Learn more about fair food

Here’s a website that can help

By Kim Carlson

November 25, 2009

While any time of year is a good time to appreciate tasty and nourishing food, the holidays — a.k.a. the feasting season — may be an especially good time to pause and appreciate fair food.

Now with Fair Food: Field to Table, a Web documentary produced by Rick Nahmias in collaboration with the California Institute for Rural Studies, we can all learn more about how a rising tide of justice may lift us toward just that: food that’s been harvested by well-treated and fairly paid workers.

Fair Food involves three short films and a raft of resource material. Nahmias, a photographer whose previous work has explored the lives of migrant laborers, says that as much as he’s looking at current-day farmworker issues, he’s also looking for answers: “Replicable solutions and best practices that consumers, growers, students, businesses, and others can adapt to ensure that equitable treatment of farm labor becomes a permanent part of the local, sustainable, and fair-food movements.”

Taken together, the films and website present a forward-thinking, optimistic view of better farmworker conditions, and invite educators to spread the word about how everyone — from consumers to growers to the workers themselves — can take part.

The first film uses photos, narration, and music to explore the current situation of farmworkers:

The second film, in turn, profiles a host of growers who have managed to be fair employers and turn a profit:

Finally, the third film depicts a number of advocacy groups working for fair food:

Want more information? Head over to the Fair Food Project website to find links, news events, and educator materials.

To see more of Rick Nahmias’ work, check out his recent slide show on Culinate, with its unforgettable photos of the migrant workers who harvest food in the United States.