Production
Trace the story of the millions of men who left their homeland to chase a dream.
World War II created a huge demand for American farm products. But the war also caused vast numbers of farm workers to abandon the fields, either to join the military or to seek work in the cities. The solution would be a unique contract-worker agreement between the United States and Mexico -- The Bracero Program.
The California Delta is the only place in America where the Chinese community has maintained a sustained presence for nearly a century and a half. Here, immigrants from China transformed swampland into one of the richest agricultural regions on earth. Bittersweet Roots is their story, about how they came and thrived despite hardship and racism. It begins in the 1850s, when thousands of Chinese fortune-seekers rushed to California’s gold fields. After the mines played out, Chinese workers faced the arduous task of completing the transcontinental railroad, then reclaimed the Delta by building a complex system of levees. Learn about the families who worked the land and meet some of their descendants who are still producing crops today
