Equitable Food Initiative Highlights New Video Series About Farmworkers; Alice Linsmeier and Amalia Lommel Comment
WASHINGTON, DC - Happy Farmworker Awareness Week! Equitable Food Initiative is once again harnessing this year’s celebration to bring well-deserved attention to the agricultural sector. This year, the organization has released a two-video series titled A Day in the Life of a Farmworker.
“Members of the leadership team committee wanted to bring their own stories of their daily lives to consumers and retail buyers in hopes that more people would understand their struggles, value their skills, and support their work with the EFI certification program,” said Alice Linsmeier, Organizational and Workforce Development Manager for EFI. “It was inspiring to work closely with the worker-led video teams at each ranch to develop and capture the stories they felt most compelling.”
Designed to highlight some of the special challenges farmworkers face as well as the benefits they’ve experienced working on EFI-certified farms, each video depicts a typical day of the featured farmworkers, a press release explained. The first video in the series follows a single mother and strawberry harvester in California, and the second video features a married couple who both work as quality control reviewers at a strawberry farm in Mexico.
The video concept was developed and implemented by EFI’s leadership team committee, which aligned with their farming operations and coworkers to create a video series that educates and raises awareness around the realities of being a farmworker.
The workers involved in the video series include:
Buenaventura Ranch Video
- Carlos Alberto Lazaro, Harvester – videographer and interviewer
- Juan Gutierrez Lopez, H2A Harvest Machine Operator – videographer and interviewer
- Yesica Angeles Guzman, Harvester at Buenaventura Ranch – interviewee
Rancho Nuevo Video
- Maria Sáenz Ruiz, Quality Control Assistant – videographer and interviewer
- Cuauhtémoc Palacios Sánchez, Quality Control Reviewer – interviewee
- Ana Eugenio Dolores, Quality Control Review – interviewee
The video production was led by workers at growing operations for Andrew & William Fresh Produce/GoodFarms.
“We understand the power of bringing the workers’ voices and real-life stories directly to our customers and consumers,” remarked Amalia Lommel, Director of Social Responsibility for GoodFarms. “We love seeing this kind of initiative and collaboration from our workers and are always delighted to help highlight the skills and essential work they do every day.”
Other grower-shippers who are interested in highlighting farmworkers can join EFI in promoting National Farmworker Awareness Week by utilizing this free communications toolkit, which includes ready-to-use graphics, logos, hashtags, and messages.
Stick with us at ANUK as we continue to celebrate the efforts of dedicated farmworkers.
