Food Chains is a 2014 American documentary film about agricultural labor in the United States directed by Sanjay Rawal. It was the Recipient of the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Special/Documentary.^[1]

In Immokalee, Florida, migrant farmworkers pick fruits and vegetables that are sold to large US food wholesalers.^[2] However, their working conditions are shown to be less than favorable.^[2] As a result, they form the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to raise awareness and improve their circumstances.^[3] Specifically, they go on a hunger strike to pressure Publix, a Florida-based food wholesaler, to pay them one penny more per pound of tomato.^[3] Meanwhile, the documentary also shows farmworkers in the vineyards of the Napa Valley.^[4]

The film was produced by actress and Democratic fundraiser Eva Longoria, Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser, and heiress Abigail Disney, among others.^[4]

It was presented at the Berlin Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Napa Valley Film Festival.^[2][4] Shortly after, Screen Media purchased the distribution rights for North America.^[2] A Spanish version, narrated by actor Demián Bichir was released.^[3]

In a review for The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck suggested not much had changed since Harvest of Shame, a 1960 documentary about the same topic.^[3] He concluded that Food Chains was 'simultaneously inspirational and deeply depressing.'^[3] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Tara Duggan added that there were 'many chilling moments' in the documentary.^[4] In The New York Daily News, Elizabeth Weitzman called the documentary 'unsettling,' concluding 'you will certainly leave the theater more enlightened than when you arrived.'.^[5] Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times called the film 'rousing' and 'emphatic and empathetic.'.^[6]