Importing poverty
Subtitle: immigration and the changing face of rural America
By: Philip Martin.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9780300139174
Subjects: Immigrants -- United States -- Economic conditions; Alien labor -- United States; Alien labor -- Government policy; United States -- Emigration and immigration
Description: American agriculture employs some 2.5 million workers during a typical year, most for fewer than six months. Three fourths of these farm workers are immigrants, half are unauthorized, and most will leave seasonal farm work within a decade. What do these statistics mean for farmers, for laborers, for rural America? This book addresses the question by reviewing what is happening on farms and in the towns and cities where immigrant farm workers settle with their families. Philip Martin finds that the business-labor model that has evolved in rural America is neither desirable nor sustainable. He proposes regularizing U.S. farm workers and rationalizing the farm labor market, an approach that will help American farmers stay globally competitive while also improving conditions for farm workers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Immigration to the United States; title: Agriculture and migrants; title: California fruits and vegetables; title: Florida sugar, oranges, and tomatoes; title: Meat and poultry; title: Seasonal worker mobility; title: Migrants : the integration challenge; title: Labor shortages, mechanization, and food costs; title: Reforming U.S. immigration policies; title: Regularize and rationalize farm labor.