The Harvest
The Story of the Children Who Work to Feed America.
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THE HARVEST, revisits Edward R. Murrow’s HARVEST OF SHAME, filmed 50 years ago, and reveals that little has changed over the past 5 decades in the lives of migrant farm workers in America. A migrant family today earns on average less than $14,500 a year, far below the poverty level. To survive, many parents are forced to remove children from school to work in the fields: as a result, nearly 2/3 dropout of school permanently.
THE HARVEST, however, will be told from adolescents’ perspectives as we meet 5 of the more than 400,000 to 500,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 who labor in fields and factories to feed us, lacking the protections offered by the Fair Labor Standards Act that all other American children enjoy. We follow them as they follow the 2009 harvest, working throughout the spring, summer and early fall until they return to school in early November, struggle to catch up, only to be forced to leave school again the following April.
THE HARVEST will take viewers into America’s backyard to confront the uncomfortable truth that the very food we eat is supplied in large measure by youngsters who are themselves underfed and overworked.
Among others we will meet:
Jessica Rios, 16, has been working in the fields most of her life. Every year she must leave her friends and her home behind to help her family make enough money to survive. She fears that her parents and siblings will
be deported leaving only herself and a sister eligible to remain in the US. Jessica’s goal is to break the cycle of migrant work that has been in her family for generations.
Sixteen year old Aaron Matamoros is a unique migrant. Because his parents are now unable to work due to illness and injury, he has become the sole provider for his family and often stays with strangers when he migrates across the US. He takes his school work very seriously, but wishes he had more time to devote to studying.
Perla Sanchez, 13, travels with her large family to pick crops across the United States. In one migrant camp, her family’s quarters were so small that her mother had to purchase bins with lids to put their clothes in and leave outside. She dreams of becoming a lawyer so that she can help other migrant workers who struggle to make ends meet.
James Cervantes, a 15 year old migrant, began working in the fields when he was six years old. He has traveled to Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, and all over Texas to pick blueberries, carrots, watermelons and cucumbers. James plans to finish school, attend college, and become a police officer.
Zulema Lopez, 12, thinks of nothing but working in the fields, and one of her earliest childhood memories is of her mother teaching her how to pick and clean strawberries. When asked what her dreams are, she replies that she doesn’t have time for them. Zulema doesn’t think she will make it to high school because of how behind she has fallen in her studies.
THE HARVEST will be shot in high definition video. Principal photography began in Minnesota and North Dakota in June 2007, and will continue in Northern California, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and Florida through the 2009 harvest. Post-production will begin in early winter 2010, with the anticipated completion of the film by mid-2010.
Please stay tuned for the exclusive interviews with Jessica, Aaron, Perla, James, and Zulema.