Steven Colbert was part of the United Farm Workers (UFW) campaign “Take Our Jobs” calling on unemployed Americans to take jobs in the agriculture sector. He decided to address Congress on the issue. When asked why, he said, “I like talking about people who don’t have any power, and they seem to be one of the least powerful people in the United States… the migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time, ask them to leave. It’s an interesting contradiction to me.”
Best lines from the speech:
“But this is America, I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”
“I started my workday with preconceived notions about migrant labor. But after working with these men and women, picking beans, packing corn for hours on end, side-by-side, in the unforgiving sun, I have to say - and I do mean this sincerely - please don’t make me do this again.”
“Maybe the easier answer is just to have scientists develop vegetables that pick themselves. The genetic engineers over at Fruit and Loom have made great strides in human fruit hybrids. The point is, we have to do something because I am not going back out there. At this point I break into a cold sweat inside of a salad bar.”
