About half of US fresh fruit (53 percent in 2017) and a quarter of US fresh vegetables (31 percent in 2017) are imported. Mexico supplied 48 percent of the imported fresh fruit and 68 percent of the imported fresh vegetables in 2017. The US imported $11.6 billion worth of fresh produce from Mexico in 2017; 53 percent was fruit and 47 percent was vegetables. The Los Angeles Times published a four-part series December 7-14, 2014 documenting forced labor, debt peonage, and poor living conditions of some workers on Mexican farms that produce tomatoes and other commodities for US consumers, suggesting that Americans are benefiting from the exploitation of Mexican farm workers.

Read the article.