Earning One's Bread

I'm a fairly hard core Lord of the Rings fan, and, having found a listener, I've been reading it aloud recently. I'm not the critical type, but have I found a plot hole? Elves always seem to be well provisioned, not to say damn wealthy, but has anyone ever seen one do a lick of work? OK, maybe Galadriel and her maidens do a bit of magic cloak weaving, but it's not like you can buy those on the market.

This leads me to a theory. There are secret elvish farms and mines, worked by, guess who, enslaved orcs. This would help explain the abiding and otherwise hard to explain hatred orcs have for them.

Am I right, or what?

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