Luawanna Hallstrom Talks about Labor and the Ag Industry
August 11, 2009 Editor’s Note: We asked Luawanna Hallstrom, chief operating officer of vine ripe tomato producer Harry Singh & Sons and an advocate for labor and immigration reform, some questions on her venture into the family business and learning about the labor side of the ag industry. Here is what she had to say.
Q: What led you to become involved in the family business?
Hallstrom: Actually I got my degree from Cal Poly [California Polytechnic State University] and was headed to chiropractic school. My family, at that time, was trying to expand the business to start a produce marketing company where they could sell their own product.
They asked me to reconsider because they wanted my help as it was a venture for the family. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. It was an interesting time to come into the business; it took me about 10 years to learn.
I had no idea how much my education in food science and nutrition was going to fit in so appropriately with the business and the challenges we were facing. I grew up on a farm, so I had a natural understanding of the day-to-day activities on the farm.
Q: When you began your new job, what were your immediate goals?
Hallstrom: When I started, there was one person at the office. I had to come in and learn the payroll side of the business. Once I got that done, my goal was to start to build a foundation and learn the business from the bottom up. I needed to understand laws on the labor side and learn about our product and what we were trying to sell and market. I wanted to establish a foundation.
My grandfather started out with nothing and my grandmother had worked in the field since she was in third grade. They passed on the work ethic to the rest of the family. What you learn from growing up in a farm family is to roll up your sleeves and do whatever it is you have to do at whatever time of day. Sometimes the farm just calls on you and you have to be able to respond. If you can’t then you won’t survive as a farmer.
It is important to realize that 2% of our population actually feeds the world, but 100% of the population depends on that 2% for food and other products.
Q: Why did you opt to get involved in the labor and immigration issue?
Hallstrom: I decided I needed to find out why this happened and figure out a way to fix it. I saw a train wreck coming and that ag would find itself in the same place as it was before with a very limited draw of ag labor. I spent about 10 years learning and traveling around the U.S. to understand ag outside of my own backyard.
Back in 1986 the Immigration Control Reform Act was passed. One good thing that came out of that is that we thought it was a way to get support for building decent housing. We couldn’t find financial help to fund the housing, so we had to go out and acquire our own private funding. We budgeted about $1.5 million but by the time we got done with the project, because nobody had really done anything like this, the cost jumped to about $2.5 million. Every time we turned the corner there was another demand and we couldn’t open our doors unless we got it done. It was a lot of money but it was the best thing we did.
It was voluntary housing, and it was there if people needed housing. We provided this dormitory housing with outdoor and indoor recreation.
We traveled around and I tried to see what else was out there. Everything else was fairly dilapidated. The idea was to see what people had done in the past and what the obstacles were. That is how we came up with this type of housing.
We noticed immediately that our employees’ efficiency, well-being, and health increased. The employees weren’t vandalized and they worked better and they felt better. We saw this effect immediately.
The next most important thing about building that housing was that after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, we wouldn’t have been able to get into the H-2A program if we didn’t have established housing. [Providing housing is required to be part of the H-2A program.] We had to jump through hoops when we got into the H-2A program, and the housing was one of the most critical parts of it.
There were a lot of concerns from other growers and building dormitory housing wasn’t something many other growers could do. That is where my interest came in, promoting flexible and alternative housing. Grower need to find something that they can afford and something that the worker needs. There needs to be a match.
Q: Thanks to the economic downturn, there seems to be less of a need for immigrant workers. Do you see labor as less of an issue now?
Hallstrom: You need to have a viable program when the need is there. Legislation takes time and we’ve seen that for more than 20 years. You don’t wait for the crisis to happen. You have programs in place so they are there when the need is there.
Over the last 20 years, I’ve traveled around the U.S. trying to understand ag outside my own backyard. There are so many different cases and so many different needs. It’s not one size fits all; different solutions are needed.
With ag, the importance of mechanization and the importance of looking into technology have always been there. If we didn’t have that kind of attitude we wouldn’t be in business today.
It plays out in different ways. For example, we are a fresh market producer of vine ripe tomatoes. We would never use a mechanical harvester on our fruit. However, we were able to use technology and mechanization to improve our function in our packing facility. We used electronic color sorters, sizing belts, electrical dumpers, and other systems to help us be more efficient. To help us reduce the labor in our packing facilities. Some of these advancements have helped us improve our quality and helped the packers and sorters.
It has been great for business. Was there much of a reduction of labor in the packing area? We haven’t seen much of a reduction in that area but you have to try. We must continue to look to improve in those areas where we can.
Q: Because of all the regulations etc., some growers have opted to leave the U.S. Will this trend negatively impact the U.S.?
Hallstrom: These are dark times. Ag is dealing with a lot of issues. Many growers don’t have a legal, reliable labor force. That is a fact. They are at the mercy of the labor force that is there and those who are able to get into the H-2A program.
Many of the larger farms have one foot on one side of the border and one on the other. For example, they have some of their operation in Mexico and some in the U.S. It is setup like this because they don’t feel they have the security of a legal labor force in the U.S. Many of the larger corporate farms are already doing that. They can’t play games with this. This way, at a moments notice, they could close down in the U.S. Some have already moved.
Most Americans don’t want to leave the country to farm. And I don’t think most Americans want that to happen. You don’t have as much control over how your food is grown if it’s grown outside the country. California has the safest food grown under strictest regulations anywhere in the world. If you are looking at the issue of national security, there is nothing worse than having to rely on growing your food offshore. What kind of national security is that for Americans?
Farmers and ranchers feel that they are on borrowed time. They have no assurances that they are going to be given legislation that will allow them the tools they need to have a legal and stable workforce. And, they need that. Labor is as big of an issue as the water. If you are missing one of those two components, you can’t function. It won’t work.
It is worse now than in previous years. We’ve had all this confusion and uncertainty around the Bush H-2A rules, the prior H-2A rules, and the prospect of new H-2A regulations. And all of this is happening because we haven’t passed legislative reform and any administration can come in and have their way with the language.
Q: Does AgJOBS do enough for the ag industry?
Hallstrom: I think it will provide ag with what it needs. It will provide the industry with a way to legitimize the current year-round workforce that is running ag day-to-day. It also takes a serious look at the future flow of workers and it is done in a bipartisan way, focusing on the worker advocate and the ag business. It assures that there is a program there for future flow when it is needed and a way to protect the foundation that is there now.
Is it going to do enough? We have learned that in order to really get anything passed, you have to have bipartisan support and you have to come to the center and work. Anybody who thinks they will get everything they want isn’t living in the real world. That is a pipe dream.
It is the only piece of legislation that has stood the test of time. There have been so many ideas in different areas that have come up and they have fallen to the wayside. The effort has to represent the bipartisan aspects. And it makes sense to a majority of the people.
Q: Do you think AgJOBS will pass this year?
Hallstrom: I think that it has an excellent chance of eventually passing. I think the media has been pretty on target with its reporting. A recent meeting with Obama was positive. The tone of the meeting is that Obama has been clear about a commitment and he wants to finish something this year or the beginning of next year. It was clear in the meeting that ag has an important place on this issue. And it was made clear by Senator John McCain that there had to be a need for a future worker flow program.
Q: Do most Americans understand the labor crisis?
Hallstrom: The average American doesn’t understand the labor crisis. And it’s not his or her fault. Most Americans don’t understand the ag component. There is a lot of work done by the ag industry to educate people about the need and to explain why and what the real needs are.
When President Bush was trying to work on a comprehensive measure he didn’t get the support he needed because people didn’t understand. It was never explained to the general public. They were being asked to swallow a huge bill. They didn’t know why we wanted to do this.
Q: How have your goals changed over time?
Hallstrom: My goals have changed quite a bit. I was trying to succeed for the family business and that sent me on a path to find out what was happening in the rest of the country.
The more I found out how much disconnect there was within the ag community itself, my goal became to connect the ag community to understand each other better and understand the federal laws that are important to sustaining ag and sustaining national security.
My goals have changed in that what I really hoped to do was re-establish the disconnect that was not only apparent in the ag industry but with many Americans who don’t know how and why their food is grown.
I like to stay positive because our farmers and ranchers continue to provide for us. What people forget about if you look at history is that at one point everyone had to grow their own food. It was because of farmers, at one point, being able to grow beyond enough food they needed for themselves. This freed up others to civilize and provide other raw materials and services for us. That is what enabled us to become a civilization.
Q: Where do you see the industry in 20 years?
Hallstrom: In 20 years, I’d like to see us come together and embrace ag as a very critical part of our civilization and our well being. We all need to become connected to it and revere it for what it is.
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