EVA LONGORIA, who plays the self-involved Gabrielle Solis on ABC's Desperate Housewives, takes on extracurricular projects that set her far apart from her shallow onscreen persona. Longoria is the executive producer of The Harvest, a new documentary about young migrant laborers on U.S. farms. She is also a restaurateur, a cookbook author, and an advocate for an array of organizations, including the United Farm Workers.

Q: WHY DID YOU WANT TO PRODUCE THE HARVEST?

A: I've been a longtime advocate of farmworker rights. Shine Global, which makes films about the exploitation of children around the world, came to me and said, "We're doing a project about child farmworkers in America." I was pretty well versed in this world, but even I didn't realize how many kids are in the fields: 400,000. It blew me away.

Q: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH THE FILM?

A: We want to humanize the kids and the issue. People associate farmworkers with illegal immigrants, and that's really not the case: The majority of these kids are American-born. They're stuck in a cycle of poverty. They can't go to school, they get to school late, they have to get out of school early, and they're always migrating.

Q: WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT HOW PESTICIDES AFFECT THESE KIDS?

A: The EPA regulations for what's considered a safe dose to spray on workers in the field are based on the weight of a 160-pound man. The dosage these children are getting is usually three to four times the amount that their little bodies can take.

Q: WHY ARE YOU SO INVOLVED IN THESE ISSUES? WHY NOT JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY FAME?

A: [Laughs.] I was inspired by my mother and by how selfless our family was toward others who didn't have enough. I was an activist long before I was famous.

Q: DO YOUR RESTAURANTS INCORPORATE SUSTAINABLE FOOD INTO THEIR MENUS?

A: Absolutely. I make them cook seasonally, so the menus constantly change. A raspberry out of season not only tastes horrible; it's also pumped with hormones.

Q: HAVE YOUR ECO-HABITS RUBBED OFF ON YOUR COSTARS?

A: No, my costars are greener than I am! Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross, we all drive hybrids. But I did ban bottled water from my house—we have a water-filter system so you can drink from the tap. We always drink out of glass, and recycling is a huge deal, which everybody can partake in. So many people think you have to be rich and famous to really create an impact, and it's just not true.

Q: IF YOU COULD TELL PEOPLE TO DO ONE THING TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

A: The main thing is to be philanthropic in your everyday life. You don't have to have money to do that. You can do it with your time and your energy.