John Steinbeck:

"“The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth."

I'm sure you've read the recent news of peach growers in California destroying 420,000 trees after DelMonte declared bankruptcy.

The growers would rather destroy their orchards and take federal government bailouts than try to work with one or more states to sell the orchards to smaller growers.

50,000 tons of fruit wasted in one year. It can take up to 4 years for a tree to bear fruit. All gone.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/california-peach-trees-destroyed-del-monte-b2973643.html

there are CA farm owners who regularly use and exploit immigrant labor who still vote consistently GOP...

Tomatoes must be hand picked. When you kick the labor force out of the fields and country, food rots on the vines or on the ground creating a shortage and an increase in prices.

I know you know that, but it's amazing to me that GOP voters, many of whom grew up on or around agriculture country should have known this was coming.

It won't stop with tomatoes, and it won't just be fresh produce. Canned & frozen will go up too.