It’s not hyperbole when farmers in California’s Central Valley declare they feed the world.
An estimated 40% of the fruit, vegetables, and tree nuts cultivated in the United States are produced in the 450 fertile miles that extend from Bakersfield in the south to Redding in the north. Half of this produce is exported abroad. The agricultural industry in California generates $60 billion annually.
Additionally, President Trump has caused chaos in it. He has only given hazy hints of hope in recent weeks.
There was terror in the fields of Ventura County, which is well south of the Central Valley, where an estimated 80% of farmworkers are undocumented, when Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at farms and packing houses last month. Here, farmers were furious because the majority of them had supported Mr. Trump and thought he would defend them.
One irate grower, Vernon, stood among his acres of plum trees close to the town of Kingsburg on a recent hot morning and declared, “I would love to just call a general strike.” For a week, let’s just stop feeding America! Due of his undocumented employees, Vernon requested that just his first name be used.
Although there haven’t been any raids in the Central Valley this month, Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei farms League, which advocates for over 75,000 farmworkers and 500 farms in the area, is uneasy. In an interview in his Fresno office, he stated, “We’re screwed if we get one Border Patrol raid.” because nobody is going to work in any packing house or farm.
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