Latinos¹in Rural America and U.S. Agriculture: From Pioneers to New Arrivals

For at least four centuries, Mexican communities of labor have been part of rural America, bringing affordable food to the American table and prosperity to generations of American farmers. From California's factories in the fields and the Heartland's meatpacking plants, to the backs of restaurants' kitchens, Latino workers can be found at every critical linkage in this country's agro-food chain. Our salad plates and fruit bowls, shrimp cocktails and barbeques, hamburgers and the pickles and French fries that commonly accompany them, our pecan tarts and apple pies, and even our frozen dinners would virtually disappear from our dinner table should Latino workers suddenly exit U.S. agriculture and food processing labor markets. Their departure would also precipitate the exodus of thousands of family members and associates working in large retail chains, construction, oil rigs, carpet mills, casinos, sky resorts, and many other service and manufacturing sectors that today have become dependent on Latino imm...