Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. I don’t often dip into immigration issues – the scope of this newsletter is a bit more on the food side of things (think consumer packaged goods, school lunches, labeling, SNAP, etc.), but it’s also impossible to untangle the agriculture system that produces the food we rely on.
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Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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ICE raids haunt farmworkers – and risk disrupting U.S. food supply
Federal agents on Thursday raided a farm in Camarillo, Calif., a community northwest of Los Angeles.
The details remain murky, but it appears that dozens of people were detained, including minors. The operation – Glass House Farms – was previously a major tomato greenhouse, but more recently had been converted to a cannabis-growing business.
The raid made national news for a few reasons: First, there was a substantial protest that took place in and around the adjacent farm fields. Protesters staged a multi-hour confrontation, blocking roads and hurling objects at federal agents wearing fatigues, helmets and gas masks, who were operating military-type vehicles. Kids could be seen running from what appeared to be smoke bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets. A Black Hawk helicopter for Customs and Border Control circled over the scene.
It was dramatic and, frankly, surreal to see what looked like military assets deployed in American farm fields.
But the other reason this caught national attention was because, well, it was a farm. Before last month, we just hadn’t seen that many agricultural raids from ICE. It’s well known, if not always discussed, that much of the food and agriculture sector (including cannabis) relies heavily on workers who lack legal status in the U.S. We simply do not have an American workforce to do this work. That’s just a fact.
A house of cards: There’s long been an understanding of this reality. Over time, ICE has not targeted agriculture as much as it could have, considering the high rate of undocumented workers – a tacit acknowledgement that the entire U.S. food system could be shaken by doing so.
This longtime understanding has been called into question in recent weeks. In mid-June, ICE agents detained roughly 75 workers at a meat plant in Omaha, Neb., sending shockwaves across the entire industry (around the same time, there were also raids at farms north of Los Angeles). Days later, President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance against undocumented workers within the ag industry – but then his administration promptly reversed course when key parts of the MAGA base freaked out over the idea that farmworkers (and also hospitality workers) might be spared from workplace raids.
The mixed signals have only continued from the administration. But what happened in Southern California on Thursday – in a major strawberry and lemon growing area – was clear: ICE is not going to spare agriculture. Yes, it was a state-licensed cannabis operation that was targeted, but the work of growing those plants versus tomatoes isn’t all that different. And the message it sends to farmworkers writ large is the same: You should be afraid that ICE is going to show up at your workplace, too.
Recent ICE raids have already scared off farmworkers in California. More than a third of U.S. vegetables and over three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts are grown in the state. One grower recently told Reuters that 70 percent of field workers were gone in her area.
Of course, it’s important to not flatten farmworkers into only being important for the jobs that they do (though, we did literally declare that these folks are “essential” during the pandemic). They are, first and foremost, people who have rights and dreams and families.
‘No amnesty’: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent her own message about mass deportations this week during a press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“There’s been a lot of noise in the last few days and a lot of questions about where the president stands and his vision for farm labor,” Rollins said in response to a reporter’s question. “The first thing I’ll say is, the president has been unequivocal that there will be no amnesty, and I think that’s very, very important.”
“At the end of the day, the promise to America to ensure that we have a 100-percent American workforce stands. But we must be strategic in how we are implementing the mass deportation so as not to compromise our food supply,” Rollins added.
“Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure. And then also, when you think about there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program, there are plenty of workers in America.” (This was a reference to the work requirements for able-bodied adults that were just enacted as part of the GOP mega bill.)
Able-bodied nonsense: Headlines were quick to mock this notion, even if they over simplified what she said. The Hill went with: “Rollins suggests Medicaid recipients can replace deported farmworkers.”
The comment got a lot of attention because it’s objectively absurd to think that the new work requirements on Medicaid will do anything to alleviate our long-running farmworker shortage. That’s not my opinion – that’s what anyone and everyone in agriculture will tell you, if they are not worried about angering the administration (which they very much are).
To me, what’s even more striking is that Rollins thinks automation is going to help get us to a 100-percent American workforce (whatever that means). The agriculture industry, like every other industry, would love to have more automation. Labor is incredibly expensive and increasingly in short supply. Millions of dollars have been invested in trying to automate farm tasks, from planting to weeding and harvesting, but we are so very far away from automation replacing people. Despite advances in technology, it’s primarily human hands that cut heads of lettuce, pick strawberries and hurl watermelons through the air.
There’s a saying in U.S. agriculture: You either import your workforce or you import your food. This is not to defend the system we have – it’s been in desperate need of reform for a very long time – but I really wonder if ICE understands that they are playing with fire.
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What I’m reading
US has reclosed its southern border after a flesh-eating parasite is seen further north in Mexico (AP News). “The U.S. has closed its southern border again to livestock imports, saying a flesh-eating parasite has moved further north in Mexico than previously reported,” writes John Hanna. “Mexico’s president was critical Thursday, suggesting that the U.S. is exaggerating the threat to its beef industry from the parasite, the New World screwworm fly. … American officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its flesh-eating maggots could cause large economic losses, something that happened decades ago. … The U.S. closed its southern border in May to imports of live cattle, horses and bison but announced June 30 that it would allow three ports of entry to reopen this month and another two by Sept. 15. However, an infestation from the fly has been reported 185 miles northeast of Mexico City, about 160 miles further north than previously reported cases.”
Nutella-maker Ferrero to gobble up cereal giant Kellogg for $3.1 billion (NPR). “American cereal giant Kellogg and Italian candy giant Ferrero have struck a sweet deal worth $3.1 billion,” reports Alina Selyukh. “Ferrero, the family-owned maker of Nutella, has agreed to buy the iconic American maker of Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, combining two of the world’s most storied sweet brands. Rapidly changing consumer habits are the context for this deal, as U.S. shoppers are increasingly either looking to store-brand snacks and cereals in search of a deal or reaching for heathier choices. Kellogg is also working to phase out artificial dyes from its products.”
DOGE keeps gaining access to sensitive data. Now, it can cut off billions to farmers (NPR). “A staffer from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, recently got high-level access to view and change the contents of a payments system that controls tens of billions of dollars in government payments and loans to farmers and ranchers across the United States, according to internal access logs reviewed by NPR,” Jenna McLaughlin reports. “‘When we talk about farm loan application records, there is no more personal information anywhere than in that database,’ Scott Marlow, a former senior official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told NPR.
Trump administration sues California over cage-free egg and animal welfare law (LA Times). “The Trump administration has sued California over the state’s voter-approved animal welfare law, which protects hens, pigs and calves from being kept in small cages, claiming the law has driven up egg prices and violates federal farming laws and regulations,” Susanne Rust reports. “The Department of Justice contends the California law preempts federal laws, including the Egg Products Inspection Act, and that no state has the right to institute its own standards on the production or ‘quality, condition, weight, quantity or grade’ of eggs that differs from those set by the federal government. … California’s animal-welfare law was approved by voters as Proposition 12 in 2018. The law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.”
MAHA’s European food envy is full of contradictions (STAT). “The idea of making the U.S. more like Europe is anathema to many in the Trump administration. But that’s what the Make America Healthy Again movement says it wants – at least when it comes to food,” Sarah Todd writes. “It’s true that Europeans have lower rates of chronic disease and longer life expectancies than Americans, and nutrition experts say that European food policies are likely one contributing factor. But if the MAHA movement really wants to imitate Europe on food, they say, its leaders should pay more attention to policies they’ve so far overlooked – such as soda taxes, color-coded food warning labels, and heavier review of new products. … There are also a lot of other differences between Europe and the U.S. that may contribute to the gap in chronic disease rates: physical activity, air pollution exposure, poverty rates, and health care access among them.”
RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed. (Associated Press). “Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees,” reports Amanda Seitz and JoNel Aleccia. “He even thanked Mom’s Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals ‘without additives’ to the homes of sick or elderly Americans. The spreads include chicken bacon ranch pasta for dinner and French toast sticks with fruit or ham patties. ‘This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again,’ Kennedy said in the video, posted to his official health secretary account, after he toured the company’s Oklahoma facility last week. But an Associated Press review of Mom’s Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company’s offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick.”
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