The documentary Food Chains generally blames giant supermarkets, which push farmers to sell their goods at reduced rates, resulting in unequal compensation for their employees.
The film depicts the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida, a union of tomato pickers on a hunger strike against the prominent Publix grocery business. The coalition’s demand is modest but inventive: large retailers pay a cent extra per pound for tomatoes and stop doing business with producers that mistreat employees by paying low salaries and providing poor working conditions.
The film’s director discusses human rights and the unparalleled power of large business problems. Immigrants and migrant labor continue to be the industry’s cornerstones. Farmworkers in the United States are subjected to humiliating situations ranging from slavery and poor salaries to sexual harassment and a total absence of legal protection.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, farming employs more illegal labor than any other business in the United States. Workers have little legal protection against unfair working circumstances. Immigration policy is a significant contributor to the misery of American farm laborers.