“The Fair Food Program is a proven model for change in US agriculture…”

[hupso title=”.@CompassGroupUSA’s @cheryl_queen weighs in on expanding the @FairFoodProgram” url=”https://ciw-online.org/blog/2015/05/compass-expansion-2/”]

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Cheryl Queen (center), Vice President for Communication and Corporate Affairs at Compass Group, speaks at the White House Forum on Human Trafficking this past January.  To her left sits Judge Laura Safer Espinoza of the Fair Food Standards Council and to  her right Jon Esformes, Operating Partner of Pacific Tomato Growers.

VP of Compass Group USA reflects on relationship with the CIW and decision to expand commitment to the Fair Food Program…

Late last month, Compass Group USA made a big splash when they announced plans to expand their commitment to the Fair Food Program within their supply chain!  As a part of their new Sustainability Platform, Compass Group declared that they would “extend the [Fair Food] Code of Conduct and penny-per-pound premium to crops other than tomatoes and beyond Florida” by 2020.

In light of this exciting new development, we asked Compass Group’s Vice President of Communications, Cheryl Queen, to reflect on Compass’s six-year partnership with the CIW and Florida tomato growers as well as on the company’s decision to extend the groundbreaking Fair Food Program to thousands more farmworkers across the U.S.  

To shed more light on Compass Group’s recent announcement, here below are Cheryl’s reflections in full: 

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Q:  Our partnership began back in 2009, before the Fair Food Program was even launched, when you and a team from Compass traveled to Immokalee and met with CIW members to discuss our vision for a fairer tomato industry.  How would you describe that visit and the partnership it helped launch?  

To be candid, we were apprehensive about meeting with the Coalition.  We didn’t really understand the penny-per-pound premium, we were very naïve about working conditions for harvesters and the poverty in Immokalee, and we were concerned about the consequences of the impact on our college and university business if we didn’t act or couldn’t react quickly enough.  So we traveled to Immokalee with faith and hope, prepared to listen.

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Cheryl Queen speaks at the press conference announcing the CIW/Compass Group agreement in Washington, DC, in September, 2009.

Our experience of being in Immokalee and meeting the Coalition was unlike anything we expected.  We saw tomato fields, we walked the streets of Immokalee and saw the poverty and hardship first hand.  We heard stories from the workers about conditions including long hours where they might not get paid, safety concerns, and the ultimate issue, successfully prosecuted cases of modern-day slavery.  We sat in an Immokalee-style meeting surrounded by workers, families and children and we shared our conversation – in English and in Spanish. We left that day only offering to return to Charlotte and talk to our senior leadership about what we saw and what they were asking, which was a simple penny per pound and to sign a Code of Conduct.  The circumstances in Immokalee were so compelling and the ask was relatively small.

The decision to pay the penny-per-pound premium was easy.  Our challenge was finding a way to put that additional money into the pockets of the harvesters because, at that time, there were still obstacles to a payment process.  We needed growers who would agree to work with us to ensure that workers received that penny.  It meant asking them to take a risk with the reward being to receive our business.  It was so important to us to get this right that at one point we threatened growers with a boycott of winter tomatoes from Florida and to tell our guests about the working conditions under which farmworkers labored.  A grower stepped forward, we signed a Code of Conduct that enhanced education and training opportunities and safety requirements, and we announced our agreement at a press conference in Washington, DC in September 2009.  The announcement was hailed by then-Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, as “groundbreaking for farmworkers.”  We congratulated ourselves and each other and thought the hard work was over.

Secretary of State Hilda Solis congratulates CIW at the 2009 signing ceremony with Compass Group
Secretary of State Hilda Solis congratulates CIW at the 2009 signing ceremony with Compass Group

I’ve often characterized this partnership and the way it came about as the courtship, the wedding, and the marriage.  Like a wedding, the party was over, and now we had to roll up our sleeves because the hard work was ahead of us.  Making the system work in the early days was challenging.  Candidly, we didn’t always get it right that first year.  But the very beauty of the relationship became evident through the process.  It was about trust and working together with the confidence that we both wanted the same result.  That trust and sense of partnership is the hallmark of our relationship with the Coalition.

 Q:  Can you shed some light on the thinking behind Compass’ decision to extend its commitment to the Fair Food Program beyond tomatoes and to states outside of Florida?

We’re very proud to support the work of the Coalition.  The Fair Food Program is a proven model for change in US agriculture and it is done in a manner that is thoughtful and strategic. When you travel to Immokalee and talk to the workers, the change is evident and the difference the program has made in that community, and for farmworkers throughout Florida’s tomato industry, is real.  The Fair Food Program and its combination of worker education, a hotline to report problems and abuse, and complaint and financial auditing assures compliance by growers and those companies who’ve signed the Code of Conduct.  It is transparent, and there are market consequences for violations.

I represent buyers on the Fair Food Standards Council Board of Directors and we’re proud of our leadership role.  It seems like a natural progression to join Wal-Mart in their commitment to grow the program in a strategic manner.

Q:  If you had a crystal ball, what do you see as the future for the Fair Food Program and our partnership 10 or 15 years down the road?

I’m not a prognosticator but a few things seem clear.  The demand from consumers to know more about their food – where it comes from and who grew it – combined with a growing awareness of human rights, continues to gain momentum.  Secondly, the Fair Food model works.  It is worker-led responsibility within a system that carries market-driven consequences. I expect to see more companies and retailers join the Fair Food Program because it serves as another way to eliminate risk within their supply chain.

Finally, our partnership with the Coalition has proven to be meaningful to our guests and just as importantly, to our own associates.  We see that reflected in recruitment, engagement and retention.  As one of the largest employers in the US that’s a driver for Compass, and I expect it to be for other companies within the food sector.

On that hopeful note, we’ll conclude with our own heartfelt thanks to Compass Group for its unflagging partnership and dedication — past, present, and future — to forging a U.S. agricultural industry that is rooted in respect for farmworkers’ human rights.

Make sure to stay tuned for more news on the expansion of the Fair Food Program in the months ahead!