11/28/08: The CIW's Radio Conciencia (right) went mobile to headline the community gathering, taking advantage of the day off in the fields to have a little fun.
New editorial reminds us: "Thanksgiving is a holiday built around food... but rarely do we honor the hands that feed us."
11/24/08: A well-timed op/ed -- published as consumers across the country begin gearing-up for Thanksgiving -- takes a hard look at conditions in the fields where the fruits and vegetables for our holiday feasts are grown and picked. After touching on the exploitation of workers in Immokalee, the editorial concludes:
"... Immokalee is an extreme example, but it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you realize the high costs that some people are paying so that we can have cheap food. Most of us do not take the time to wonder why our food costs so little. Instead, we notice how expensive organic or locally grown produce is in comparison.
For agriculture to be sustainable, it must provide a living for those who work our land. Let's honor the hands that feed us by restoring the dignity of fair wages to farmers and farmworkers."
Students in Carbondale, IL, make front page news in the school paper with a Halloween day
protest outside a local Subway restaurant
11/10/08:Campaign for Fair Food allies keep their eyes on the prize!... Not everything came to a halt over the past couple of weeks as we picked our new president (though it is sure enough hard to think of anything else when we are living days of history that will be told and retold for generations to come...).
Like the students in Carbondale, IL, shown keeping the heat on Subway with a Halloween day protest above, allies across the country did their part to let Subway and Chipotle know that there will be no peace until justice is done in the fields of Florida where their tomatoes are picked.
Endorsements: Five new endorsements came in, including one in Subway's very own backyard -- the Yale Committee on Racial Equality! Joining the students from New Haven, CT, were the United Workers Association (UWA, check out their incredible organizing by clicking here) from Baltimore, MD, the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, FL, the Interfaith Food & Farms Partnership, of Portland, OR, and the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
Media: Even the international media got in on the act this past week, with a powerful new editorial from the Netherlands entitled, "US: Fair Prices for Tomato Pickers" (11/3/08). Here's the conclusion to a well-written reflection on the growing call for "sustainable" food:
"No one knows what the future holds, but as our economic system hovers over the proverbial "rock bottom," it seems like a good time to revisit our policies, both national and personal, when it comes to the money we spend. What is the value of a tomato, and why? What (from fertilizers and pesticides to labor to transport) went into it, and does its price reflect those inputs? Or has a market driven by speculation and subsidies installed a false cap on that price, creating a decidedly unsustainable system that benefits CEOs over citizens, puts the squeeze on smaller businesses and leaves the laborers to pick up the slack?" read more here
CIW goes coast to coast to speak on sustainable food: CIW leaders speak at Bioneers Conference in California, World Hunger Year gathering in New York City, with Naomi Klein, Alice Waters, Raj Patel, and others!...
Meanwhile, Lucas Benitez of the CIW spoke at the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA, described as a "forum where you can see tomorrow today: a future environment of hope." Come back soon for video from that event.
100+ students and youth hold fourth annual "Encuentro" in Immokalee; launch whirlwind of action for Fair Food!...
Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) Days of Action set!
9/28/08: More than one hundred students and young people representing more than 20 states, 30 campuses and 40 organizations converged for an unforgettable and spirited weekend of consciousness-building and strategizing last weekend in Immokalee. Participants spent four days strengthening the SFA network by building relationships, connecting with members of the CIW, and making plans for several exciting actions and events for the months ahead in the Campaign for Fair Food.
2008 "Chipocrisy Tour" ready to roll!... CIW members and allies prepare to head west, call on Chipotle to live out the true meaning of its marketing slogan, "Food with Integrity"!
9/23/08: In the grand tradition of CIW "mini-tours" since 2001 (be sure to scroll to the end of this update for more on that tradition), the CIW is announcing the 2008 "Chipocrisy Tour," set to begin at the end of this month in Austin, Texas, and wrap up at Chipotle Mexican Grill's corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado in early October.
The 2008 Tour will make its way through some of the most active and committed Fair Food communities in the country today. Beginning in Austin, the Tour crew will join with members of Fair Food Austin to celebrate the Whole Foods agreement with the community that helped make that ground-breaking accord possible. The Tour will then wind its way north through towns like Lawrence, KS, home of the incomparable Lawrence Fair Food, to Denver, where the fine folks of Denver Fair Food will lead the way. From Denver, the Tour heads to St. Louis, MO, Louisville, KY, and Ashville, NC, where fast-food giant Subway, too, will get a little of the Crew's love with local actions and community meetings. Finally, the crew will head home again to Immokalee, wrapping up nearly two weeks of of intensive education and action around the true meaning of the term "sustainable agriculture."
Chipotle has staked its claim as the sustainable agriculture leader in the fast-food industry. Its marketing slogan -- "Food with Integrity" -- is unambiguous.
Yet the company's definition of "sustainable" is apparently unconcerned with the egregious exploitation of farm labor in Florida's tomato fields. And you don't have to take our word for it. Here's the company's vision of sustainable agriculture as defined by none other than Chipotle's founder and CEO, Steve Ells:
“We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment.”
Should farmworkers be included in that definition? We think so, and in the language of this election season, that's a debate we're happy to have. So let the debate begin next week, with the 2008 Chipocrisy Tour, and may the best vision of sustainable agriculture win!
Check back soon for more tour details and for all the updates from the road starting next week.
In the meantime, for a sense of the history of CIW mini-tours and of what awaits our allies along the path of this coming tour, you can click on the following links:
CIW speaks at Slow Food Nation 2008 gathering in San Francisco; Chipotle put on notice...
A delegation from the CIW (including Lucas Benitez and Melody Gonzalez, of the Student/Farmworker Alliance, shown speaking here as part of the the SFN "soap box" speakers series) traveled to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend to participate in a massive gathering of "Slow Food" activists from across the country and across the globe.
"While protection of the environment, family farmers, and farm animals is laudable, the omission of humane treatment for farmworkers within the company's supply chain is appalling..." The Adrian Dominican Sisters, a religious order with a long track record of socially responsible investment, recently sent Chipotle, the reluctant sustainable food giant, a pointed letter -- read it here: Responsible Investors' Letter to Chipotle
Whole Foods, CIW agree to "work in partnership to help improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers"!...
Gerardo Reyes of the CIW:“With this agreement, the Campaign for Fair Food has again broken new ground. This is not only our first agreement in the supermarket industry but, in working with Whole Foods Market, we have the opportunity to really raise the bar to establish and ensure modern day labor standards and conditions in Florida.”
Whole Foods Market Signs Agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to Support “Penny-per-Pound” Tomato Program in Florida
Company Also Exploring Program to Help Guarantee Ethical Sourcing and Production in the U.S.
AUSTIN, TX (September 9, 2008) – Whole Foods Market, the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the Florida-based farm worker organization spearheading the growing Campaign for Fair Food, announced today that the two will work in partnership to help improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers.
According to an agreement signed this week, Whole Foods Market will support the CIW’s “penny-per-pound” approach for tomatoes purchased from Florida, with the goal of passing these additional funds on to the harvesters.
“With this agreement, the Campaign for Fair Food has again broken new ground,” said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “This is not only our first agreement in the supermarket industry but, in working with Whole Foods Market, we have the opportunity to really raise the bar to establish and ensure modern day labor standards and conditions in Florida.”
“We commend the CIW for their advocacy on behalf of these workers,” said Karen Christensen, Global Produce Coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “After carefully evaluating the situation in Florida, we felt that an agreement of this nature was in line with our core values and was in the best interest of the workers.”
Additionally, Whole Foods Market is exploring the creation of a domestic purchasing program to help guarantee transparent, ethical and responsible sourcing and production, using the company’s existing Whole Trade Guarantee program as a model. Whole Trade Guarantee, a third-party verified program, ensures that producers and laborers in developing countries get an equitable price for their goods in a safe and healthy working environment. The goal is to purchase Florida tomatoes from growers that will implement a similar program. “We are especially excited about working with the CIW to develop this domestic ‘Whole Trade-type’ program,” said Christensen.
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September 3, 2008
Guilty! On eve of trial, farm bosses plead guilty to enslaving Immokalee workers in tomato harvest...
UPDATE #2: Read the Ft. Myers News-Press editorial on the slavery conviction, "Purge U.S. of shame of slavery"! Here's an excerpt:
"The successful prosecution of five Immokalee residents on slavery charges is satisfying, but the brutal details of their treatment of farm workers show how warped the agricultural labor system is...
This is among six slavery cases the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has helped prosecute, freeing more than 1,000 people. Coalition member Gerardo Reyes asked Tuesday, "How many more workers have to be held against their will before the food industry steps up to the plate and demands that this never - ever - occur again in the produce that ends up on America's tables?"
"... I applaud U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy and his staff for successfully prosecuting this case. I also want to congratulate the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) for their on-going efforts to protect some of the most exploited workers in our country...
... As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee I intend to introduce legislation in the very near future which will end a loophole in current law which enables growers to avoid taking responsibility for what happens on their fields when workers are being enslaved.”
September 3, 2008: Yesterday, at federal court in Ft. Myers, FL, farm bosses from Immokalee pleaded guilty to "numerous charges of enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, brutalizing them and forcing them to work in farm fields." ("Five to plead guilty on charges of enslaving immigrant laborers," Ft. Myers News Press, 9/2/08).
"The 17-count indictment in the case -- one of the largest slavery prosecutions Southwest Florida has ever seen -- was released in January. It alleges that for two years, Cesar Navarrete and Geovanni Navarrete beat agricultural laborers, chained them up, locked them in boxes and trucks on the family property while keeping them in ever-increasing debt.
Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy has called it "slavery, plain and simple."
Many will remember this latest slavery case -- one of the most extreme stories of exploitation to emerge from fields renowned for their brutality -- as the prosecution that began when workers escaped from a locked u-haul truck and made their way to an Immokalee police cruiser to denounce their employers... on the same day that a delegation comprised of representatives from the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, an industry-friendly "third-party" monitoring group by the name of Intertek, and Burger King were visiting Immokalee to declare Florida's fields free of slavery.
Here's an excerpt from our own coverage of that story when it broke:
"November 20th was a momentous day in Immokalee.
On November 20th, according to court documents filed last week, three tomato pickers made their way to the Collier County Sheriff’s office after having escaped two days earlier through the ventilation hatch of a box truck where they had been held against their will by their employer. The three men told police of an Immokalee-based tomato harvesting slavery ring in which workers “were beaten and forced to work exclusively for the Navarrete family,” according to an article entitled, “Family accused of enslaving workers at Immokalee camp” in the Naples Daily News (12/7/07).
And so, on November 20th, while well-paid executives assured the world that all is well in the Florida’s fields, workers in Immokalee were recounting to Sheriff’s deputies how they had to break out of a locked U-Haul truck to escape from their employers."
The explosion of this case on the scene then helped put the lie to that effort to whitewash farm labor abuse. Its conclusion in guilty pleas yesterday should likewise leave the leaders of the Florida tomato industry with no more room for denial of the urgent need for reform.
We'll close with the words of the CIW's Gerardo Reyes, from a statement issued to the News-Press about the convictions:
"The facts that have been reported in this case are beyond outrageous -- workers being beaten, tied to posts, and chained and locked into trucks to prevent them from leaving their boss. How many more workers have to be held against their will before the food industry steps up to the plate and demands that this never -- ever -- occur again in the produce that ends up on America's tables?"
"What's most frustrating is that there is a solution. As US Senator Bernie Sanders said when he visited Immokale, 'Slavery is the extreme. The norm is a disaster.'If we can improve the norm -- guarantee fair wages and humane conditions for all Florida farmworkers -- then we can eliminate the extreme. And there are now several retail food industry leaders who have agreed to do their part to promote social responsibility in Florida agriculture. Yet the leaders of Florida's tomato industry -- who are holding their annual meeting this week at the Ritz Carlton in Naples -- continue to stand in the way of progress. The FTGE needs to start working with Yum Brands, McDonald's, Burger King, and the other major tomato buyers who want to put an end to exploitation in Florida's fields."
Check back in the days ahead for much more breaking news as the season approaches and the Campaign for Fair Food shifts into high gear.
August 13, 2008
RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights joins with Anti-Slavery International in joint statement remembering the slave trade and its abolition, demanding an end to modern-day slavery in Florida's fields!...
Joint statement urges "FloridaTomato Growers Exchange to stop opposing human rights agreements" between CIW and fast-food industry leaders;
August 25, 2008: The following is the text of a joint press release issued Friday, August 22, by the the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights and London-based Anti-Slavery International:
For Immediate Release:
RFK Center and Anti-Slavery International Celebrate International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
Advocates Urge Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to Stop Opposing Human Rights Agreements between Farmworkers and Burger King, McDonald's, and YUM! Brands' to Fight Modern Day Slavery
(Washington, DC) The International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade & its Abolition on August 23rd is a day to reflect on the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade and the reality of modern day slavery. Anti-Slavery International and The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights celebrate the success of the human rights defenders who brought down the transatlantic slave trade and the efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their supporters in the Campaign for Fair Food along with socially responsible corporations to address modern day slavery.
They are also calling upon the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) to take a stand against forced labor in Florida's fields by ending their obstructive practices against agreements made between farmworkers and major produce buyers to support human rights in their supply chains. The FTGE is a cooperative of Florida tomato growers which account for the overwhelming majority of Florida's tomato production. The CIW has reached deals with Taco Bell owner Yum! Brands, Inc., McDonald's, and Burger King, in March 2005, April 2007 and May 2008, respectively, whereby those corporations agreed to pay tomato pickers 1 penny more per pound of tomatoes picked and to work with farmworkers on systems to ensure slavery does not occur on the farms of their suppliers. The FTGE has taken steps in recent months to stymie the implementation of these initiatives.
"Over two hundred years after the U.S. Congress banned the slave trade, farmworkers in Florida's fields still bear the pain and indignity of modern day slavery and human rights abuses to pick the tomatoes which top the salads and sandwiches Americans eat everyday," said Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International. "The Florida Tomato Grower's Exchange has the opportunity to partner with its customers to implement these human rights based agreements, but it is refusing to do so."
In the past decade, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has conducted dozens of investigations into slavery in the U.S. agricultural industry, resulting in eight prosecutions involving over one thousand workers in Florida, which DOJ officials have called "ground-zero for modern day slavery." These include workers who were locked in trailers, tied up and chained, drugged, and threatened with physical harm to their families if they attempted to leave. Criminal prosecutions for slavery occur only in the most extreme cases while many workers are exploited in subtler ways that go unpunished. These workers, whose rights to organize and collectively bargain are not protected by federal law, and whose wages are pushed below poverty level by the downward pressure on prices exerted by the volume purchasing power of major purchasing companies, have become victims of slavery and other gross human rights abuses.
"The FTGE members are standing in the way of workers realizing their human rights and the express will of consumers and socially responsible corporations working to promote fair food," said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights. "Today, as the world celebrates the end of the gross abuses of the slave trade, we are calling upon the FTGE to end their obstructive practices, support workers' rights and join us in standing against modern day slavery."
Anti-Slavery International (www.antislavery.org)
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial (www.rfkmemorial.org)
_________________________________________________________________________________
The statement is the latest expression of outrage over the FTGE's obstructionist tactics in the face of a growing call for fair wages and humane working conditions in Florida's fields. Unfortunately, it will come as little surprise to anyone who has been following this campaign over the years if this appeal by two leading human rights organizations falls on deaf ears inside the offices of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange. Not even a Senate hearing into slavery and sweatshop conditions in Florida's fields managed to move the FTGE off its unconscionable opposition to the CIW's agreements with fast-food industry leaders.
Florida's most conservative growers take comfort in the fact that they don't sell their tomatoes to the public and believe, therefore, that they can thumb their noses at their critics as long as their clients -- this country's multibillion-dollar retail food industry leaders like Subway and WalMart -- are happy.
But retail food industry leaders do sell to the public, and do have to answer to the growing public outcry over the failure of the food industry to address the longstanding exploitation of this country's farmworkers.
Even if the FTGE isn't paying attention, the public is. With the Slow Food Nation gathering set to start next week in San Francisco -- where thousands of this country's most dedicated food activists will come together to learn, among other things, about the reality of labor exploitation in this country's fields -- now is the time for retail food industry leaders to step up and take a stand against slavery and sweatshop conditions where their tomatoes are picked.
August 13, 2008
SUSTAINABLE FOOD MOVEMENT EMBRACES CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR FOOD!...Food justice pioneer Frances Moore Lappe and many more endorse the Alliance for Fair Food; CIW to address upcoming Slow Food Nation gathering!
New endorsements are flooding into the Alliance for Fair Food, the network of human rights, religious, student, labor, sustainable food, environmental and grassroots organizations who work in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
And in the coming week (August 28-31), the CIW will plunge headlong into the Sustainable Food movement with a keynote panel at the massive Slow Food Nation gathering in San Francisco. The panel, part of the "Food for Thought Speaker Series," is entitled "A New, Fair Food System," and will feature Lucas Benitez from the CIW. Long-time CIW friend Eric Schlosser will be moderating the panel.
What will the CIW's message be?
Well... Chipotle is a company that prides itself on its efforts to "revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food." Yet for more than two years, the CIW has sought to work with Chipotle -- the self-proclaimed leader in "food with integrity" -- to improve the unconscionable wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. And for more than two years, Chipotle has sought to distance itself at every turn from the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, seemingly content to hide in the shadows of larger companies as the Campaign for Fair Food focused on McDonald's and then Burger King.
You can be sure that part of our message will be to introduce thousands of food activists from around the country to the ugly reality of farmworker exploitation that Chipotle would prefer that its customers, and its friends in the world of sustainable agriculture, simply ignore. In fact, why wait until next week? Here's some reading you can start now:
"This past Friday, members of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) joined local Denver residents for a rousing action at Chipotle headquarters in the Mile-High City, demanding that Chipotle live up to its own much-lauded "Food With Integrity" mantra and meet with the CIW.
Following the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign, this action served as (yet another) wake-up call to Chipotle that it can no longer skirt responsibility and that our campaign in solidarity with farmworkers will only escalate until it comes to the table. This message was made explicit by this letter, delivered by a delegation of representatives from several national and local organizations."
Check out the excellent photo report on the SFA site from the exciting action and while you're there, you can look into plans for the SFA's upcoming2008 Encuentro, the annual gathering of student and youth Fair Food activists from around the country for a weekend of planning and analysis in Immokalee!
Additional Resources:You can tell Chipotle that it's time to help improve farm labor conditions, too, with this Manager's letter, perfect for delivery to your local Chipotle restaurant.
And for more context on the history of the relationship between the Campaign for Fair Food and Chipotle, you can read a great article from The Nation ("Want Some Basic Human Dignity with that Burrito?," 7/29/08) and take a minute to read this Scholars' letter to Steve Ells, penned by 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars questioning Chipotle's commitment to human rights.
Stay tuned in the weeks ahead, as the pressure continues to build for the fast-food industry's "sustainable food leader."
July 29, 2008
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON CHIPOTLE!...Media scrutiny grows as students plan major August protest at Chipotle headquarters.
July 29, 2008: For more than two years, the CIW has sought to work with Chipotle -- the self-proclaimed leader in "food with integrity" -- to improve the unconscionable wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. And for more than two years, Chipotle has sought to distance itself at every turn from the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, seemingly content to hide in the shadows of larger companies as the Campaign for Fair Food focused on McDonald's and then Burger King. However in the aftermath of the CIW's recent agreement with world's second largest burger chain, Chipotle finds itself increasingly isolated as public outcry intensifies.
The Nation joined the growing refrain today with a hard-hitting article entitled, "Chipotle Hypocrisy." It begins:
"In recent years, Taco Bell and Burger King have foolishly resisted efforts by activists to marginally raise the piece rate they pay tomato pickers only to eventually buckle under the pressure of well-deserved bad press. Chipotle Mexican Grill seems to have learned nothing from their lessons.
Although Chipotle, the expanding Colorado-based restaurant chain formerly owned by McDonald's, touts its fair treatment of animals and its locally-sourced organic avocados, its colorful, interactive website neglects any mention of the fair treatment of farm workers. While CEO Steve Ells boasts about his 'Food With Integrity' brand, he has ignored countless letters and petitions from all over the country, asking for an extra penny per pound for his tomato pickers." Read the article here
Meanwhile, the Naples Daily News reports that, "hundreds of members from United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) will be in Denver during the group's three-day conference and they plan to visit Chipotle's corporate headquarters on Aug. 8 to demand that the restaurant chain work with the Coalition to ensure fairer wages and a comprehensive code of conduct." The protest is the first of several upcoming actions in the fast-food chain's backyard and a hint of things to come as students prepare to return to their campuses nationwide. Read the full article: "CIW brings its tomato demands to Chipotle, Subway and Whole Foods," (7/25).
More clearly than ever, Chipotle stands at a crossroads. The company faces a choice between its continued defense of an abhorrent status quo, on the one hand, or meaningful partnership for sustainable change in Florida's fields, on the other. Given the company´s self-proclaimed commitment to "food with integrity," the choice should be obvious, yet Chipotle continues to stall. While Chipotle hesitates, the patience of farmworkers and consumers alike grows wearier with each passing day.
Resources:You can tell Chipotle that it's time to help improve farm labor conditions, too, with this Manager's letter, perfect for delivery to your local Chipotle restaurant.
And for more context on the history of the relationship between the Campaign for Fair Food and Chipotle, take a minute to read this Scholars' letter to Steve Ells, penned by 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars questioning Chipotle's commitment to human rights.
Fasten your seatbelts... looks like things might start to get bumpy for the fast-food industry's "sustainable food leader."
July 17, 2008
WHAT'S BEHIND YOUR BURRITO?... Sustainable food world starting to take a closer look
at the fast-food company that claims to sell "food with integrity"...
July 17, 2008: The blogosphere is turning against the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the fast-food industry, Chipotle Mexican Grill, as its marketing claims come under increasing scrutiny.
Meanwhile, more than 400 people attending the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)'s annual General Assembly sign an open letter to Chipotle's Steve Ells, calling on the company's CEO to help, "hasten the day when farmworkers enjoy the human rights they deserve and consumers have the confidence that the food they purchase promotes human well-being."
"Chipotle Grill has received a lot of good press over its efforts to support local food systems in the areas where it operates.
Even I've gotten into the act. In a post back in March, I reported on a conversation I had had with a Chipotle PR person:
I told her that as long as Chipotle was committed to paying a fair price to farmers -- and not merely using them them for marketing leverage -- I thought the company could play a constructive role in a nationwide transition to a truly sustainable ag. We'll see.
Well, not so fast... Chipotle has refused to sign on to a deal to pay an extra penny per pound for tomatoes from Florida, where farmworkers toil under brutal conditions for sub-poverty wages...
If Chipotle is at all serious about its pledge to serve "food with integrity," it will stop dickering around and pay up in Florida." Read the post here
The Grist post referred to another excellent opinion posted on "The Pump Handle," a popular public health blog, entitled, "Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” ignores tomato pickers." The post asks some hard questions of Chipotle's CEO Ells:
"Two years ago, the CIW asked Chipotle’s Chairman and CEO Steve Ells to follow the example taken now by the world’s three largest fast-food companies to improve the low-wages paid and dire working conditions faced by tomato pickers. To date, Chipotle’s executives have evaded the call and their “Food with Integrity” philosophy doesn’t translate to the plight of farmworkers." Read the post here
And finally, as mentioned above, on June 27th, 433 attendees at the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in San Jose wrote to the Chipotle's Ells, urging him to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers now, to improve poverty wages and exploitative working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida. Their letter reads in part:
"As followers of Jesus Christ, who announced good news to the poor and freedom for the oppressed, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) endeavors to witness clearly about the forces that exploit our human family as well as about those actions that help to heal the brokenness of our world. For many years the PC(USA) has been a partner with the farmworkers in calling upon the fast-food and grocery industry to do their part
to end these terrible conditions.
Burger King, McDonald’s and Yum! Brands corporations have all made agreements with the CIW farmworkers that are advancing human rights for farmworkers. These companies have taken reasonable steps to address the grievous exploitation which their high-volume/low-cost purchasing practices have helped to create. We urge your company to embrace the principles found in these agreements within your own supply chain."
HOW LONG? NOT LONG...Two more Florida papers weigh in on the Campaign for Fair Food and the need for change in Florida's fields...
The St. Petersburg Times and the Orlando Sentinel joined the growing discussion on the abysmal conditions facing Florida's farmworkers and the campaign to bring fair wages and humane treatment to the state's fields.
In Sunday's St. Petersburg Times, Bill Maxwell, one of the state's most respected editorialists, wrote:
"Some deeds and practices define our individual and shared morality. When, for example, we turn our backs on the cruel treatment of farmworkers, we are complicit in inhumanity and are acting immorally."
His op/ed, entitled "Eating that tomato can put you in moral peril," reviewed Florida's shameful string of six agricultural slavery prosecutions in the past decade and quoted at length the Rev. Aaron McEmrys, a Unitarian Universalist from California who spoke at a recent seminar on farmworker exploitation in Ft. Lauderdale. Here's an excerpt:
"We all agree that slavery is an abomination — a sin — a crime against humanity. And yet this kind of oppression is exactly what the people who pick our tomatoes have to live with every day. The tomatoes that nourish our bodies and add flavor to so many of our meals come with a price tag. They come at the cost of human dignity, human freedom. Once we know this, we have some real choices to make: We can either change our ways or we can go on eating those cheap tomatoes knowing that we have chosen, by default, to be fed by the suffering of other human beings — human beings just like us.
"It's not a question of whether we should get involved. If we eat tomatoes, then we are already involved. The only real questions are: What are we going to do about it? How will we be involved from here on out?"
Mr. Maxwell concludes his piece with this: "American consumers have a moral duty to stop the exploitation of farm workers. If we do not, as McEmrys argues, we enable servitude and are guilty of the 'sin of complicity.'" Read the op/ed in its entirety here.
The Orlando Sentinel also ran a story on the Campaign for Fair Food this Sunday, a front page piece that looked at the recent Burger King victory and the future of the campaign (it also included some great photos by Sentinel photographer Red Huber, including the one of CIW staff member Mathieu Beaucicot, above, and that of the CIW's Francisca Cortez and her daughter, Noemi, below). The story, entitled "Orlando area immigrants fight to hold the pennies they won," began:
"The battle between Burger King and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers wasn't a fair fight.
The King had loads of money, spin doctors and a powerful corporate brand. The coalition had little cash, high hopes and leaders making minimum wage.
The fast-food giant never stood a chance."
The story examines the FTGE's opposition to the campaign, and concludes:
"Growers also dispute the idea that migrants make poverty wages, saying payroll records show workers earn an average of $12.46 an hour -- nearly double Florida's minimum wage. Brown said thousands of workers return each year, lured by the promise of "big bucks."...
Francisca Cortez, meanwhile, just smiles. The 25-year-old Mexican said rebutting Brown's claim is easy: Just spend some time with the migrants.
"At the end, we'll always win because we have the key in our hands -- which is reality," she said. "Reality can't hide anything."
Florida's reporters and editorial writers have been doing their part to focus public attention on the brutal conditions in the state's fields. Here's a round-up of the Florida press from the past week alone:
We began this update with the words, "How long? Not long." Forty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King would return to those words in speech after speech across the South, as he sought to firm the resolve of the Civil Rights movement in the face of stubborn opposition by political "leaders" who refused to recognize that the time for real change had come.
"However difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long. Because no lie can live forever."
The lie that all is well in Florida's tomato industry -- a lie that has allowed industry leaders to reap personal fortunes for decades while their workers have remained mired in crushing poverty -- is dying, if not already dead.
It is time, now, for all who play a role in the industry -- farmworkers and farm employers, the major buyers of Florida tomatoes and consumers across the country -- to work together to bury that lie, to confront the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers head-on, and to move forward toward a more sustainable future.
OUCH!... Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE), Reggie Brown (right) taken to the woodshed by Florida editorial writers for stand against farmworker justice!
July 10, 2008: Two strongly-worded opinions excoriating the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange for its opposition to the CIW's groundbreaking agreements with fast-food industry leaders were published this week in major Florida papers.
From the state's southwestern Gulf coast (the Ft. Myers News-Press) to its northeastern Atlantic coast (Daytona News-Journal), editorial and opinion writers are saying "enough is enough" to the FTGE's stubborn refusal to allow its member growers to participate in the agreements that would, with the financial help of the large corporate purchasers of Florida tomatoes, significantly improve farmworker wages and working conditions.
"The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is digging in against progress. It needs to stop playing the spoiler and realize that a new day is dawning in the treatment of farm laborers.
This largest group of Florida tomato growers is refusing to implement an agreement between farmworker advocates and three giant food service companies to increase the pay of tomato pickers by a penny per pound.
The growers need to get out of the way, or Congress needs to investigate the exchange's role in denying farmworkers their hard-won raise...
The three companies on board with the raise so far are Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W), McDonald's and most recently Burger King, which even added an extra half-cent a pound to cover payroll taxes and other costs.
These are among the very largest food retailers on Earth. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which spearheaded the agreements with years of relentless pressure, is now targeting Chipotle, Subway and Whole Foods. The tipping point has been reached, and we expect other food retailers to join the movement.
We suspect the drive to improve farmworkers' pay and conditions enjoys strong public support.
If the heavyweight food companies are sincere about this agreement, any real problems with getting these raises into the pickers' pockets can be worked out.
"Reggie Brown was upset. As executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, he was before a U.S. Senate committee in April to dispute charges of slavery and human trafficking leveled at tomato growers by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, what Brown called "a purported labor organization." There's nothing "purported" about the South Florida-based organization (ciw-online.org) other than the status of its mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian membership of migrants. Their employers often don't consider them quite human. More like purported human beings." Read the op/ed in its entirety here
Don't miss these two remarkably powerful editorials.
The FTGE likes to think of itself as operating beyond the reach of public opinion. But outrage -- public, press, and political -- over the FTGE's unabashed disregard for long-overdue justice in Florida's fields may very well be reaching the tipping point, in the apt words of the News-Press editorial. There comes a time when the call for reform grows so strong that it can overwhelm even the Florida agricultural industry's proven ability to lobby and maneuver against it.
July 7, 2008
CIW IN THE NEWS!..The Campaign for Fair Food makes the NBC Today Show, The Economist, a new book out by the producers of the PBS show "Now" (right), and an in-depth special report in the Ft. Myers News-Press...
July 7, 2008: The Campaign for Fair Food has gotten some much-needed attention from the mainstream media in recent days, and with the stories piling up, it is time for a quick media round-up;
"The folks you’ll read about in "Your America" told us they didn’t become activists just to plug holes in an ever-more-leaky safety net. They went to work to help build a better way of doing things, to create an America where ideas, priorities and solutions percolate up from the grassroots."read more here
On July 6th, the Ft. Myers News-Press ran as the top story in its Sunday paper an in-depth look at the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food, entitled, "They're ripe to fight." The accompanying story, entitled, "Oppressed group vows to fight on," is chock-full of resources for understanding the trajectory of the CIW's work over the past 15 years and the future of the Campaign. The report concludes with a quotation by the CIW's Gerardo Reyes, in response to a question about the continued resistance to change posed by the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange:
"As for the growers’ continued opposition, coalition member Gerardo Reyes Chavez said in the short-term it will keep working with the major buyers of Florida tomatoes and with the Senate, but in the long term, ordinary people will be the key to real change.
The goal, Reyes Chavez said, is to work with consumers to press the people at the top of the industry to respect the people at the bottom until, for the growers, “the incentive to do the right thing finally outweighs the instinct to do what’s been done for decades — pay and treat farmworkers like we were disposable human beings.”read more here
Finally, on June 26th, a story on the Burger King agreement and the future of the Campaign for Fair Food was published in the august pages of The Economist, the British news journal first published in 1843. The article, "The price of a tomato: Next stop, Subway," concludes, "The coalition is still on the warpath. It wants other big buyers to pay the extra cent. It is targeting Wal-Mart, as well as the Subway sandwich store chain, Chipotle restaurants, and Whole Foods supermarkets. But most of all it wants people to think about what goes into... their burgers." read more here
June 27, 2008
“We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment.”
Chipotle CEO Steve Ells on sustainable agriculture
What about farmworkers?...
In the press release announcing his company ’s agreement to work with the CIW to improve wages and working conditions in its tomato suppliers’ fields, Burger King CEO John Chidsey said, “The CIW has been at the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields.” Mr. Chidsey went on to say:
“If the Florida tomato industry is to be sustainable long-term, it must become more socially responsible. We, along with other industry leaders, recognize that the Florida tomato harvesters are in need of better wages, working conditions and respect for the hard work they do. And we look forward to working with the CIW in the pursuit of these necessary improvements. We also encourage other purchasers and growers of Florida tomatoes to engage in dialogue with the CIW in support of driving industry-wide socially responsible change."
With his statement, Mr. Chidsey and Burger King joined Yum Brands and McDonald’s in confirming two propositions that, though seemingly obvious, have been at the heart of the three central, contentious battles of the Campaign for Fair Food:
The need for labor reform in Florida’s fields is real, and
The CIW is a proven and effective partner for meaningful farm labor reform.
At the press conference at the US Capitol announcing the agreement with Burger King, Lucas Benitez of the CIW said, “Social responsibility in this country's food industry is inevitable, and though the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers remains unconscionable today, company by company we are building a path toward justice. The next steps are up to those companies that stand before us in the road ahead.” He went on to say:
“There are companies -- like Chipotle in the restaurant world and Whole Foods in the grocery industry -- that already make claims to social responsibility yet, when it comes to tomatoes, fall far short of their lofty claims. It is time, now, that those companies live out the true meaning of their marketers' words.”
Food with Integrity?...
Let’s take the case of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Chiptole aggressively markets itself as a company dedicated to what it calls “Food with Integrity.” The company’s website even goes so far as to claim that Chipotle will “revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food,” by leveraging its high volume purchases to change its suppliers’ practices.
Given this philosophy, why in the world has Chipotle refused to acknowledge the urgent need for farm labor reform in Florida – in the face of readily available Department of Labor statistics that confirm the severity of farmworker poverty and six federal prosecutions for farm labor slavery in the past decade? And why has Chipotle refused to partner with the CIW?
Well, in the months since the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign, we’ve had some time to look into the companies that “stand before us in the road ahead,” their practices and their stated philosophies, and in the course of that research we came across the quote by Mr. Steve Ells, the founder and CEO of Chipotle, that begins this update. And that quote – precisely for what it doesn’t say -- appears to reveal a crucial blind spot in the company’s vision of “Food with Integrity.”
Here’s the quote again: “We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment.”
The sentence in and of itself isn't outrageous -- the protection of farm animals, family farmers, and the environment is indisputably a good and important mission. But Chiptole's total omission of farmworkers -- of fair wages and humane treatment for farmworkers in its supply chain -- is outrageous. So blind is the company to the need for farm labor reform that, in its list of things exploited in the way our country “grows and gathers its food,” Chipotle excludes the very people who gather our food!
The road to a truly just food industry is long and complex. Chipotle could be forgiven if, in its effort to imagine a world of fair food, it simply overlooked the people who work in the fields.
But as Lucas said in Washington, “After eight years of this campaign -- and the very public commitment of the three largest fast-food companies in the world to the principles of Fair Food -- they can no longer claim ignorance of the problem nor can they say that the solution is not possible.”
So we ask Chipotle this question: Does it really matter that a tomato is organic if it was harvested by workers paid far less than a living wage, or, worse yet, by people forced to work against their will?
We think the answer is obvious, and we suspect those at the top of Chipotle do, too. So what are we waiting for?...
While we wait for Chipotle, here's some more reading and resources that might interest you on the question of Chipotle and the Campaign for Fair Food:
Scholars' letter - 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars pen open letter to Steve Ells calling on Chipotle to work with the CIW
Manager's letter - to deliver to the manager of your local Chipotle restaurant
SCHOLARS' LETTER TO CHIPOTLE: "Urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice"...
6/27/08: Nearly a year and a half ago, 36 leading scholars in the fields of labor law, labor studies, and social research, joined by the founding members of the Alliance for Fair Food, wrote a letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells. They began their letter:
"It has come to our attention that in response to the CIW’s requests to meet and to work together to address human rights abuses of farmworkers in your company’s tomato supply chain, Chipotle has, instead, decided to suspend purchases of Florida tomatoes and unilaterally investigate the CIW’s 'claims.'"
The powerfully-written letter continued:
"Suspending tomato purchasing from Florida does not mitigate the problem of sweatshop conditions in Chipotle’s tomato supply chain and will not enable Chiplote to keep the public’s faith in your claim of selling “Food with Integrity.” Nor will it satisfy the growing and committed constituency taking action in support of human rights of farmworkers. On the contrary, it is an abdication of the very notion of corporate responsibility at the heart of your aggressively-marketed mission of 'integrity.'"
The letter was not immediately made public, in order to allow Chipotle to respond before bringing public pressure. The signatories' patience, however, would not be infinite:
"AFF has opted to give your company time and space to examine the issues raised by this campaign, trusting that Chipotle would choose to live up to its commitment to integrity. Instead, with every day that passes, farmworkers in Chipotle’s supply chain continue living a nightmare of exploitation.
If Chipotle continues its current path of avoidance, however, the urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice. As scholars concerned about the welfare of working people, and as endorsers of the Alliance for Fair Food, many with national membership bases, we are committed to continuing the Campaign for Fair Food until fair wages and working conditions become a reality for farmworkers."
With the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign and the support, now, of the three largest companies in the fast-food industry for the principles of Fair Food, the time to "intensify our call and actions for justice" in Chipotle's supply chain has come.
"Like any father, he knows certain dates by heart: when he married their mother; the days that they, his five children, were born; and when it was that he sat in the audience at high school graduations, bursting with pride.
But Mathieu Beaucicot’s story includes other moments that many fathers don’t face.
In September 1991, Haiti’s democratically-elected government was overthrown in a violent military coup. Beaucicot was forced to say goodbye to his family and flee his native country. His life was in danger.
He left behind four young children and his wife Roselene, who was eight months pregnant with their fifth child. He arrived in the United States as a political refugee on Jan. 3, 1992.
It would be more than a decade before Beaucicot (pronounced Bo-see-co) would be able to return to see his family, and even longer before they would be reunited." click here for the rest of the article
June 9, 2008
THE ROAD AHEAD IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR FOOD!...
In the aftermath of last month's victory in the Burger King campaign, we want to draw your attention to some words about the future of the Campaign for Fair Food that may have been lost in all the news around the agreement. Addressing the joint press conference at the US Capitol, Lucas Benitez of the CIW said:
"Dr. Martin Luther King said it best when he said, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'
Social responsibility in this country's food industry is inevitable, and though the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers remains unconscionable today, company by company we are building a path toward justice. The next steps are up to those companies that stand before us in the road ahead.
There are companies -- like Chipotle in the restaurant world and Whole Foods in the grocery industry -- that already make claims to social responsibility yet, when it comes to tomatoes, fall far short of their lofty claims. It is time, now, that those companies live out the true meaning of their marketers' words.
And there are companies -- like Subway and WalMart -- that, by the sheer volume of their purchases, profit like few others from the pernicious poverty of workers in Florida's fields. They, too, must step up now. After eight years of this campaign -- and the very public commitment of the three largest fast-food companies in the world to the principles of Fair Food -- they can no longer claim ignorance of the problem nor can they say that the solution is not possible.
So to all of you who have marched with us, organized petition drives with us, prayed with us, and struggled with us, today is a day to celebrate this hard-fought victory. Tomorrow, with renewed energy and purpose, we begin our work again to make respect for fundamental human rights in Florida's tomato fields truly universal."
BK CEO John Chidsey: "We are pleased to now be working together with the CIW to further the common goal of improving Florida tomato farmworkers' wages, working conditions and lives. The CIW has been at the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields. We apologize for any negative statements about the CIW or its motives previously attributed to BKC or its employees and now realize that those statements were wrong. Today we turn a new page in our relationship and begin a new chapter of real progress for Florida farmworkers."
CIW's Lucas Benitez: "The events of the past months have been trying. But we are prepared to move forward, together now with Burger King, toward a future of full respect for the human rights of workers in the Florida tomato fields. Today we are one step closer to building a world where we, as farmworkers, can enjoy a fair wage and humane working conditions in exchange for the hard and essential work we do everyday. We are not there yet, but we are getting there, and this agreement should send a strong message to the rest of the restaurant and supermarket industry: Now is the time to join Yum! Brands, McDonalds, and Burger King in righting the wrongs that have been allowed to linger in Florida’s fields for far too long."
US Senator Bernie Sanders: "I have been to Immokalee and seen first-hand the conditions for farm workers there, perhaps the most exploited workers in America. I am very pleased that Burger King has agreed to help the tomato pickers who have worked for too long for too little. I know that this has been a long and hard road for Burger King, and I believe the American people will appreciate what they are doing."
US Senator Dick Durbin: "I applaud Burger King for announcing today that it will be providing an extra penny per pound to the tomato pickers of Immokalee, Florida and establishing a zero-tolerance policy for worker abuses in the region. Today's announcement is a major step forward in improving the wages and working conditions of the Immokalee workers. I call on other purchasers of the region's tomatoes and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to join Burger King and do the right thing for these workers.
Agreement details: The agreement extends Fair Food principles to the world's second-largest hamburger chain. Highlights include:
BK agrees to pay an additional net penny per pound to the Florida farm workers who harvest its tomatoes. To encourage grower participation in this increased wage program, BK will also pay incremental payroll taxes and administrative costs incurred by the growers as a result of their farmworkers' increased wages, or a total of 1.5 cents per pound of tomatoes.
BK also joins other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling for an industry-wide net penny per pound surcharge to increase wages for Florida tomato harvesters.
Together, BK and the CIW have also established zero tolerance guidelines for certain unlawful activities that require immediate termination of any grower from the Burger King supply chain. The BK/CIW collaboration additionally provides for farmworker participation in the monitoring of growers' compliance with the company's vendor code of conduct.
New editorial reminds us: "Thanksgiving is a holiday built around food... but rarely do we honor the hands that feed us."
CIW goes coast to coast to speak on sustainable food: 
100+ students and youth hold fourth annual "Encuentro" in Immokalee; launch whirlwind of action for Fair Food!...
2008 "Chipocrisy Tour" ready to roll!... CIW members and allies prepare to head west, call on Chipotle to live out the true meaning of its marketing slogan, "Food with Integrity"! 
Chipotle has staked its claim as the sustainable agriculture leader in the fast-food industry. Its marketing slogan -- 
In the meantime, for a sense of the history of CIW mini-tours and of what awaits our allies along the path of this coming tour, you can click on the following links:
News Round-Up!... 
Guilty! On eve of trial, farm bosses plead guilty to enslaving Immokalee workers in tomato harvest...
RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights joins with Anti-Slavery International in joint statement remembering the slave trade and its abolition, demanding an end to modern-day slavery in Florida's fields!...
SUSTAINABLE FOOD MOVEMENT EMBRACES CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR FOOD!...
Well... Chipotle is a company that prides itself on its efforts to "revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food." Yet for more than two years, the CIW has sought to work with Chipotle -- the self-proclaimed leader in "food with integrity" -- to improve the unconscionable wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. And for more than two years, Chipotle has sought to distance itself at every turn from the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, seemingly content to hide in the shadows of larger companies as the Campaign for Fair Food focused on McDonald's and then Burger King. 
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON CHIPOTLE!...
And finally, as mentioned above, on June 27th, 433 attendees at the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in San Jose wrote to the Chipotle's Ells, urging him to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers now, to improve poverty wages and exploitative working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida. Their letter reads in part:
an hour -- nearly double Florida's minimum wage. Brown said thousands of workers return each year, lured by the promise of "big bucks."...
OUCH!... Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE), Reggie Brown (right) taken to the woodshed by Florida editorial writers for stand against farmworker justice! 
The three companies on board with the raise so far are Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W), McDonald's and most recently Burger King, which even added an extra half-cent a pound to cover payroll taxes and other costs.
Their employers often don't consider them quite human. More like purported human beings." 
outweighs the instinct to do what’s been done for decades — pay and treat farmworkers like we were disposable human beings.” 
SCHOLARS' LETTER TO CHIPOTLE: "Urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice"...
FATHERS' DAY IN IMMOKALEE... 
BK also joins other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling for an industry-wide net penny per pound surcharge to increase wages for Florida tomato harvesters. 