South County is weathering an unprecedented labor shortage alongside hundreds of other agricultural communities across California. The pinch is forcing some growers to raise their prices as competition for workers increases, and some have even decided to sell their operation to larger companies.
Mi Pueblo Foods, the San Jose-based Hispanic grocery store chain with a location on First Street in Gilroy, recently began cross-checking the legal immigration status of new hires at the request of the federal government, invoking attacks from a local labor union.