Mindful Vineyard Essay

In the short film, Mindful Vineyards, Amelia Ceja shares how she operates her vineyard based on her prior experience and information learned from others. When Ceja was twelve years old she immigrated with her family from Mexico to the Napa Valley. After the move, she began to work in a vineyard picking grapes. From this employment opportunity she discovered that the work is back breaking and is classified as skilled labor. Within the time Ceja spent working she developed close relationships with other agricultural workers. One individual was Cesar Chavez, the founder of the farmworker union. From him she learned the importance of treating farm workers with dignity and ways to provide them with the support they need to make a living. Between working in the vineyard and forming connections with others Ceja developed an interest for viniculture and opened Ceja Vineyard. There she follows Chavez’s footsteps to mindfully change the environment to support both the workers and the land.

Most of the pictures include Hispanic male farm workers. Among the few other men and women who were shown, the film reinforced the Hispanic male farm worker stereotype. In the beginning of the film pesticides were introduced as a factor that can hurt the farm workers and the environment. The film lacked detail on the affects pesticides have on workers and alternative methods used at Ceja Vineyard. As the film captures scenes, directly from the vineyard the owner claims the farm workers were treated with respect. The farm workers looked happy, but none of their verbal opinions were included. Filmmakers of Mindful Vineyards intended to call for justice for farm workers and protection from pesticides, but the glorified images and lack of verbal details detract from their