max facts
High Labor Costs Driving Fruit & Veg
Production Out of Some US States
While demand for local produce in the US is growing, so
too are labor costs. With higher costs, high-value fruit and
vegetable production is being pushed out of states like
California, Arizona, and Colorado and onto farms south of
the border. Philip Martin, professor emeritus of ag economics
at the University of California-Davis, and Guadalupe (Lupe)
Sandoval, executive director of the California Farm Labor
Contractors Association, say the shift is already happening and
likely to intensify. Most of the recent agricultural expansion in
Mexico has been financed by US growers and shippers, who
can produce four times the vine-ripened tomatoes there at
a fraction of the cost. Heavily urbanized states like California
and Colorado are among the largest producers of fruit and
vegetables, industry segments that are
especially labor intensive. They also
tend to have skyrocketing housing
and transportation costs.
- freshplaza.com
High School Gets Grant for Hydroponics Center
Our Lady of Lourdes High School will soon have its own
hydroponics center, thanks to a grant award. A Verizon STEM
(Science, technology, engineering and math) grant worth
US$1,445 was awarded to faculty in Poughkeepsie-based
private school’s science department through the Community
Foundations of the Hudson Valley. The money will be used to
buy a hydroponics center th