David: Stop holding hands you two! We’re supposed to be here on a school project.

Tzu Lee: You’re just jealous cos Taz isn’t here….

Nat: Shhh. Here comes the manager guy.

Manager: So you’re the people from the school, come to ask about our new business here?

Tzu Lee: Yes I’m Tzu Lee, this is David, he’s Nat.

Manager: Nice to meet you. Now, I’m really busy so let’s get straight down to it, can we? I’ve looked at the questions you sent in advance…. When you’ve talked to me you can meet one of the workers.

Nat: You grow salad vegetables and soft fruit here is that right?

Manager: Yes. There’s greater demand than there used to be – maybe people have more money for things like fresh raspberries, maybe they want more healthy eating. Lots of this stuff used to come from abroad.

Nat: That’s what we were wondering, how come you can make a living from this kind of work now, when you couldn’t in the past? I mean, haven’t you only been going 5 years?

Manager: A bit longer, but it’s been growing every year. It’s like I said, the market has got bigger; for whatever reason we can now sell this stuff when we couldn’t before. And things are still getting bigger.

Tzu Lee: And most of your workers are foreign, is that right?

Manager: Yes.

David: How come?

Manager: We employ 420 people here, about 380 are foreign. Why so many foreigners? Well, do you have any idea how low unemployment is around here? No? Well let me tell you, it’s low. If I went to the local jobcentre saying I needed 380 farming workers they’d offer me sympathy but nothing else. There are almost no people around here to do the work.

David: Really? But there are unemployed people….

Manager: Not many. Anyway this is physical work, for at least 8 hours a day, more when there’s lots of stuff to be picked, so you have to be young and fit. Almost all of our foreign workers are no more than 10 years older than you – in their mid 20s.

Tzu Lee: Is it true they’re cheap labour?

Manager: That’s a cheeky question. Are you saying I’m a bad boss, ripping off my workers?

Tzu Lee: Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that, it’s just…..

Manager: Hey I’m only kidding. They get paid the legal minimum agricultural wage.

Nat: So actually, British workers in that sort of age… they have other jobs cos they pay better?

Manager: That’s partly true. Like I say, this is hard physical work, we start early and finish late, many of the workers live here in mobile homes on the farm, which probably wouldn’t suit a Brit. I have to say, also, that they are hard working. When I have occasionally had someone British working amongst them, they want a tea break every half hour…..

Tzu Lee: So why do these foreign workers come here to work so hard, live in caravans, and earn the lowest wages you can legally get paid?

Manager: It’s just the way of the world. They come from countries where there are fewer jobs, and pay is really lousy, even if you are skilled. I’ve got people picking vegetables here who have degrees, but they earn more here.

Tzu Lee: That’s awful….

Manager: You may think it’s awful, but they don’t. Ask, when you meet one of them.

David: So can anyone come, like from any country in the world?

Manager: Nope, it’s only certain countries. Basically it’s only people from EU countries, but in reality no one from Germany is going to come here to pick my red peppers, cos wages are at least as high in Germany. Same goes for France, Holland and most of the rest. We sometimes get a few Portuguese workers, from a poor part of Portugal… But they mostly come from eastern Europe, from poorer countries that have just joined the EU.

David: Like Poland?

Manager: Yeah. Most of our workers are Polish, because it’s by far the biggest of the new countries.