CWC Docs: Pistachio Wars
Best Bet
Film/Movie
Lecture/Discussion/Panel/Talk/Q&A/Seminar
Pollock Theater
**Events may have been canceled or postponed. Please contact the venue to confirm the event.
Date & Time
Tue, Jan 27 7:00 PM - 9:15 PM
Address (map)
4429 SSMS UC Santa Barbara
Venue (website)
Pollock Theater
Pistachio Wars (2024) follows journalist Yasha Levine as he investigates a small-town water deal and uncovers a hidden side of California’s health-food industry.
At the center is the agricultural empire of America’s wealthiest farmers, Stewart and Lynda Resnick of the Wonderful Company (Wonderful Pistachios, POM Wonderful, and Fiji Water).
These billionaires dominate California’s pistachio industry, but more importantly, own much of the state’s water, more than the entire city of Los Angeles.
The Resnicks’ desert plantations have drained rivers, disrupted ecosystems, and polluted water quality for many communities throughout the state.
To frame the story of the Resnicks, filmmakers Levine and Wernham trace how California built its water system in ways that ultimately enabled big agribusiness to command control.
Pistachio Wars reveals how the hidden world of industrial agriculture fuels the state’s growing climate injustices, from worsening droughts to increasingly destructive megafires.
Filmmakers Yasha Levine and Rowan Wernham will join moderator Rich Farrell (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Pistachio Wars.
