A 12-year-old might’ve grown your food. In many states, that’s perfectly legal

I think it's a matter of business model here. I don't see anything wrong with children on a family farm who pitch in to help the family grow their own food and make a bit of profit by selling the excess. If the place is a factory farm, owned by a corporation, then it would seem that using child labor is more or less reprehensible (especially the migrant kind that barely has a choice where to work.)

Of course, with family farms dwindling in these United States, it seems like bringing the labor laws into conformance with the other sectors seems like the best choice. It's unfortunate, because once upon a time, family farms were the backbone of this great nation, as they still are in many other parts of the world.