Harvest of Shame film screening
in honor of National Food Day, DC Fair Food and Bloombars will be hosting a film screening of the historical 1960s film, Harvest of Shame
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012
Bloombars, Washington DC
$10 suggested donation
7:00pm – 9:00pm
film screening • free food • discussion on modern day agriculture industry
RSVP to the Facebook event HERE.
Harvest of Shame was a television documentary made by broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and aired on CBS News the day after Thanksgiving in 1960. The film shows the historical plight of agriculture workers in the American agricultural industry, a truth that had been untold until the airing of Harvest of Shame.
Murrow’s opening narration begins with:
This scene is not taking place in the Congo. It has nothing to do with Johannesburg or Cape Town. It is not Nyasaland or Nigeria. This is Florida. These are citizens of the United States, 1960. This is a shape-up for migrant workers. The hawkers are chanting the going piece rate at the various fields. This is the way the humans who harvest the food for the best-fed people in the world get hired. One farmer looked at this and said, “We used to own our slaves; now we just rent them.”
Murrow’s closing narration of the film:
The migrants have no lobby. Only an enlightened, aroused and perhaps angered public opinion can do anything about the migrants. The people you have seen have the strength to harvest your fruit and vegetables. They do not have the strength to influence legislation. Maybe we do. Good night, and good luck.”
DC Fair Food will hold a film screening and then a facilitated discussion reflecting on the reality that this film depicts of 1960 agricultural Florida and the current state of the agricultural industry, which before the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, had not changed much since the oppressive conditions depicted in the film
We hope you can join us for this powerful discussion!
In solidarity,
The DC Fair Food Crew
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Free food will be provided by Zenful Bites, a new Washington DC-based company that seeks to provide and improve
food education, food access,and sustainability for all residents of the DC metro area.
A special presentation will be made by Sustainable DC, a Mayor Gray initiative crafted for and by the city’s diverse and knowledgeable community with the ultimate goal of making DC more socially equitable, environmentally responsible and economically competitive.
Bloombars is located at 3222 11th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20010.
DC Fair Food 