Molly Burchard
mb712319@ohio.edu
There are many things in this world that I take for granted. How food gets on my table every night is one of them. It's sad to say, but before Tuesday, I didn't think much about the food source workers who work tirelessly to harvest and pack the food I eat. A lot of these food source workers already work for little pay. Imagine working for almost no pay in unsafe conditions in a pandemic.
"COVID's Hidden Toll," produced by Daffodil Altan and Andres Cediel, who spoke at Ohio University on Tuesday, showed the struggles that agricultural workers faced at the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Many farmworkers, such as Sinthia Hernandez, chose between their health and providing for their family. Hernandez had cancer and diabetes but still went to work every day during the pandemic because she was the only one in her house who could work.
The conditions where she worked as a broccoli harvester were not safe. She and her coworkers had to pack in vans to get to work, use the same bathroom, and all drink from the same water. In addition, masks were not provided. Employees had to bring their masks.
Many food production companies ignored the fact that a pandemic was booming. This fact was undoubtedly the case at Central Valley Meat. There, bosses ridiculed workers for wearing masks because they were "scaring" other people. The company didn't do anything to help workers who tested positive for COVID-19. They are even continued to work while positive. It wasn't until the company made national news that they implemented safety measures, and the measures still weren't even that great.
To find and tell the story of these underrepresented farmworkers, Altan and Cediel had to listen intently. As they shared on Tuesday, while many newsrooms were closing down, their newsroom was ramping up. So Altan and Cediel had to listen for stories, and they had to listen for readiness to tell these stories. Unfortunately, many food source workers were afraid to talk because they could get fired for speaking out against their company. So Altan and Cediel had to put in the work to find sources that were willing to share their own experiences on camera and put pieces of the story together. In addition, Altan and Cediel had to be culturally competent to do these stories justice. Because they know the significance of the story they are talking about, the film is truly impactful.
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