President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to deport up to three million undocumented immigrants will make U.S-produced food and wine more expensive and less available.
That’s the warning from Justine Vanden Heuvel, associate professor in the Horticulture Section at Cornell University, and Mary Jo Dudley, director of the Cornell Farmworker Program, in an article in The Conversation, an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community.
“What he doesn’t seem to realize is how integral undocumented workers are to America’s food supply. Our scholarship at Cornell combined with research in other areas of agriculture reveal the significant impact his plans would have on the foods we eat and beverages we consume each and every day,” they write.
“Since these immigrants do much of the heavy lifting in American agriculture, preserving the current workforce and ensuring a continuing supply of laborers is a top priority for producers – and should be for consumers who value the foods and beverages we currently enjoy on our dinner tables,” they add.
The authors cite a report commissioned by the American Farm Bureau Federation predicting decreases of 15 to 31 percent in vegetable production and 30 to 61 percent in fruit production if undocumented workers are deported and the border is closed. The study also predicts food price increases of 5 to 6 percent and decreased availability of fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products.