99% Invisible

How To Pick A Pepper

Nov 5, 2019

Rose Eveleth, host of the Flash Forward podcast, dives into the challenges facing New Mexico's chili pepper harvest. She discusses the labor shortage impacting small family farms and the intense work required for picking peppers. The conversation explores the clash between traditional farming methods and the push for automation in harvesting. Eveleth highlights the complexities of mechanizing such a delicate crop while addressing the historical displacement of migrant workers due to agricultural advancements. It's a spicy mix of tradition, innovation, and social justice!

35:46

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Episode guests

Rose Eveleth

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Episode notes

Intro

3min

Chili Challenges: Tradition Meets Technology

17min

Tradition vs. Automation in Chili Pepper Harvesting

5min

The Double-Edged Sword of Agricultural Automation

4min

Justice for the Displaced: A Legal Battle in Agriculture

7min

The chili pepper is the pride of New Mexico, but they have a problem with their beloved crop. There just aren’t enough workers to pick the peppers. Picking chili peppers can be especially grueling work even compared to other crops. So most workers are skipping chili harvests in favor of other sources of income. As a result, small family farms have been planting less and less chili every year in favor of other less-labor intensive crops. So, scientists are trying to find ways to automate the harvest, but picking chilis turned out to be a tough job for a robot.

How To Pick A Pepper

Rose Eveleth’s podcast is called Flash Forward. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or RadioPublic.

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