The Trump administration has proved a mixed blessing for a California town known as the garlic capital of the world, according to a report on NPR.
Gilroy, Calif. is famous for its annual garlic festival. But starting in the 1990s, Chinese garlic, priced at about one-quarter of local product, hit the domestic industry hard. Christopher Ranch, Gilroy’s largest garlic producer, had to cut workforce and hours. Then the Trump administration imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese garlic, and as a result, sales at Christopher Ranch rose 20% last year.
But at the same time, a crackdown on illegal immigration has sowed fear among the largely Hispanic workforce in Gilroy’s farms and processing plants. “Just in general, there has been a lot more fear...just fear to be out in public,” a local outreach coordinator told NPR.
