekends due to family plans or early in the morning. In response to
such requests, our boss would appear angry and often threaten them by saying,
“You will work when I want you to, or you will be fired and I will find another
employee.” So, throughout the summer, I witnessed many workers get let go, and
sure enough, the next day there was another Mexican worker in his place. Even
on such a small scale, the exploitation of workers within the landscaping
companies was a major problem, and could only be worse within the large food
industries that require thousands of workers.
When
thinking about my experiences working as a landscaper, I was astonished at how
quickly workers could be replaced, often by other migrants. And while reading
an article on CNN, I found my answer. In America today, immigration continues
to grow, especially from Mexico and Latin America, despite various restrictions
placed on it by the government. In addition, the federal government issues
thousands more work visas to migrants than they did 10 years ago. Meanwhile,
millions of Americans have struggled to find jobs for years and unemployment
remains at almost 7% nationally, so where are all these migrants going to work?
The answer is in low wage jobs that usually require a lot of labor, more than
most Americans are willing to complete. And as a result, companies that hire
immigrants are able to set wages low and do little to improve working
conditions because workers are easy to replace, and there is always someone
looking for a job. Therefore, this horrific cycle of worker abuse and
exploitation will likely end due to the influx of immigrants and need for a
job.
As seen in
the documentary and in my experiences and reading, the exploitation of workers
is a major problem in America. It can be seen in almost every industry today,
but is especially prevalent in the growing food industry that is dominated by
large companies and corporations.
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