A civic and cultural leader one minute and a prominent produce farmers the next, Paul DiMare isn’t scared to call out the nation’s economic problems he sees.
“I have not seen one thing positive in any trade agreement that I’ve seen,” he said. “When they sold it to Congress and to the American people, every trade representative always sold it on the basis of free trade is beneficial to the United States.”
Yet the agreements, Mr. DiMare argued, have only led to a loss of American jobs and prosperity.
And there’s only more to come.
At one point, 50,000 acres in Southern Miami-Dade were dedicated to tomato cultivation. Today, there are only 2,500.
But the Boston native said he’s relied on hard work and prudence to survive, which he said he learned from his Sicilian-born, immigrant grandparents and from his father, who started out selling produce out of push carts in Boston, to survive the unpredictable ups and downs of the farming business.
Mr. DiMare was interviewed in his Florida City offices by Miami Today Staff Writer Zachary S. Fagenson.