Sunday, Feb. 6th 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Thank you everyone who showed up!
On February 6, the Silverton Grange presented an online screening of a documentary, Food Chains, on the lives of farmworkers in the U.S. Along with the screening, a panel of speakers discussed the film and a bill in the 2022 legislature which would create overtime pay for farmworkers. The bill’s author Rep. Andrea Salinas was joined by Ira Cuello Martinez, Political Manager of the farmworkers’ union, PCUN, to explain the bill and why they feel it is necessary. Representing the growers’ points of view about the bill, the panel included Mike McCarthy, owner of McCarthy, of McCarthy Family Farm in Hood River and Jim Bernau, founder and CEO of Willamette Valley Vineyards. McCarthy was particularly detailed in expressing how his farm pays his workers well, provides them with good housing and some have worked with him for 40 years. He feels the bill, in it’s current iteration, would be unaffordable for family farmers.
Directed by Sanjay Rawal and Produced by Eva Langoria, the film features workers and union organizers, Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, Dolores Huerta and Robert Kennedy Jr, and is narrated by Forest Whitaker. It was featured at the Berlin, Tribeca and Napa Valley Film Festivals and won a James Beard Foundation Award for Special Documentary. The film runs 1 hr and 22 minutes.
This screening was a nice addition to Silverton Grange’s practice of doing non-partisan candidate forums inviting all candidates for local office to present their positions on issues impacting our community. These candidate forums, previously done in-person, usually draw 50 or more people and are appreciated by grangers, community members and the candidates themselves.
The vision for the Silverton Grange is to be a community of neighbors. They strive to be an inclusive community center promoting projects and service which engage and strengthen Silverton and their broader world.
