Big Sugar has been big business, not just in recent years with the explosion of the junk food & drink industries but for centuries.
This documentary which was directed and narrated by top Canadian filmmaker Brian Mckenna shows how the sugar cartel came to be. Using dramatic reconstructions, Big Sugar first takes us to the West Indies in the 18th century where sugar was at the heart of the slave-trade. Then going undercover, the film reveals how not much has changed since then as workers endure grim working conditions on so-called "modern" sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic.
Yes "Big Sugar" reinforces the notion of most consumers being slaves to the sugar industry and that the only people who really benefit are a few at the top. A significant point this documentary highlights is huge inequality; while most workers are only earning $2 per 12-hour shift of hard-labour, the fat cats have bottomless pockets.
