Each weekday, while home recovering from surgery, I have had the pleasure to watch The West Wing television series repeats. I am amazed how many issues that Martin Sheen were dealt with in these 5-8 year old shows turned out to be real or are so right now. One of the strong themes in The West Wing is how "stuff" really gets done behind the scenes.

In this short video, Actor Martin Sheen artfully raises concerns about our food and the farm workers who harvest, in our case, California grown food. This is not the first time that Mr. Sheen has taken a stand for those who do not have a voice, and I suspect that it will not be his last. Many of the issues mentioned in this short Public Service Announcement have been or are currently being addressed, just like in The West Wing, behind the scenes, by California Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter). Unlike Martin Sheen, Senator Florez does the hard work to protect both the worker and the consumer.

For example, the Senator's latest efforts to protect us in Californian from illness or death due to tainted food, uses the very technology that runs the supermarket checkout to make certain that one does not accidently buy a recalled food product. While this seems like a no brainer, the legislation only passed the Senate because of the heavy lifting Senator Florez did BEHIND THE SCENES, working with both the California Grocers Association and California Retailers Association to remove their previous opposition, again, like in The West Wing series.

If system limitations does not allow you to watch the video (it takes a while for the video to show up after posting), it can also be seen here (just copy and paste): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWr1yKdrwZw