[gwbas1c]

The people who complain about illegal immigrant labor in the US also like their cheap chicken and other fruits from illegal immigrant labor.

It's a weird case where one business undercuts another by hiring cheap labor, and then the other business has to do the same thing or else risk going out of business.

Better enforcement might help, but remember, people like cheap chicken; it doesn't matter which way you vote.

[frmersdog]

People say this, but I always wonder if some rejiggering of the revenue allocation calculus might make it possible to keep chicken cheap while paying the workers a living wage. All you'd have to do is make a handful of executives very disappointed when they open the letter containing their tax bill - or when a federal law enforcement agent knocks on their door.

[gwbas1c]

I think we're more likely to see AI-based automation further take humans out of the loop at chicken factories.

That being said: I personally think it makes more sense to lower the cost of plant-based proteins. It's always going to be cheaper when we eat the plants directly instead of having an animal convert the plant to protein.

[frmersdog]

For protein. That doesn't account for micronutrients. For better or worse, humans are omnivores. We might be able to live on less meat. (Collectively-speaking; this individual weightlifts and accumulates injuries like crazy if he doesn't eat enough meat, sorry.)

[gwbas1c]

There's no facts in that argument: Meat is cultural, and we like it because it tastes good. There's no nutritional need for micronutrients from meat.

(This person still eats plenty of meat... Because it tastes good.)

[frmersdog]

That's incorrect.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1747-0080.12...

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10305646/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93100-3

There's also an issue of lower fat/connective tissue content in plant-based meats (again, necessary to support joint and muscle recovery). Also, IIRC, the fats and oils in meat hold up better to high-temperature cooking than the ones in meat analogues. Best I can do is go pescatarian (which has its own issues at-scale).

[gwbas1c]

> plant-based meats

They are processed food. I'm under no illusion that they are healthy.

I won't say I've never had them, but I generally turn my nose up at them and stick with real animal flesh or traditional vegetarian food.

[hulitu]

No. The profits _must_ grow.

[neuroelectron]

I don't like cheap chicken

[silisili]

There are legal means of hiring seasonal workers.

If it needs fixing in law, let's do that... not this weird system we have now of turning our head the other way and waving it off as necessary while ignoring any criticism of said crazy system.