Lack of farms planting tomatos rasies food prices higher.



   On my way back from dropping off my ex-stepdad at work this morning I heard a story on NPR that caught my attention and sparked my imagination. The Interviewer was talking to a tomato farmer in southern New Jersey who said that this year e would not be planting tomatos because they have to be hand picked and the undocumented workers that he normally hires for $8/hr just is not availble . This is odd because the unemployment level among legal amerians is rising . Do americans just not want to work? I don't think so, the jobs just simply aren't where the joblessness occurs. That still dosent explain why this Jersey farmer went fromm 300 acres of tomato crops to 200 acres of grain. The Farmer says that he supported immagration reform and now waits for the federal government to act.
There has to be a differnt answer . My answer is thus: What if the Farmers Assoication ,that this farmer was President of ,went to colleges and high schools and tried to work out a deal with them where the students would get school credit for work, i know that this is a little different than an internship but, the exta money and credits are always welcome by any student. this is in use for other occupations in schools accross the country. From what i understand the tomato is only ripe for a couple of weeks and almost any one i know in school would love to do a program like this. A problem with a no brain answer. This farmer in the past went and broke the law when there are other options clearly availble. immagtartion reform needs to happen the status quo dosent work for america any more but these jobs needed to go to americans that are jobless not illegal workers. the farmer was just making excuses there are other forms of labor at that price that are legal.

feel free to comment look for the story i am talking about on www.npr.org