There’s no better way to begin a new year than to get together with old friends, and that’s just what happened yesterday at the CIW headquarters in Immokalee.

US Senator Bernie Sanders is one of the CIW’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill, and has done much to advance the cause of Fair Food. His visit to Immokalee yesterday provided a great opportunity to bring the Senator up to date on the latest developments in the Campaign for Fair Food and discuss ways in which he could continue to provide support from Washington.

While the nation’s health care and financial issues have understandably taken priority over the past several months, it was clear from yesterday’s visit that Sen. Sanders has never stopped thinking about the urgent need to improve farmworker wages and working conditions in Florida. Sen. Sanders arrived in the afternoon and graciously stayed through the evening to participate in the CIW’s regular weekly community meeting (in the picture above, the Senator addresses CIW members at the start of the meeting in a wide-ranging discussion that touched on farm labor, health, and immigrant issues).

For those who might be unfamiliar with his history with the Campaign for Fair Food, here below is an excellent short video on the 2008 Senate hearings on farm labor exploitation in Florida organized in large part by Sen. Sanders:

 

We look forward to working closely with Senator Sanders in the year ahead as we continue breaking new ground in the Campaign for Fair Food.