Farmworkers Producing Valuable Exports, Not Sharing in the Profits
Written by Bruce Goldstein Friday, 27 February 2009 21:36
Farmworkers are a bright spot in US trade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The value of exports of the “horticultural sector” of the US agricultural economy, which includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and other labor-intensive “horticultural” products, continues to increase. Farmworkers in the United States are continuing to provide value that consumers in countries around the world appreciate.
The USDA just issued revised forecasts for agricultural trade for this fiscal year (which ends September 30, 2009), which have been very much affected by the economic downturn. However, the revised forecast for the value of our exports of horticultural products for fiscal 2009 is $21.5 billion, which is $700 million above last year’s sales. Despite the global economic crisis, horticultural exports value are still expected to grow by 3 percent (though this is the slowest rate in the past 7 years by a large margin). More specifically, the value of our exports of fresh fruits and vegetables is expected to grow from $5.5 billion to $5.7 billion.By contrast, the export value of grains and other commodities is expected to drop by about one-third from last year. Farmworkers should be sharing in this trade advantage but they continue to suffer low wages and receive virtually no fringe benefits.
Source, USDA, Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, Feb. 26, 2009
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