Final Essay:

The American Food Industry is one of the largest industries within the United States,
propelling big corporations forward and profiting tremendously. But what makes this industry so successful? Contributions from Latinxs are shown to be the primary reason as to why this industry is able to be so successful and why it is even able to continue flourishing. While being very successful, everything that aids into it is often overlooked and casted aside. There is a never-ending range as to how Latinx contributes, from farm workers to cultural foods and food industry workers. The documentary directed by Robin Romano, La Cosecha/The Harvest (2010), sheds light on the struggles farm workers face on an everyday basis in order to keep this industry upright, which demonstrates just one of the many ways in which Latinx contributes. The movie, East Side Sushi directed by Anthony Lucero, shows a different workforce of Latinx working within the kitchen and food industry itself providing other ways in which Latinx contribute to the food industry and ultimately hold it together. While La Cosecha/The Harvest and East Side Sushi portrays different Latinx experiences and contributions to the American food industry, both highlight Latinx as the backbone of this industry; displaying many themes of hardship which sheds light on harmful stereotypes and immigration issues.
One way in which Latinx contributes to the food industry is through working in the
agricultural fields. Farm workers make up the bulk of the American food industry and the
workers are faced with many struggles and injustices. Majority are foreign born, being immigrants and often undocumented with 63% of agricultural workers being born in Mexico,
according to the National Center for Farmworkers Health (NCFH). Latinx are the vast majority of agricultural workers and are primarily the ones facing the struggles and hardships being portrayed. La Cosecha, is a documentary that displays the many hardships migrant workers face. Farmworkers have an increase in health problems due to how physically straining it is on the body, working in extreme weather conditions, and handling toxic chemicals and pesticides. According to NCDHHS (office of rural health), “85% of farm workers in the US have no health insurance” (16).This is significant because it amplifies the health issues shown in the documentary and many do not qualify for social services due to immigration status. The documentary also showed the housing issues within farmworkers since they need to migrate depending on the season, “The camps that we lived in were never good for living… (26:15 – 26:28). This increases stress of Latinx farmworker families and shows how the food industry is failing farm workers and using their cheap labor to make more profit. The food industry takes advantage of migrant workers since this is one of the few jobs that they can do by oftentimes making less than the minimum wage, “…20% of agricultural worker families had family income levels below the national poverty guidelines” (NCFH 6). The documentary also displays how the families make so little that the children need to work from a very young age. This brings in the topic of stereotypes within Latinx farm workers. Many believe migrant workers to not care about their education and put in the effort towards their education to get out of the poverty line. The statistics portrayed as well as the documentary shows how this is in fact not true and that the food industry forms a cycle to keep farm workers as cheap labor to fuel the industry. The hardships faced have a domino effect keeping these stereotypes alive and immigration issues continue.

Another way in which Latinx contributes to the food industry is through Latinx workers
working in the kitchen and preparing food in the food service industry. The film, East Side Sushi depicts latinx experience within the food industry which shows another way as to how they contribute to this industry from La Cosecha. The film shows Juana’s experiences while working in the food industry and many challenges are brought out. For example, before getting her job in the Osaka restaurant she worked selling fruit as a street vendor. It is seen that the street vending took a lot of hard work and did not get very much pay. In addition it was dangerous where in the film she gets attacked further showing that the job is not the safest. Shedding light on the street violence within Fruteros shows the challenges Latinx has to overcome when contributing to the food industry. This is another job that many Latinx workers take hold of due to the fact that the job range is limited. Fruteros, by Rosio Rosales, touches on the problem with street vending and expands on how it problematizes immigration status. For example Rosales states, “The strict binary between “legality” and “illegality” misrepresents the reality of immigrants’ lived experiences” (10). For immigrants street vending is very common in Latin America, however in many parts of the US street vending is illegal meaning it can take away from their culture and bring out other immigration problems. Rosales and the film share the different struggles Latinx community has with street vending which again demonstrates the way the food industry brings out stereotypes and immigration issues. In addition, the film shares Juana’s experiences within the Osaka restaurant, “…behind every great restaurant, here, there are great Latinos in the back, in the kitchen, hidden, prepping the food and making it look good” (Juana, 72:00). This goes to show the major contribution that the Latinx workers have within the food industry and how without them it would not be anywhere as successful as it is now. Laitnx labor is displayed to be important within this film and it ultimately shows the challenges Latinx workers face as well as how much they contribute to the food industry.
While the documentary, La Cosecha and the film, East Side Sushi touch on different roles
in which the Latinx community contributes to the food industry, they both show themes of
hardships. Both portrayed that Latinx workers needed to make many sacrifices in order to do the job. The documentary touched on the sacrifice of education and pushing school away in order to help work for their family. It got to the point that the children working in agriculture did not learn much from school. One particular scene that represents the toll working has on education is when a young girl, Zulema is asked if she has any dreams she replies with, “no I’m still working on those” (3:16). The education system does not also provide any different ways in which the children working can learn better and still get more out of their education which connects with the injustices within the food industry. It is apparent here that the food industry does not care about the families or Latinx workers and instead will just use them as a cheap labor source. Another sacrifice shown in the documentary was their health in itself. As stated previously many Latinx farm workers do not get any health insurance and do not qualify for social services due to immigration status. With the work that they do being so physically demanding, exposing them to harsh chemicals, and making below the poverty line, the mental and physical health of Latinx is sacrificed in order for the big corporations to run. Likewise, the film East Side Sushi also displayed themes of hardships and sacrifices that are made. Juana, when working by street vending, makes the sacrifice of waking up at four in the morning and taking her daughter with her in order to get to work and be prepared. She also has to sacrifice her safety since the job is out in the open and especially her being a woman is very susceptible to getting attacked which is seen when two males attack her and steal her money. This also caters to the immigration issues due to the fact that there is often no accountability since many Latinx people working as street vendors are immigrants. Both the film and documentary displays the contributions Latinx has contributed to the food industry and also shows the implications and negative effects it has.
It is apparent that the American food industry is profiting off of the cheap labor of Latinx
people, and it also takes a lot from the cultural foods. This can be seen as a good thing
considering it as cultural appreciation. While this can be true it is important to look at how this is being presented. Mexican food has implemented its way into capitalism which shows another contribution to the American food industry. Taco USA, by Gustavo, Arellano highlights this fact, “…a perpetual foreigner perfectly at home,” (5). Cultural food has expanded to the United states and when relating this to the film and documentary with cheap labor, this is also something that is very simple to sell. Taco USA touches on all the ways in which Latinx workers provide for the industry, “to all the Mexican workers, busboys and waitresses, line cooks, and sous chefs, janitors and crop pickers, and so many more who toil anonymously in our food industry, making American cuisine even more Mexican than we could ever realize,” (Taco USA 2012). With the combination of the cheap labor and contributions of the food itself, Mexican labor and Latinx is proven to be the backbone of the industry. This is only some of the ways in which the food industry utilizes Mexican cheap labor to aid its success and ultimately be the reason as to why it is so successful in the first place.
Overall, Latinx contributes greatly to the American food industry and without the
workers the industry would not be nearly as successful as it is today. It is ultimately really
devastating at how Latinx workers are taken advantage of especially due to the fact that
immigration status comes into play. East Side Sushi and La Cosecha displays the ways in which the Latinx community contributes to the food industry. From the farm workers, to people working within the food industry itself, to cultural foods making its way to every household, there is no doubt that the contributions are significant. Many themes of hardships and sacrifices between the families within this industry that do provide for the US are displayed throughout the readings/films which is an immediate reflection of everyday life. There needs to be a change within this industry to keep from problematizing stereotypes and immigration issues. Without these workers the industry would fall apart.