El Valley Centro (NR)

synopsis

The Great Central Valley occupies most of the interior of California and provides food for one-quarter of the population of the United States. Benning tells the story of how water irrigates this valley and how the produce is carted away in boxcars for the nation's consumption. He shows the lifestyle of a modest and growing rural community, whose concerns are often drowned out by the powerful railroads, oil companies, and insurance conglomerates which own the farms and ranches and benefit from undocumented immigrant labor while insisting on imprisoning an American population of color.