Big Sugar Episode 1: Welcome to Blood, Sweat and Tears

06/20/23 • 49 min

3 Listeners

Meet Victor and Selvin, who initially feel lucky to travel from Jamaica to Florida to cut sugarcane. The experiences of cane cutters like them lead two ambitious journalists to try and uncover the devastating truth about the labor supporting the American sugar industry.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

Introducing: Big Sugar

Join host Celeste Headlee for a deep dive into the inner workings of the multi-billion dollar sugar industry.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Episode

Big Sugar Episode 2: The Grass is Always Greener

Tensions between workers and a sugarcane farm erupt into violence. A ragtag group of lawyers seek justice for thousands of sugarcane cutters who have allegedly been underpaid for their grueling labor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine Audio: Big Sugar - Big Sugar Episode 1: Welcome to Blood, Sweat and Tears

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:00.599

Welcome to blood, sweat and tears. That's what an armed man told workers when they arrived in Florida. The workers were there to cut sugarcane, and that brutal job is the foundation of our story. It's a story with billions of dollars at stake, a court case that reached from Florida to Hollywood, and revelations that will make you look differently at everything you eat. And it starts with a man called Power. In Jamaica, it's common to be given a n