[..]farms in the region with fair working conditions, low pay and substandard housing are systemic throughout the industry. The housing prospects for workers ar

[..]farms in the region with fair working conditions, low pay and substandard housing are systemic throughout the industry. The housing prospects for workers are particularly bad because rents are so high. She said she knew of one group of 16 adults living in a 1,000-square-foot apartment who had to line up every morning to use the bathroom.[..] This BEGS the question.. why is the industry growing low value perishable commodity crops for out of state sales …in a state where housing is chronically challenged even for highly paid workers…in a state with a historically high COLA .. if you can’t run your business without low paid manual labour and that has to resort to obtaining undocumented workers illegally, should that industry even exist. Curious minds want to know. Just like the homeless situation in CA is needed and required to disburse millions of tax dollars to non profits and the care and feeding of their employees…poorly paid migrant labour and unsustainable ag sector is needed to employ all the ancillary industries that rely on California’s produce to keep unemployment down. The value of Ag produce in CA is around 45ish billion. The total amount Ag contributes to GDP is 350+ billion. The industry isn’t Ag. It is the creation of jobs for other industries and job sectors.