Taylor Made…Squid oozed behind the lettuce curtain and over to Salinas last Friday for a little indulgence in the city’s First Friday Artwalk. Things were hopping, at least in certain limited circles: First Friday founder Trish Sullivan had a big crowd at her gallery/tourism center/used book store; Somos was rocking an all-girl art show with co-owner Imelda Suarez manning dual DJ turntables; guitarists were strumming at Rollick’s cafe and flautists were flauting over at the Steinbeck Center; the police were out in full force because the Fox Theater had a show that appealed to brown youth…but other than that, not a lot going on.

So Squid spent the night. The next morning, Squid gobbled blue-germ pancakes at First Awakenings (Squid meets syrup is never a pretty sight) and took a slow ooze in the daylight, which sadly revealed more than two dozen empty storefronts along the city’s historic main drag. Coincidentally, Salinas Lettuce King Bruce Taylor, whose Taylor Farms is building its world headquarters on the 100 block of Main Street, was interviewed for a PBS mini-documentary that premiered Friday night. Part of the Need to Know series, this one focused on poverty and migrant workers in Salinas. Taylor told Need to Know’s John Larson that while the company could have built its headquarters anywhere “and it’d probably be a lot more logical,” Taylor Farms wants to see “if we can recreate a downtown experience in a small town.”

For that Squid offers big kudos. And Squid also takes note of what Squid is now calling The Taylor Effect. Multiple sources are whispering that a second large ag company is eyeballing a purchase of The Salinas Californian building with plans on moving 150 employees there in the coming months. The Californian building has been on the block for well over a year now, at a low, low price of $2.4 million for more than 37,000 square feet. As for what will happen to the Californian’s crew when the sale goes through (it’s rumored to be closing escrow this spring) Squid understands they’re not moving anywhere—instead, they’re going to be shoved into a corner of the building, where employees of this still unidentified ag company will visit them a few times a day to feed them fresh produce through the bars on their cubicles.

Maybe now that Taylor is solving Oldtown’s problems, he can work on solving migrant worker problems too. Based on the Need to Know segment, there are many farm workers living in deplorable conditions, right outside our own doors.