Labor Trafficking and Child Exploitation in Film...with Eva Longoria!!!

AFOP Screens New Film Co-Directed by Eva Longoria on Child Labor in the U.S.

JULY 1, 2011 BY AYRIANNE PARKS LEAVE A COMMENT

Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs Presents a Screening and Panel Discussion of “The Harvest/ La Cosecha,” Hosted by the National Council of La Raza

Washington, D.C.—The start of the summer marks the beginning of the harvest season in America’s fields. On July 7, at 9 a.m., the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) will present a screening of “The Harvest/ La Cosecha,” a new documentary on child labor in America at the Raul Yzaguirre Building in Washington, D.C. Following the film, a group of leading advocates will explore the plight of farmworker children working in U.S. agriculture and discuss what people can do to help.

“Most people are surprised when they find out that it is perfectly legal for children as young as 12 years old to labor in agriculture for an unlimited amount of hours outside of school, using dangerous farm equipment and working in an environment that continually exposes them to poisonous pesticides,” notes Norma Flores López, AFOP’s Children in the Fields Campaign Director and former migrant child farmworker. “These are conditions that are deemed illegal in every other industry and that can lead to serious injury or even death.”

”The Harvest/La Cosecha,” a new film by Shine Global, Director U. Roberto Romano and Executive Producer Eva Longoria, examines the lives of child migrant laborers. It focuses on three Latino youths who are among the estimated 400,000 to 500,000 children who work under frequently brutal conditions on America’s farms, at the expense of their health, education and social development. The film will be released theatrically in Los Angeles and in New York in July, along with special screenings in 30 cities nationally. For more information about the film, visitwww.theharvestfilm.com.

The discussion following the film will be moderated by López and panelists will include: Jo Becker, Human Rights Watch; Roger Rosenthal, National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education; Reid Maki, National Consumers League; Levy Schroeder, AFOP; and Cleo Rodriguez, Jr., National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association.

For more information on child labor in U.S. agriculture, visit www.afop.org/children-in-the-fields/.

About the Children in the Fields Campaign:

The Children in the Fields Campaign is a project of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP), a national federation of non-profit and public agencies that provide job training and services for America’s farmworkers. The campaign strives to improve the quality of life of migrant and seasonal farmworker children by advocating for enhanced educational opportunities and the elimination of discriminatory federal child labor laws in agriculture. For additional comment or interview from an AFOP expert, please contact Ayrianne Parks at202.579.7445 orParks@AFOP.org.