California’s Harvest of Shame from California Assembly Access on Vimeo.
“California’s Harvest of Shame,” a short documentary showing some of the current conditions facing California farmworkers, is timely as AB 2386 (Nunez) is making its way to the Governor’s desk. This bill would authorize secret ballot elections for farmworkers and helps to ensure that the laws on our books match the realities in the fields.
In watching this film you will learn a bit of the history that brought together the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez and the reality today where farmworkers work in the heat of the day and suffer death and health problems. California’s Harvest of Shameis narrated by Speaker Emeritus Nunez, himself the son of a migrant farm worker, and includes a prologue and epilogue by actor and activist Martin Sheen.
California farmworkers are not receiving the protections they need and deserve under current laws. Nunez traveled to the fields of California’s Central Valley and documented the devastating and sometimes fatal conditions farmworkers face everyday as they harvest the food that feeds America.
To watch it, click above. The 20 minutes it takes to watch this film is worth the while for those who have followed the plight of the farmworkers for years as well as those who have not. There is a lot here to remind us what is at stake. It was released August 18. (from CA Progress Report)