@tysonfoods – Donnie Smith – Mr. White, As a result of what we?ve learned during the pandemic, we now know

Charles L. Baker sent a message to Donnie Smith that said:

Mr. White,

As a result of what we’ve learned during the pandemic, we now know our American agricultural system has a number of very serious problems. Will you be a part of the solution?
Farmers: These American heroes need the leverage in the market place to negotiate and establish their own prices. Of course, these will increase and decrease based on the weather and their ability to pay farm workers a decent wage. They also need support to insure that banks can’t charge unfair interest rates or foreclose on farm property without protection. Minority farmers need additional support and encouragement. It’s our small-scale family farms, not the corporate style, that need our support.
Supply Chains: These massive, consolidated systems owned by a few giant corporations can’t adapt quickly enough to the pressures of an emergency like the COVID pandemic. They need to be broken up in favor of smaller more localized packaging and distribution centers that can shift efficiently and effectively to meet our needs.
Farm Workers: The President has correctly determined that these workers are Essential. However, if they’re essential, how can they be “illegal?” Why don’t they have the right to working conditions that protect their health? Why don’t they earn a decent wage so they can have housing and the other necessities for a dignified life? Why don’t they have affordable, good quality Health Insurance?
Immigration Reform: Given that Americans are unwilling to do most of the work of harvesting, meat processing, etc. these workers with temporary visas who are willing to do this work need access to basic human rights, higher wages, freedom from exploitation and our respect for their labor. They are human beings, not “expenses” on a balance sheet.
Restaurant Workers: The Minimum Wage Exemption for these heroes needs to be eliminated. Pay them a living wage and provide them heath insurance, vacations and retirement benefits. The current policy is left over from slavery and Jim Crow. We must do better.
I realize that such reforms will cost me more at the grocery and when my family eats out. That’s the cost of bringing our agricultural system out of a “plantation” mindset.

Can I count on you to join the effort to make these improvements?

Sincerely.

-Charlie

Charles L. Baker
charliebaker@me.com