Growth in Imported Produce Partly Driven by Problematic Immigration Policy, Say Reform Groups
Inadequate immigration policy in the U.S. has left American farmers without enough workers to expand production and compete with produce importers, said the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform in a study released March 18 (here). An increasing percentage of fruits and vegetables consumed in the U.S. are imported and "labor challenges faced by U.S. farmers and the inadequacies of the H-2A visa program are a key reason why American farmers have been unable to maintain their share of the domestic market," they said.
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Some 28.2 percent of spending on fresh produce from 2010-2012 was for imported fruits and vegetables, up from 15.7 percent in 1998-2000, it said. "Had U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable growers been able to maintain the domestic market share they held from 1998-2000, their communities would have enjoyed a substantial economic boost, resulting in an estimated $4.9 billion in additional farming income and 89,300 more jobs in 2012 alone. U.S. GDP would have been $12.4 billion higher in 2012."
Imported fruit made up 14.5 percent of fruit bought by Americans from 1998-2000, while it accounted for 25.8 percent from 2010-2012, the study said. The declining market share of Florida strawberries demonstrates the phenomenon, it said. "Between the 2003-2005 period and 2010-2012, the amount of fresh strawberries imported from Mexico grew by 317.8 percent," it said. "In 1998-2000, Florida produced almost $160 million worth of fresh strawberries, while Mexican imports totaled $57.4 million. By 2010-2012, the number were virtually equal, both hovering around $300 million." The shift in market share is "closely tied to labor challenges," it said. “American consumers want fresh U.S grown fruits and vegetables, but our farmers don’t have the labor force available to meet that demand,” said John Feinblatt, chairman of the Partnership for a New American Economy. “This means more produce is imported, and our economy loses millions of dollars and thousands of jobs every year. We need to pass immigration reform now, so our food remains homegrown and our economy strong.”