If the cost of farm labor rose by 40% because the influx of migrant workers slowed or stopped, how much more would the average U.S. family pay each year for fresh fruits and vegetables?
If the cost of farm labor rose by 40%, the average U.S. family would pay an extra $21 per year for fresh fruits and vegetables. Per a recent study by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics at the University of California: "There is little relationship between farm wages and consumer prices for fresh fruits and vegetables for three major reasons. First, Americans do not spend much on fresh fruits and vegetables, an average of $530 a year per household in 2015. Second, farmers receive only a third of what consumers pay for produce, about $165 per household per year. Third, farm labor costs are usually less than a third of farmer revenue, about $55 per household per year. ... If farm wages rose 40 percent, and the increase were passed on fully to consumers, average spending on fresh fruits and vegetables would rise by about $21 a year...."