The Harvest

Synopsis

THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA is the story of the children who work 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week to pick the food that we eat. These children are not toiling in the fields in some far away land. They are working here, in our back yard, in America. Every year more than 400,000 migrant child farmworkers in the US journey from their homes traveling from the scorching sun of the Texas onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards, from the heat of the Florida tomato fields to the damp cherry trees in Oregon. These children are American citizens. All are working to help their families survive while sacrificing the birthright of childhood: play; stability; school. The film profiles three of them as they work through the 2009-10 harvests. Whose families will be "lucky" enough to get work? Which families will be separated? Which will get sick or injured? Will there be enough work to sustain them? Will any manage to keep their dreams alive? The film follows these children as they follow the crops they harvest, their lives governed by climate, demand, trade, and the greater economy. The verite footage of the children and their year of toil is augmented by the children having the chance to speak for themselves about their lives. THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA boasts unparalleled access to life on these farms across the nation and gives us the opportunity to connect with these children who live these unthinkable lives to feed us, and more importantly to them, to feed their families and themselves.