… and a march media round-up!

And now, in the immortal words of Monty Python, for something completely different…

Last week we brought you news of a Fair Food twist on the traditional Seder plate, a way to inject the modern-day story of farm labor liberation through the Fair Food Program into the age-old Exodus story celebrated every year at Passover.

This week, on a decidedly less serious note, we have a little twist on the traditional Easter basket to share with you: a Peeps-based re-creation of last month’s March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!

As part of Sunday’s big Easter egg hunt at the CIW’s office in Immokalee (right), CIW Women’s Group members and their kids collaborated on the creation of a massive, colorful — and delicious — Peeps diorama.

[Ed. note: We must admit that while the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food theme is almost certainly unique, the Peep diorama itself, examples of which you can find here, here, and here, is a proud tradition that pre-dates Sunday’s CIW egg hunt. We, sadly, can’t claim credit for that particularly brilliant idea.]

The diorama is a remarkably faithful rendition of the march, right down to the sound truck leading the way, the statue held aloft on a litter by four strong Peeps at the head of the march, the beautiful blue banners (the Penny-per-Pound example can be seen here on the right) announcing the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Fair Food Program, and the big yellow school bus bringing up the rear. The diorama even made great use of the giant white Peeps brought back this holiday season as a special treat (angry eyebrows not included, of course)!

So, in the spirit of the holidays, we share with you today a bit of Easter in Immokalee, Fair Food style. Enjoy it now, because those Peeps will be long gone by tomorrow.

Now, on to other business… The debate touched off by last month’s march has not died down, with dueling op/eds published last week in Jacksonville’s Florida Times Union, one a powerful opinion piece written by Rabbi Jesse Olitzky of the Jacksonville Jewish Center, the other a response from Publix to the rabbi’s piece. Links to the two articles require a subscription, so we are including Rabbi Olitzky’s eloquent article here, below, in its entirety:

Guest column: Publix should join companies in supporting farmworkers’ raises

Tue, Mar 26, 2013 @ 12:03 am | updated Tue, Mar 26, 2013 @ 12:08 am

Warnings of Edward R. Murrow ring true today.

More than 50 years ago, Edward R. Murrow presented the ground-breaking documentary “Harvest of Shame” on “CBS Reports.”Murrow detailed troubling conditions that migrant laborers in Florida faced. He concluded: “The migrants have no lobby … They do not have the strength to influence legislation. Maybe we do.”

Fifty years later, these conditions are still very real.

I recently returned from a rabbinic delegation with T’ruah: A Rabbinic Call for Human Rights to the tomato fields of Immokalee. I learned of the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, launched 20 years ago by a group of Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indian migrant workers to stand up for their rights.

These tomato pickers head into the fields before dawn, and they do not return until dusk. They pick bucket after bucket full of tomatoes, each bucket weighing 32 pounds.This costs consumes $81 in the supermarket, but the migrant worker only receives 50 cents per bucket.

A decade ago, the coalition launched the Fair Food Program, which encourages those corporations that purchase these tomatoes — notably restaurants and supermarkets — to commit to only buying tomatoes from growers who take responsibility for the human rights abuses in the fields.

The campaign asks corporations to pay an additional penny per pound of tomatoes to improve conditions and wages. Such a change guarantees fieldworkers can earn minimum wage. Fast food chains, such as Subway, Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Burger King have signed on to this program, as have supermarkets, such as Whole Foods.

Publix, the largest supermarket chain in the state, was approached about joining the Fair Food Program years ago. Publix has refused to even sit down and meet with the coalition. This is a human dignity issue.

In an effort to offer the consumer the lowest of prices, Publix is willing to accept exploitative practices in Florida’s tomato fields. If Publix really were dedicated to dignity and were responsible citizens as its mission statement suggests, then Publix would join the Fair Food Program.

Jewish communities worldwide are celebrating the Festival of Passover. We celebrate the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt from slavery to freedom. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers recently finished its own exodus, marching for rights, respect and fair food on a 15-day, 200-mile journey from Fort Myers (near Immokalee) to the Publix headquarters in Lakeland.

If we celebrate the Exodus narrative in our scripture, then we must ensure that such freedom is a reality for all those in our midst, including and especially the tomato pickers of Immokalee, because I don’t know about you, but I prefer to buy slavery-free tomatoes.

Publix, wouldn’t you prefer to sell slavery-free tomatoes as well?

About the author: Rabbi Jesse Olitzky is the Second Rabbi at the Jacksonville Jewish Center.

Unfortunately, Publix chose to respond to Rabbi Olitzky’s piece with the same, tired public relations drivel that it has used to answer inquiries about the Fair Food Program for several years now. Here are the relevant excerpts, you might recognize them by now:

Guest column: Publix spokesman responds to accusations regarding Florida’s migrant workers

About the author: This column is a Publix corporate response.

“… Since first approached by the coalition three years ago, we have viewed this as a labor dispute…

… Most of our stores offer an array of more than 40,000 products. We could literally be drawn into a potential dispute between an employer and their employee(s) at any time. This is not our place…

… We don’t believe “just paying the penny” is the right thing to do.

Publix is more than willing to pay a penny more per pound — or whatever the market price for tomatoes will be — in order to provide product to our customers.

However, we will not pay employees of other companies directly for their labor. That is the responsibility of their employer, and we believe all parties would be better served if appropriate wages were paid by growers to their workers, and we were charged accordingly….”

And so on. Non-responsive. Sophistic. Twaddle.

Finally, Tampa’s alternative weekly Creative Loafing weighs in on the march with a brief article entitled “Rotten Tomatoes” (3/28/13). Here’s an excerpt:

“Eleven corporations are doing it,” Perez said. “Ninety percent of tomato growers are doing it.”
So why isn’t Publix participating?

“That’s the question we ask,” Perez said. “They continue to say this is a labor dispute.”

Maria Brous, spokesperson for Publix’s corporate office, says Publix hasn’t changed its position despite the CIW’s most recent protest. “At the heart of the issue, we’d pay a penny, a dime, or a dollar more,” Brous said. “We have 40,000 different products in our stores. It would be impossible for us if each product wanted us to pay their employees directly.”  read more >>

Oh, wait, that’s the exact same stuff they said in the Jacksonville article. It’s like they just don’t even care at this point. You can just picture Ms. Brous distractedly flipping through the pages of a report on company profits and checking Publix’s Facebook page as she rotely repeats Publix’s talking points, for the thousandth time, to the Tampa reporter.

We’ll give CIW members Leonel Perez and Lupe Gonzalo the last word:

“… The CIW’s Perez cited a recent Forbes magazine article listing Publix chairwoman Carol Jenkins Barnett as the 1,342nd richest person on the planet, calculating her current net worth as $1 billion.

‘To pay one penny per pound more would be insignificant to her,’ he said. ‘But to us, it means so much.’

Lupe Gonzalo, 31, from Guatemala, has been picking tomatoes for 12 years.

‘It’s very sad to see Publix refuse to see the reality, to turn a blind eye to the truth,’ Gonzalo said. ‘They only want to look at this as a labor dispute and it’s not.’…

… Gonzalo says the best way Publix could help would be to sign on to the Fair Food Program.

‘It ensures a just wage after many years of exploitation in the fields,’ Gonzalo said. ‘This is an invitation for people to raise their consciousness and campaign for justice.’” read more >>

Check back soon for more from that campaign.