It's Food Day: Here's What You Need to Know

There is an ancient Sanskrit mantra — Annam Brahma — which Indian sages and seers of the hoary past uttered before taking their daily bread. That mantra, which originated thousands of years ago, is translated as “Food is God.” The modern Indian mystic Sri Chinmoy said, “Food gives us new life; it energizes us. Anything that energizes us is life — the stream of life — and life is God.”

This mantra suggests that without food, men and women would not have the energy to pursue their quest for the truth, for light, for God. Food enables our journey to self-discovery and God-discovery. Therefore we are grateful for our food, for it takes us home, to our Source.

Nearly every faith tradition places a spiritual significance on food — from animist religions that celebrate the harvest to Christianity’s taking of the sacrament —symbolizing the sacrifice of Jesus. We link these ritual acts of feeding our bodies to the feeding of our soul through gratitude and remembrance.

It is incredibly apt that this year’s Food Day is dedicated to farmworkers, who occupy the invisible base of our nation’s food system. I use the word “invisible” because if we truly comprehended the abuse they endured, both spiritual and physical, we would rise resolutely in defense of their rights.

Farmworkers are among the most exploited workers in the U.S., and it’s not simply due to their immigration status. For decades, if not centuries, the farmworkers of this nation have been exploited. Whether they were considered a mere three-fifths of a person or lacked immigration papers, their abuse has nearly always existed. From wage theft to sexual harassment; from physical intimidation to beatings; from a life of utter poverty to modern-day slavery — farmworkers today toil in an environment where any day could be the worst of their lives.

One cannot feel gratitude toward anyone without first having consciousness. That’s why it’s a boon that Food Day 2014 is raising consumer consciousness of farmworkers’ role in society. With this awareness, we must feel gratitude toward those who harvest our nation’s fruits and vegetables.

What will our gratitude accomplish? Gratitude binds us to people. It makes us feel both their joy and suffering. And it makes those that have the means to act — to do so.

So on this Food Day, let’s express our gratitude to those who provide the food on our tables by supporting their quest for dignity and fair wages. Let’s support worker-driven initiatives that give farmworkers the power to take control of their destiny.

Many of you might know the subjects of my upcoming documentary FOOD CHAINS, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who have successfully brought tomato growers in Florida and large corporations who purchase those tomatoes to support the rights and wages of farmworkers. The CIW’s Fair Food Program demands that these large buyers pay an extra penny per pound for their tomatoes, thus doubling the wages of workers who pick that fruit. The Fair Food Program also demands that a Code of Conduct be enforced in the fields — a code that ensures the dignity of each worker.

You can help support the CIW’s Fair Food Program by demanding that large buyers like Publix and Wendy’s that have yet to adopt these two necessary practices do so. Let’s support farmworker led initiatives across the nation. And let’s realize that this act of oneness will enable us not just to feed our bodies but our souls as well.

Sanjay Rawal is director of the forthcoming documentary FOOD CHAINS. He spent over a decade working in the non-profit and government sectors while running a small agricultural genetics company with his father, Dr. Kanti Rawal.