It’s been 50 years since Edward R. Murrow’s landmark documentary Harvest of Shame that examined the lives of farmworkers. How much has changed since then? And how much remains the same? Here is a look at the lives of farmworkers in North Carolina today.
We worked with the Farmworker Advocacy Network to create an original study guide that accompanies Harvest of Dignity. Click here to download the study guide for free. Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction:
Farmworkers feed the world. Farm and poultry work is some of the most difficult, most dangerous and most important work in our community. North Carolina is home to roughly 150,000 farmworkers and 28,000 poultry workers and their families. The vast majority of the fruits and vegetables and nearly all of the poultry we eat are picked or processed by hand.
However, the people who feed our families through their hard work are often among the worst paid and least protected workers in our state.
The Harvest of Dignity campaign, coordinated by the Farmworker Advocacy Network, is working to change the deplorable conditions that lead to a harvest of shame. North Carolinians are joining their voices in demanding safe places to live, safe places to work, and strong enforcement of existing laws so that some of the state’s most vulnerable workers will have dignity on the job. Find out more at: www.harvestofdignity.org.
~ Chris Liu-Beers & Lisa Marie Talbott, 2011
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