More Chinese canned peaches are entering California, leading to fewer jobs for farmworkers and at canneries, according to Rich Hudgins, president of the California Canning Peach Association.
He told members at the association’s annual meeting recently that those laid-off workers will pick up food boxes that contain Chinese canned peaches. He called it ironic for such a climate-focused state to spend taxpayer dollars on food shipped 7,000 miles.
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Hudgins disparaged China’s low pay rates and minimal labor standards, noting that cannery workers earn less in a day than their California counterparts do in 30 minutes. And their cans—made at half the cost of U.S. versions—use steel made with forced labor, while Chinese pesticides “are not carefully regulated and worker safety measures are lacking.”
Hudgins is maintaining his years-long push for state and federal lawmakers to ensure that food purchases tap into domestically sourced products first.
