Following the People Behind our Food in New Documentary ‘Food Chains’

A Lawrence Dreyfuss

Food, where does it come from?  Most of us know the story by now.  A farmer grows and ships it out to be chemically enhanced, cooked, flash frozen, and then shipped to your local neighborhood grocery story to be bought by you as a TV dinner. Maybe it is shipped directly to the local market to be sold as fresh produce, or perhaps it goes to Taco Bell to be diced and served on a generic taco.  Documentaries have been made about all parts of this chain. From “Food Inc.” showing how animals are treated, to “King Corn” showing the farm to table process, and finally to “Super Size Me” showing what happens to that food once it is in our bodies. Where our food comes from is less a mystery than ever.  The one element that these films fail to highlight is the human one. “Food Chains,” from first time feature director Sanjay Rawal, tells the story of the people who toil in the fields, who pick the food, and who are severely overlooked.

The film follows a group of workers struggling to survive.  They are Mexican immigrants, often undocumented, who have the crossed the border to find farm work.  The work they are forced into by different situations, often pays well below minimum wage and forces them to work long hours in exchange for a sum of money that barely allows them to live. Many are packed into small homes while others are simply homeless.  It is easy to place the blame on the consumer’s demand of low prices, but as the film explains, grocery stores have large profit margins and little of this is passed on to the farmers.

Director Rawal knows this story well because he grew up spending his summers on tomato farms in central California.  He has worked on agriculture projects across Asia and Africa, helping to make a positive impact on communities. While he is still relatively new to filmmaking (he has made two shorts in the past), his relationship to the issue runs deep.

The narrative presented here is centered around the laborers going on a hunger strike to win better wages for workers, an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked.  A seemingly small amount, it is the difference between barely surviving and living moderately comfortable for many of these workers.

Obviously, this is a controversial issue.  It involves illegal immigrants, large corporations, and consumers who tend to want their food priced as cheaply as possible. The film addresses all of these issues. It looks at the history of immigrant labor, using archival footage to show how America became dependent on immigrants for labor.  It uses animation, primarily narrated by actorForest Whitaker, to show the supply chain and traces the money back to see how much it would really cost a large corporation to pay workers more.  It is a sobering tale of slavery and indentured servitude in the state of California.  Executive producer Eva Longoria reminds viewers during the film that this affects not just one racial group or one business, but it is important to anyone who eats.

Food Chains opens in select theaters November 21.