The Pickers

In a world where fresh fruits and vegetables are always within reach, the lives of those who labor to provide this abundance often remain hidden. Elke Sasse’s The Pickers sheds light on these overlooked workers, following the journeys of harvesters in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal as they gather olives, oranges, strawberries, and blueberries destined for Europe’s supermarkets. Working without papers or protections, they endure systemic exploitation that is neither rare nor incidental. The Pickers reveals a sobering reality behind our everyday consumption and the human cost of convenience.