Organizations are preparing to launch a video about social justice in agriculture, and locals invested in the agriculture sector are expressing support for the project.
The Gainesville-based Agricultural Justice Project will help launch the online video May 10, which features Gilchrist County farm owner Jordan Brown.
It’s part of an overall campaign that calls attention to situations in which farm workers and producers are not paid enough for their labor and products, said Marty Mesh, executive director for Gainesville-based Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers.
“We believe that the general public lacks an understanding of agriculture and the issues and challenges within the system,” Mesh said.
The video is an attempt to expose people to the standards the “Feeding Justice” campaign is trying to set, Mesh said. These benchmarks include improving relationships between laborers and management and securing better living wages.
Elise Van Wie, a 22-year-old UF forest resources and conservation junior, said the campaign should resonate well with locals because many support agriculture and buy locally produced food.
“Gainesville is a great place for this,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 3/26/2014 under the headline "Video to bring farm labor issues to light"]
