Nearby land is very productive. As I drive I see teams working hard, picking veges in freezing cold or pouring rain. Many are probably seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands. This article about terrible conditions is a new insight: Paying to work: Life as a seasonal worker.

@Miraz It makes me angry how exploitative these schemes are. In Australia there's been a lot of controversy because farmers treat backpackers from Western countries just as badly, and I guess they're more willing to speak out about it. But we need to remember Pacific Island workers too. Honestly I think if the relevant union would do some serious organising in these areas, that'd help.

@Miraz This makes me so angry to read. The same kind of thing is happening in Canada. Canada is a wealthy country, there should be no exploitation here.

@Lynessence @jayeless Hardly new of course. Sadly. When I lived in Germany in ummm 1976 there were loads of Turkish folk and Spanish and Portuguese. They did the hard or dirty jobs locals didn't want to do. In Aotearoa New Zealand we've always happily called on Pacific Islanders to do that stuff then if we don't want them around any more we kick them out. See the atrocious Dawn raids, one of many shameful black blots on our history.

@Miraz It’s almost exactly the same here… There’s a big housing crisis going on and seasonal workers are structurally being abused by landlords. It really is a terrible situation, and unfortunately it seems to be a global one…

@ArnoldHoogerwerf Puts me in mind of other work one part of society doesn't want to do: the jobs sometimes called "women's work": childcare, tending the sick, cleaning. Those workers are also traditionally underpaid and treated like dirt.