March 1, 2013
As the final touches are put on preparations for the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food (including the 8-ft. tall statue, right, that will accompany marchers every step of the way), social media chatter around the march surges!
Facebook, Twitter, and the blogosphere alive with messages from marchers, well wishers...
Cheryl Queen is an executive with Compass Group, the country's largest foodservice company and one of eleven multi-billion dollar food industry leaders that has signed on to the Fair Food Program.
But she is also a person of strong faith who believes deeply in the mission of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and as such will be joining workers from Immokalee and hundreds of other Fair Food allies for part of the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food. And to share her excitement about the coming march, she sent this statement to the Presbyterian Hunger Program's Facebook page:
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"I’m very proud to join this year’s March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food. Since 2007 Compass Group has enjoyed a partnership with the Coalition and the Fair Food Standards Council that reflects the highest levels of ethical behavior, transparency and authenticity. The Coalition embodies passion and integrity coupled with humility, and that’s what brings about lasting change in a way that honors and recognizes everyone. On a personal level it is always feels like a homecoming to return to Immokalee and visit friends and partners. Sharing this March together, particularly during the Lenten season, feels like a walk of faith, transformation and celebration. -- Watch this page for more posts from Presbyterians as we lead up to the march and embark Sunday, March 3rd!" Shane Claiborne is a prominent Christian activist and a best selling author. Shane is also a longtime CIW ally who joined us 13 years ago for the March for Dignity, Dialogue, and a Living Wage.
He too took to the pages of Facebook to remember his experience at the 2000 march -- including a particular stretch of the march he termed a "sacred moment" -- and to express his excitement at being able to once again march alongside farmworkers from Immokalee in support of fundamental human rights:
"It's March. That means that in 3 days the Coalition of Immokalee workers will begin their 200 mile march for "Rights, Respect, and Fair Food". It's going to be amazing. I'll be there for part of it, and hope to see you. The CIW have been friends of ours for over 10 years... in fact they just sent me a photo from a march we did together in 2000, when I looked a little younger. I'll post it here along with the excerpt I wrote about that march and the CIW (in my first book). Now over a decade later, they have managed to bring national attention to the issue of modern day slavery and win-over some of the largest corporations in the world. Publix is next in line to make this important commitment to justice and dignity. HERE WE COME! (excerpt from The Irresistible Revolution) One of the groups many of us in Philly have grown to admire, because they exemplify the gentle revolution, is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers -- www.ciw-online.org. They are farm workers and day laborers who pick tomatoes for companies like Taco Bell (and Publix!). We’ve worn out some shoes together marching hundreds of miles in protest. One summer a few years back, the workers told us they were organizing a walk from their fields in Florida to the growers association in Orlando. As usual, we joined them. On the back of a truck, a fourteen-foot Statue of Liberty led the way, only instead of a tablet, she held a bucket, and in place of the torch, she lifted up a tomato. Along the way, hundreds of pedestrians came by to voice their support, along with actors, musicians, politicians, and clergy. They made headlines in nearly every town we passed through. As we neared Orlando, public attention had reached a pinnacle, and the police told the workers they could no longer have the statue on the back of the truck. We were disappointed. But one of the workers grabbed me. “They said we cannot have the statue on the truck,” he said pensively, “so we will carry her.” He was serious. So each of us grabbed a corner and hoisted her up on our shoulders, and we began walking, taking turns. One of the mighty women who helped carry the statue whispered, “If Jesus can carry that cross, we can carry this statue.” And we did. Dripping with sweat, singing, and chanting, we carried her to the front doors of the growers association.
It was a sacred moment. The executives tried to ignore them. They issued a statement that “the tractors don’t come up to the farmer and tell him how to run the farm.” With tears in their eyes, these workers with calloused hands and leathery skin from long days in the sun-scorched fields cried out, as if to God, “We are not tractors. Tractors do not bleed and cry. Tractors do not have families and children. We are not machines; we are human beings.” It seemed to me the whisper of James was never as clear as it was on that day: “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you” (James 5:4–6)." read more |
Meanwhile, over in the world of Twitter, the march is a hot topic, too. Here are a few of the latest tweets from allies readying for Sunday's big launch:
Finally, Kandace Vallejo is a Kellogg Food and Community Fellow and a longtime social justice activist. She posted a more long-form reflection on the upcoming march, entitled, "Why I’m walking 200 miles with the Immokalee Workers." It's a great piece, well worth a quick read. Here's an excerpt:
"... The changes won thus far have been monumental. Workers now receive a Fair Food Premium' in their pay. Sexual harassment is no longer tolerated, and growers provide bathrooms, water and shade structures under which workers can rest. Tomato pickers are educated on-site about their new rights under the program, and there is a hotline that workers can call to report violations. These changes are a direct result of people organizing in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and it is all held in place by one crucial force — consumer power. Agreements are backed by market consequences, but as long as a low-bar market for tomatoes still exists, growers and retailers who don’t want to participate don’t have to. Coalition member Leonel Perez recently told me, “We are far from system-wide transformation. We need more corporate buyers to come on board, and we need consumer support to make that possible.” William E. Crenshaw, the current CEO of Publix, is holding out as long as he can. After four years of being asked, he is still refusing to get with the program, sending PR reps out into the world saying things like, 'If there are some atrocities going on, it’s not our business.' Although it’s too bad that Crenshaw can’t follow Jenkins’ lead and 'do the right thing,' we aren’t going to let him forget the founder’s powerful words. When the opportunity to participate in this march arose, I knew I had to say yes. In my eyes, our work parallels the civil-rights struggles of the 1960s in which organizers relied heavily on cross-racial solidarity and massive acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. Like them, we will go to great lengths because we believe we can live in a world where every individual — regardless of skin tone, country of origin or the nature of the work they do — will be treated with dignity and respect. From March 3 to March 17, we will march to expand a tangible, lasting example of how businesses in our society can honor the wishes of consumers and the rights of workers." read more |
These are just a few examples of the buzz around the march that is growing stronger by the minute as the launch fast approaches. If you are in the southwest Florida area, be sure to join us Sunday for the first steps of the 200-mile, two-week trek to Publix headquarters. Click here for all the details on what is sure to be a jam-packed first day!
February 28, 2013
Theater, reflection make for a festive evening at final community meeting in Immokalee before the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!
The final community meeting before any major action is an excellent window into the spirit -- or in Spanish, "el animo," which in some ways is a more comprehensive word in this context than the English "spirit" -- of the CIW members preparing for the action.
And by that barometer, after last night's meeting there can be no doubt: Immokalee is ready for the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!
The centerpiece of last night's meeting was a theater piece that provided the basis for a powerful reflection on the reasons for -- and urgency of -- Sunday's big march. The theater was an old drawing come to life, a drawing (below) depicting Publix standing with its arms crossed, refusing to lend a hand as workers, growers, and other food retailers join forces to push the agricultural industry out of a ditch and onto the road to progress and human rights:
The theater took the audience on a quick tour through Campaign for Fair Food history, beginning with a small group made up of workers, students, faith allies, and one food industry leader -- Taco Bell, second from left, in the dog mask -- struggling to push the car out alone:
The narrative continued as more buyers were convinced, though much cajoling, tugging, and threats to give up french fries (McDonald's and Burger King, in case the costumes were not sufficiently self-explanatory):
And then it was time to get down to work, except this time, Publix wasn't just standing aside refusing to help, they were actually standing in the way, trying to impede progress, stopping the growing Fair Food team in its tracks:
But the intrepid members of the Fair Food movement were undaunted, lowering their shoulders to push ahead:
And with commitment to the human rights in the fields fueling their effort, they overcome Publix's resistance and push the agricultural industry further down the road to progress:
The reflection following the theater was as lively as it was penetrating:
People discussed the long history of the campaign and the careful building of support among Fair Food allies, corporate buyers of Florida tomatoes, and Florida tomato growers that has made the changes being felt in the fields today -- the new day of respect for human rights that is dawning in the Florida tomato industry -- possible.
But people also observed that the "car" is not fully out of the ditch yet, and that the higher ground of human rights and dignity for all Florida tomato workers remains somewhere in the distance.
The reflection concluded that to reach that higher ground, we need still more support behind the Fair Food Program, and that Publix, a company with nearly $30 billion in annual sales making it Florida's largest corporation, can no longer stand aside while eleven other food companies, some much smaller than Publix, do their part to help.
The meeting ended with a renewed commitment to march, to leave work and family behind, for a 200-mile, two-week long trek to Publix headquarters in Lakeland, and to talk to tens of thousands of Floridians along the way, building the Fair Food Program as we have built it since our last march across the state in 2000 -- step by step, consumer by consumer.
February 26, 2013
Get on the caravan to the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!
From the Northeast to the Midwest, we've got you covered...
Five days and counting to the launch of the big March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food, and farmworker allies everywhere are organizing caravans to make their way to Florida and write their names in the latest chapter of farm labor history.
Pictured above are some of the fine people of Nashville (TN) Fair Food, one of dozens of communities across the country that have come together to support the Campaign for Fair Food and one of the many, many communities where caravans are being organized to march alongside CIW members in the upcoming march.
But before heading south for the march, however, Nashville Fair Food members got together last night for one last manager delegation to a local Publix store during which they spoke to Publix representatives and shared a letter signed by Nashville Fair Food members that they hope to deliver to Publix corporate representatives at the end of the 200-mile march in Lakeland. Here below is a quick report from last night's action:
Nashville congregations and student organizations support Florida farmworkers in the days before the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food! Last night, clergy from four Nashville congregations and representatives of five others, as well as representatives from two university Student/Farmworker Alliance groups and other community groups, gathered to deliver this message to Publix Supermarkets:
We first gathered at West End United Methodist Church to discuss the importance of this campaign to Nashville, make upcoming plans, and say farewell to the twenty workers, students, and community leaders from Nashville who will be joining the CIW for a portion of the march. We also heard from Willie Baptist and John Wessel-McCoy, visiting us from the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. John and Willie, both long-time supporters of the CIW, work to connect movements of the poor and dispossessed, with the mission to "raise up generations of religious and community leaders committed to building a movement to end poverty, led by the poor." Their message of the importance of cross-pollination between movements led by the poor and dispossessed was particularly poignant, as members of Nashville's low-wage workers center Workers' Dignity prepare to march alongside the CIW. Willie Baptist, a formerly homeless father who came out of the Watts uprisings and the Black Student Movement, with 40 years experience of organizing with the poor, also knows what it's like to do farmwork. He told us that as a child he harvested cotton in Texas, and of all the difficult and painful jobs he has had since then, none of them match the trauma of that kind of labor. Willie shared with us his thoughts about the most important strategy of the CIW: to break the stereotypes many have of the poor and dispossessed. What the CIW is teaching us, he said, "is that the poor can think for themselves. The poor can speak for themselves. And the poor can fight for themselves." We then caravaned down the road to Publix Supermarkets. There we were greeted by a familiar face: a representative from Publix's corporate HR office, their "labor relations specialist." He had flown all the way from Lakeland, FL, just to tell representatives from Nashville's churches and synagogues that they couldn't come inside the store. Publix's corporate representative quickly disappeared, and from the sidewalk in front of the store, we were able to speak with a Publix manager and deliver our letter. We told him that we are aware that Publix is expanding rapidly throughout middle Tennessee, and that as part of welcoming them to our community, we would like to emphasize the values of social and economic justice we hold dear here in Nashville. We told him that we hope their expansion through Tennessee soon brings with it an expansion of human rights in their supply chain." |
We are looking forward to marching with Nashville's intrepid Fair Food crew, and with all the Campaign for Fair Food allies organizing caravans to join the march. If you, too, are planning on being part of the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food and would like to see if there is a caravan leaving for the march from your area, here below is a list of those communities and contacts that are organizing rides (that we know of!):
Northeast
- Providence & Boston - Shelby, shelby (at) sfalliance.org
- NYC - Community / Farmworker Alliance, CFAOutreach (at) gmail.com
- Philly -Penny, penny (at) sfalliance.org
- DC & Baltimore - D.C. Fair Food, dcfairfood (at) gmail.com
Click here for overall Northeast caravan details!
Midwest
- Ohio & Chicago - Ruben at latinoleadershift (at) gmail.com
Caravans coming from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, and Cincinnati.West
- Denver - Denver Fair Food, denverfairfood (at) gmail.com
Click here for more details!
South
- Nashville - Kate and Zach, katys (at) sfalliance.org & zach (at) sfalliance.org
Florida
- Miami - Daniela, dsacz001 (at) fiu.edu
- Homestead - Lis-Marie, lis-marie (at) sfalliance.org
Click here for Miami/Homestead bus details!- Tampa - Tefa and Natalia, tefaprov (at) gmail.com or nataliablair (at) gmail.com
- Sunday, March 17 @ 9:30am: USF Library Parking Lot. Contact Tefa Galvis at tefaprov (at) gmail.com or (813) 898-9136
- Sunday, March 17 @ 9am: The Lakehouse, 908 E. Lake Ave. Contact Natalia at nataliablair (at) gmail.com or (813) 231-1340
- Sunday, March 17 @ 10am: Walmart Parking Lot, Dale Mabry & I-75. Contact Edward Quinones at eq.6304 (at) yahoo.com or (727) 481-4692
- Sarasota - Marliz, marliz (at) sfalliance.org
Click here for Sarasota event details (Saturday, March 9 @ 6 pm)!- Orlando – YAYAs, ngumbs (at) nfwm.org , yaya (at) nfwm.org or call at (381) 801-1232
Click here for Orlando caravan details!- Gainesville - Richard MacMaster, rmacmast (at) ufl.edu
February 24, 2013
With the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food just one week away...
... Immokalee
community preparations are in full swing!
Over the past several weeks we've seen Fair Food activists preparing for the upcoming 200-mile march to Publix headquarters in cities from Orlando to Atlanta and beyond. But as we enter the final week before the big kick-off in Ft. Myers this coming Sunday, March 3rd, the real action is in Immokalee, where the farmworker community is mobilizing for the two-week trek with the passion of people who know that they are building a better future for themselves and for their children, and that, in the process, they are taking part in making history.
Art production for the march is in full swing. The picture above is the initial work of sculpting the statue that will be accompanying marchers along every mile of the 200-mile route, with a sand relief sculpture forming the basis for a mold that will eventually take the form of a worker proclaiming the new day for human rights in the fields. Here below is a peek at the next stage in the process (if you want to see the finished product, you'll just have to join us somewhere along the way!):
Organizing for the march in the farmworker community continues at a breakneck pace, with the annual "Year of the Worker" party outside the CIW headquarters bringing hundreds of workers together for a day of music, information, and mobilization. Here below the CIW's Gerardo Reyes and Cruz Salucio address the crowd during a break in the music to discuss the march:
Meanwhile, the party provided yet another opportunity for community members to do their part in the production of materials for the march, including this banner, designed and painted by the CIW's Women's Group:
The banner reads "We are marching for the future of our families," and the rays of the sun are the hands of the community's children. Here below is one of those children clearly proud of her own little hand mark on the banner that her mother and her friends will carry for 200 miles to Publix corporate headquarters:
Finally, we leave you with a special treat from the organizing work going on in Immokalee today as the final countdown begins for the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food -- a video produced for workers who weren't around for the first march across the state back in 2000 (the March for Dignity, Dialogue, and a Fair Wage) to learn about the roots of today's march and the history of the struggle for human rights in Florida's tomato fields.
[A note: As a worker-to-worker organizing tool, the video is entirely in Spanish. So for those of you who understand Spanish, sit back and enjoy this trip back in time, words and images alike, and for those of you who don't, don't miss it, either, because it is infinitely self-explanatory, and a rare inside look at CIW history!]:
See you soon!
February 22, 2013
Contact:
Gerardo Reyes Chavez
(239) 503 0950
gerardo@ciw-online.org
Marley Moynahan
(239) 357 0393
marley@ciw-online.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Farmworkers, consumers to launch two-week, 200-mile "March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food" calling on Publix to support historic human rights advances in Florida tomato fields
March to highlight farm labor reforms underway thanks to Fair Food Program, Publix's unconscionable decision to turn its back on social responsibility
Immokalee, Florida (February 22, 2013) – On Sunday, March 3rd, hundreds of farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their consumer allies from across the state and country will gather at Jesus Obrero Catholic Church in Ft. Myers, Florida, to begin a two-week, 200-mile march to Publix corporate headquarters in Lakeland, Florida. Marchers will be calling on the Florida-based grocery giant to honor the breakthrough social responsibility partnership for farm labor reform known as the Fair Food Program (FFP).
The FFP brings together farmworkers, growers, consumers, and eleven multi-billion dollar retail food leaders (including Publix competitors Whole Foods and Trader Joe's) in support of fair wages and humane labor standards for tomato harvesters. Despite the FFP's unprecedented success in bringing about long-overdue labor reforms in Florida's $500-million tomato industry, Publix, one of the largest purchasers of Florida tomatoes, refuses to support the program and continues to buy tomatoes from the handful of Florida growers where workers are denied access to the FFP's higher standards, complaint mechanism, and "penny-per-pound" bonus.
"After decades of what Edward R. Murrow called the 'Harvest of Shame,' the Fair Food Program is something the Florida tomato industry, something all of us can all be proud of -- labor rights advances that are setting the bar for social responsibility in the US produce industry today," said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. "But while the changes we are seeing in farmworkers' lives today are indeed unprecedented, there is still much to be done. With each new corporation that joins, the wage increases and labor reforms grow and deepen, which is why Publix's decision to turn its back on the FFP is so unconscionable. Its support, which would cost Publix little or nothing, could significantly change the lives of some of the state's hardest workers, yet the $28 billion company won't even show farmworkers the respect of granting us a meeting to discuss the Fair Food Program face-to-face."
Marchers will begin in Ft. Myers and head north up the west coast of Florida along Highway 41, one of the state's busiest commercial corridors, to Tampa, where they will then turn inland to complete the two-week, 200 -mile trek to Publix's corporate headquarters in Lakeland. Along the way, they will talk with tens of thousands of consumers about the Fair Food Program and Publix's failure to meet the program's social responsibility standards.
"We are going to take our case directly to the consumers through our presence in the streets, through nightly meetings with supporters in churches, schools, and community halls along the way, and through our voices in the media," added the CIW's Oscar Otzoy. "We will not rest until Publix realizes that the 21st century supermarket cannot afford to turn its back on human rights."
March Highlights:
March 3, 11:00 AM (Ft. Myers): Workers and allies will launch the 200-mile march from Jesus Obrero Catholic Church in Ft. Myers, beginning with a blessing and then a march through Ft. Myers.
Jesus Obrero Catholic Church
881 Nuna Ave
March 9, 7:00 PM (Sarasota): In the evening, the Sarasota community and New College students will gather to greet marchers, highlighted by a popular education theatre piece.
Caples Bayfront Campus at Waterfront
5313 Bayshore Rd
March 17, 4:00 PM (Lakeland): Joined by hundreds more allies from across the country and Florida, the culmination of the march will be at the Publix Headquarters, with a celebration of the 200 mile journey.
Publix Corporate Headquarters
3300 Publix Corporate Highway
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About the Coalition of Immokalee Workers: The CIW (www.ciw-online.org) is a community-based farmworker organization headquartered in Immokalee , Florida , with over 4,000 members. The CIW seeks modern working conditions for farmworkers and promotes their fair treatment in accordance with national and international human rights standards. The CIW's Campaign for Fair Food has won unprecedented support for fundamental farm labor reforms from retail food industry leaders, with the goal of enlisting the market power of those companies to bring about more humane labor standards in their tomato suppliers' operations.
February 20, 2013
The march website is live!
With the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food just around the corner, preparations enter the final stretch...
Preparations for the "Gran Marcha," as they are calling it in Immokalee, are heating up across the country:
- Allies from New York, NY, to Atlanta, GA, are organizing caravans to join the upcoming march (on the right, below, is a particularly fine example of a flyer put together by Fair Food
activists from the northeast mobilizing to fill a bus for next month's march).
- Advance teams from the Campaign for Fair Food are meeting with excited allies in cities across the state -- from Sarasota to Orlando, Gainesville to Tampa -- making plans "to be in that number" when workers and consumers go marching in to Lakeland.
- Workers in Immokalee are signing up for the march, organizing friends, and making arrangements for two weeks away from family and the fields.
And now, the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food website is up and live!
As marchers have been making their final preparations before taking their first steps north next March 3rd on a 200-mile trek to Publix headquarters in Lakeland, we've been putting the finishing touches on the website that will serve as your one-stop resource for all the news and information you need about the march.
If you are planning to join us for part or all of the march, visit the site today to register and help us organize the logistics of this epic undertaking. If you can't make it to join us but you still want to show your support from afar, visit the site today to learn how. And if you'd like to contact an organizer to learn more in person about how to join the march and support marchers, visit the site today and click on "contact" for CIW contact information as well as a full list of advance teams and the cities around the state of Florida where they are working day and night with local Fair Food Committees to mobilize for the march.
The countdown has begun. See you March 3rd in Ft. Myers for the big launch!
February 18, 2013
"Roses are red, violets are blue...
"...Sign the Fair Food agreement, Wendy's, it's the right thing to do!"
Valentine's Day actions hit Wendy's restaurants from Washington, DC, to Santa Ana, CA
A month ago, Fair Food activists across the country visited their local Wendy's to deliver a message: It's time to join the rest of the fast-food industry and support the Fair Food Program. They promised to follow up their visits with a national week of Valentine-themed action if Wendy's failed to respond to their invitation to do the right thing.
This past weekend, those same consumers returned to Wendy's -- which responded to the call for social responsibility with a resounding silence -- and made good on their promise! Photos and reports have made their way into Immokalee from over a dozen cities, from a snowy march and protest in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a balmy rally in Miami where they delivered the catchy poem of unrequited love at the top of this post, and a creative bit of theater from the folks at Denver Fair Food (pictured above). And more are on the way. Here below we share some of those reports with you today:
Cincinnati, OH:
"Hey Everyone -- I wanted to give a quick update from Cincinnati! On Ash Wednesday we held a Litany of Penitence. I've attached a document with a reading from the Prophet Isaiah we read aloud in English and Spanish followed by the Litany of Penitence which calls on local companies to repent (including Kroger and Wendy's) and treat their workers with dignity--"For the refusal of our food providers to agree to protect the safety, livelihood, and dignity of those who harvest the food, Accept our repentance, oh God." Ashes were given to those that wanted to participate and we also put ashes on images of the companies. You can read more here: "Litany of penitence for Ash Wednesday 2013," examiner.com, 2/15/13 We also had an Ohio Fair Food Action in Columbus yesterday at a Wendy's location near OSU and also at the headquarters." Miami, FL:
"FIU student Farmworker alliance had a successful action as we took giant Valentines Day cards that read, “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sign the Fair Food Agreement, It's the right thing to do” to managers at our Wendy’s and Publix across from campus. We explained that all workers, but women in particular, face harsh conditions in the tomato fields and that the Fair Food Program makes sure that workers can file complaints of sexual harassment or other issues without fear of retribution. We also mentioned that the Fair Food Program raises the historically low wages of farmworkers by major corporations paying a penny-per-pound down to farmworkers. They were shocked to find out that this was something that 11 other major corporations are already doing. We received positive feedback from the respective managers and they promised to pass our cards up so that they can hear our concerns. They thanked us for informing them about the realities of the fields and wished us a happy valentines day." Santa Ana, CA:
From the OC Weekly, "Wendy's Be Our Valentine!" Protest Today in SanTana"!, 2/15/13 (the picture's not so hot, but the write-up was too good to pass up!): "Today the Student Farmworker Alliance and Coalition of Immokalee Workers (those always-awesome chingones who have led successful boycotts against everyone from Taco Bell to Trader Joe's) are inviting la gente to meet and prep at El Centro Cultural de Mexico at 5pm to be part of today's "Wendy's Be Our Valentine!" rally... The protest is part of a planned national weekend of action and will go from 5:45pm to 7pm, at the Wendy's on 1737 E. 17th Street in SanTana and urges the fast-food giant to follow the spirit of Valentine's Day and sign onto the Fair Food Program. What is that? The CIW wants Wendy's to pay Florida's tomato pickers a penny more per pound of tomatoes picked in the fields--that would double most worker's salaries to about $14,000 a year... Crazy-ass socialism? Tell that to McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, and Taco Bell, who all have taken the penny plunge and still rake in the moolah... See you all radical protesters, non-protesters and hardcore vegetarians there!” Providence, RI:
"This Friday (2/15/13), about ten students from Brown University's Student Labor Alliance visited all three Wendy's restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island to call on Wendy's to sign the Fair Food Agreement, an Agreement promising a fair wage and just working conditions to farmworkers who pick the produce served in Wendy's meals. After making Valentines all week with students from Brown Christian Fellowship, Brown MEChA, Student Labor Alliance, and other student groups, the students then delivered these Valentines - sporting slogans like, "Be mine and sign the Fair Food Agreement!" "Treat farmworkers with love and respect!" and "Roses are red, violets are blue, workers are people - but, are you? Sign the Fair Food Agreement and prove it!" - to the Wendy's on Charles Street, Eddy Street, and Manton Avenue in Providence, discussing the Agreement with managers and customers and asking managers to pass the message on to their supervisors. In one Wendy's, SLA members also performed a skit in which a penny "broke up" with Wendy in order to be with farmworkers; this skit represented the Fair Food Agreement's demand that Wendy's pay one penny more per pound to farmworkers, which amounts to as much as a 70% increase in farmworkers' wages, allowing farmworkers to escape the subpoverty conditions that often characterize life in the fields." Nashville, TN:
"At today's Valentine's Day-themed protest at Wendy's, the Student/Farmworker Alliance group at Vanderbilt sang a new version of the popular theme song from Dawson's Creek, "I Don't Want to Wait": "I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over… I wanna know right now if you agree. I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over… Just make fair food and grant farmworkers equality." How about it, Wendy's?" St. Louis, MO:
“On Saturday, February 16, three of us, Shona Clarkson, Dan Mosby, and Kathy Peterson demonstrated with our "Wendy's Have a Heart" banner out in front of the Wendy's at 9604 Manchester in Rock Hill, Mo. We then entered the restaurant where Shona spoke with Perry Colson, the manager, summarizing the demands of the fair food campaign. He agreed to speak to his district supervisor about our letter. One of the workers expressed interest in our demands, saying she had seen a report on television about the fair food demand on Wendy's.” Immokalee, FL:
In Immokalee, dozens of workers signed hearts with messages for the local Wendy's during the weekly, Wednesday night community meeting. A delegation delivered the hearts and received a respectful hearing from the manager, who promised to pass the message on to the corporate headquarters. |
If you did a Be My Valentines, Wendy's action and don't see your photos here, check back again soon. March build-up permitting, we'll post more pics as they make their way in!
February 14, 2013
Modern-Day Slavery Museum invited to Lakeland, visits Church of the Resurrection, takes part in Black History Month celebration...
Museum's visit to Publix's hometown underscores value of CIW's Fair Food Program, injustice of Publix's refusal to support historic changes in Florida's fields...
This past weekend, one of Lakeland's largest houses of worship, Church of the Resurrection, welcomed the CIW to its beautiful campus for a weekend-long program of educational events. The visit opened the eyes of hundreds of Lakelanders to the tragic history of abuse in Florida's fields, the exciting new partnership among farmworkers, growers and food retailers through the CIW's Fair Food Program to end that abuse, and the unconscionable refusal by Lakeland's own 
grocery giant, Publix, to join the groundbreaking partnership. Coming ahead of next month's big March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food, the museum's visit underscored the urgency of the growing grassroots movement to drag Publix out of the past and into the 21st century of real social responsibility in our nation's food industry.
The program began on Saturday night with a talk by the CIW's Gerardo Reyes (right), entitled "Ending the Scourge of Forced Labor in Florida's Fields." Hosted by the parish's Peace and Justice Committee, as well as the Office of Advocacy and Justice of the Diocese of Orlando, the speech attracted dozens of Lakeland residents, including educators from Florida Southern College and Santa Fe High School and many of our longtime allies from the Young American Dreamers. Gerardo spoke on the ways in which the Fair Food Program is doing away with the abuses that once defined farmworkers' day-to-day lives in Florida and, in so doing, is eliminating the conditions that allowed the most extreme of those abuses -- forced labor -- to take root.
But the real highlight of the weekend was parked outside the church, where the Modern Slavery Museum provided a thoroughly documented examination of the history of forced labor in Florida and the promise of a new day of respect for human rights:
Parishioners toured the museum after Mass on both Saturday and Sunday. Support from the museum-goers was overwhelming, with hundreds visiting and a great many expressing their hope that Publix will one day join the Fair Food Program. Most heartwarming were those who pledged to join the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food when workers return to Lakeland on the weekend of March 16-17 for the culmination of the two-week trek across the state.
The museum team was truly grateful for the warm reception by everyone at Church of the Resurrection, and in particular for the thoughtfulness and generosity of Father Charles Viviano, who personally brought lunch out to the famished team despite his busy Sunday obligations!
But this, of course, was not the first time that parishioners of the Diocese of Orlando have shown their support for the Campaign for Fair Food. The Diocese has long championed the call for retailers to join with the CIW and support the efforts to respect the "dignity and rights of those who work to bring food to our tables." In a truly moving missive to fasters last spring, Bishop John Noonan wrote:
"The challenge for all of God's people is to work to create the reality of the kingdom right here, right now.... We pray for Publix corporate leaders that God will inspire them to work in collaboration with the Immokalee Workers to advance the rights of agricultural workers. We pray for all who labor that during this season of Lent, justice will be achieved through just wages and that the dignity and rights of those who work to bring food to our tables be respected. May we continue to build the Kingdom of God by satisfying the hunger and thirst of the many who depend on our compassion and action." read more |
On Monday, the CIW team parked the museum at the heavily-trafficked downtown Lakeland bus terminal as part of the city's celebration of Black History Month. After Lakeland mayor Gow Fields addressed the gathered crowd and media, those in attendance were invited to tour the CIW's exhibit (including Lakeland City Commissioner Phillip Walker, pictured in the photo at the top of today's post helping a constituent down the museum stairs):
Over the course of the day, many, many hundreds of people passed through the exhibit, leading to dozens of compelling conversations between museum team members and many of the older African American Lakelanders in attendance, who shared their own harrowed memories of the fields, including sub-poverty pay, insults, and a degrading work environment.
Museum-goers that day included a rapid-response team from Publix, the members of which brusquely inspected every inch of the museum. We hope that their visit left them convinced of the need to end, once and for all, the horrors of farmworker exploitation in our state's tomato fields, a job that Publix -- as Florida's largest grocer -- is uniquely equipped to take on.
The highly successful Lakeland visit was not only well attended, but well covered in the local press, too. A photo essay on the museum's installation filled two-thirds of the front page of the Lakeland Ledger's local news section. The Ledger also posted a great photo gallery online, which you can view here.
February 12, 2013
Atlanta’s newly formed vocal ensemble, the Freedom Now Singers, is busy rehearsing for its first-ever public performance...
... at the CIW's March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!
Preparations for next month's 175-mile, 14-day march from Ft. Myers to Publix's corporate headquarters in Lakeland are now in full swing, both across the state of Florida (including here, here, and here) and in communities across the country, from Nashville, Tennessee, to Denver, Colorado.
Not to be outdone, Fair Food activists in Atlanta, GA, are making arrangements and packing their bags to join us for the big march, too, and now word has reached Immokalee of some very special marchers who aren't just planning to join the crowd, but to lift its spirits too, with song!
The Freedom Now Singers (shown above in a photo by Emory University photography professor, Jason Francisco) are busy rehearsing a full complement of freedom songs to be performed for marchers on the final weekend of the march. Here below is a note from a member of the group, long-time CIW ally Emiko Soltis (second from right, above):
"The group’s ten members, who are of African American, Jamaican, European, Japanese, Jewish, and Puerto Rican descent, are diverse in their backgrounds – but they have come together in a shared desire to celebrate human rights and promote social justice through music. Many of the members are students and graduates of Morehouse College, Emory University, and Georgia State University, and others are musicians and public school teachers in Atlanta. The Freedom Now Singers draw from folk, gospel, jazz, and classical music traditions, and hold a deep respect for the generations of revolutionary singers who have come before them, particularly the musicians of the SNCC Freedom Singers. The group also finds inspiration in the lives and music of Pete Seeger, Mahalia Jackson, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Violeta Parra, and Mercedes Sosa, and the legacies of ensembles such as Sweet Honey in the Rock, the Almanac Singers, and Inti-Illimani. I'll be walking the full 175-mile length of the march. The other members hope to join me and welcome several thousand CIW members and their allies at the final rally in song." |
The group is currently in the process of raising money for its trip south. To help ensure that the Freedom Now Singers are able to add their powerful voices – and songs such as “Oh Freedom,” “No nos moverán,” and “We Shall Overcome” – to the call for justice in the fields, you can donate to the group’s travel fund via Paypal by sending a gift of support to “freedomnowsingers@gmail.com.”
And stay tuned to this website for a sneak preview of the Freedom Now Singers music in the days ahead!...
"Consider what your faith calls upon you to do..."
Quaker youth stand for justice in the fields, make preparations for March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!
From the early days of the Taco Bell Boycott more than a decade ago to the present, two of the greatest sources of strength for the Campaign for Fair Food have been youth and communities of faith. Last fall, the CIW was visited by a cross-section of these two groups when the Quaker youth came to town. Since then, these remarkable young people have been on the front lines of the Campaign, and we wanted to take a moment to celebrate their commitment!
Following their visit to Immokalee, the Florida Quaker Youth -- comprised of elementary, middle, and high school students -- channeled their inspiration from the CIW into action through Quaker process. Over the course of the last several months, they have taken a letter to Publix to Monthly Quaker Meetings, all the way from Miami to Tallahassee, and to their statewide Interim Business Meeting in St. Petersburg. All of these Quaker communities proudly expressed their support for the young group's involvement in the Campaign, and added their voices to the call for Publix to join the historic partnership transforming the Florida tomato industry (the group actually documented this caravan in a map of Meeting notes!).
The Quaker Youth also invited CIW and Interfaith Action to their youth retreat to lead a workshop on creative tools to organize within their community -- namely, through the CIW's popular education-style theater. They learned about the hierarchies within the food industry as they climbed into the pyramid structure that represents it; the audience played the part of customers by handing a dollar to the company -- at the top of the pyramid -- who proceeded to hand less money to the suppliers, who handed still less to the workers at the bottom of the pyramid.
After a quick tutorial, the vibrant Florida Quaker Youth group then performed this theater piece at the statewide gathering of the Historic Peace Churches. They closed with a call to action to their fellow youth in the Historic Peace Churches of Florida:
...We plan to use everything we have learned so far to continue bringing this issue to our wider Quaker Community. We’ll look for support at our Southeastern Yearly Business Meeting this spring and then will share this issue at Friends General Conference, a national gathering of Quakers, in Colorado in July. There is still far more work to do on this issue. We urge you to start to consider what your faith calls upon you to do. You could start with a visit to Immokalee to learn more, followed by a letter to Publix. We stress the importance of getting as many fellow members of your faith involved in this process. By following the proper procedures in your church it becomes more likely to gain the full backing of your local community of faith. We thank you for your time and consideration regarding the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of farmworkers. With your support, we all should be able to make a more significant difference in this movement. Sincerely, |
In a little less than a month, the Florida Quaker Youth will be convening from around the state to join the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, and by the looks of their map of support and their remarkable commitment to the Campaign, they will be bringing scores of others along with them!
February 9, 2013
"To-mah-toes" a sore spot for Publix...
Food justice delegation to Immokalee "highlights the staunch refusal of Florida's largest corporation, Publix supermarkets... to put their weight behind supporting this
historic partnership"
Earlier this week, leaders in the sustainable food and food justice movements converged on Immokalee for a special delegation organized by Just Harvest USA. For writers, chefs, and farmers alike, the gathering was a powerful opportunity to highlight, once again, the importance of respect for farmworkers' fundamental human rights in any meaningful definition of a sustainable food system.
The delegation was comprised of Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved"; Ben Burkett, President of the National Family Farm Coalition; Nina Fallenbaum, Food and Agriculture Editor at Hyphen Magazine;; Rebecca Wiggins-Reinhard of La Semilla Food Center; Kandace Vallejo from the Workers Defense Project (and longtime Student/Farmworker Alliance member); Greg Baker, chef and owner of the Tampa Refinery; Navina Khanna, co-founder of Live Real; Andy Fisher, co-founder of the Community Food Security Coalition; and Abby Rogosheske of the Institue for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
The highlights of the visit were most certainly the delegations to a Publix in Naples as well as a nearby Wendy's. The Ft. Myers News-Press picked up on the action, and gave this account of the first few moments at Publix:
"Within minutes, sustainable food activists, writers and Florida farmers and chefs were asked to leave Publix Supermarkets at The Shoppes at Pebblebrooke off Immokalee Road in Naples. The hot-button word: Tomatoes. Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved", asked to speak to the store's manager as a member of a delegation in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Worker's (CIW) Fair Food Program, a partnership between a bulk of Florida's tomato growers, major retailers and farmworkers to improve working conditions for farmworkers." read more |
In fact, no sooner had Raj Patel said the word "tomato" than the manager became visibly agitated and escorted the delegation out of the store lobby (pictured below). Outside, she wouldn't let the delegation get a word in edgewise, demanding that they leave the property immediately. In a light-hearted interpretation of the moment, Raj reflected on his Twitter account that perhaps if he had said "to-may-toes," without his native British accent, the visit might have been better received.
After three days of firsthand investigation, in conversation with both workers and growers, Raj and the rest of the delegation came to see what Publix so steadfastly ignores: namely, that the Fair Food Program is the most advanced social responsibility program in US agriculture today. At this point, Publix staunch refusal to join the Fair Food Program is simply unacceptable. And as a handful of delegation members prepare to return next month for the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, that is exactly the message that will be carried 175 miles from Ft. Myers to Lakeland.
Orlando is ready for the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food!
Orlando area allies gather to plan mobilization for upcoming march, picket local Publix...
Exactly one month before the widely anticipated March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food is set to begin, the consumers and media of Orlando are making their voices heard in support of justice for farmworkers.
This past Saturday, over forty Central Floridians spent an entire day strategizing about how to hone their organizing skills, mobilize their communities, and collaborate with farmworkers in the Campaign for Fair Food. The coalition, 
comprising a wide variety of congregations and organizations of Fair Food veterans and newcomers alike, began the day with a CIW-led morning of participatory theater and reflection, followed by an ally-led afternoon of strategy break-out sessions.
They emerged with clearly outlined plans: To mobilize broad swaths of the Orlando community for the march; to take up collection plates in order to sponsor meals for marchers; and to procure buses at Rollins College and First Unitarian Church to transport all who are interested on the morning of Sunday, March 17.
And of course, the group ended the day by heading into the streets of Orlando for a protest with true Fair Food flair. There they were joined by 30 CIW members who had driven four hours up from Immokalee for the action, as well as scores of other young people and community members, until over 100 people had poured into the cobblestone streets outside of a Publix in busy downtown Orlando. Among those represented were YAYA-NFWM, First Unitarian Church, International Justice Mission, Dream Defenders, University Unitarian Universalist Society, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County, Park Lake Prebsyterian Church, FOCUS, Student Labor Action Project, University of Central Florida, Florida Christian College, and Florida Abolitionist.
The atmosphere was electric as chants echoed down the high-rise corridor. Soon enough, the sidewalk was brimming with picketers, so much so that supporters had to form a second roving picket of 50+ across the street. Dozens of Orlando denizens began gathering to watch, take photos and talk interestedly with participants. A few even asked to sign letters for delivery to the Publix.
Towards the end of the protest, a delegation a dozen supporters thick all approached the Publix store manager, letters in hand. Representatives from International Justice Mission presented a petition of their own -- with over 8,000 signatures from their summertime Recipe for Change CIW-support campaign. And as the supporters described their reasons for being present, the manager intently listened. After many had spoken, CIW member Oscar Otzoy took his turn: "We as farmworkers are frustrated -- and we know the Orlando community is frustrated -- to have to keep picketing, but we will, until you hear our message and sit down with us."
The manager responded with refreshing sincerity, "I think it's good that you came here to help us understand." He added, "I'm glad that you came to our store."
The 175-mile March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food steps off in exactly one month, and Florida is ready. Marchers can only hope that Publix executives will find the same courage as did the store manager on this day to step out from behind their closed doors and look us -- farmworkers and consumers alike -- in the eye.
Media from the Orlando action:
- "Where Stinginess is Still a Pleasure," West Orlando News, 2/3/13
- "Pro-farmworkers' march in downtown Orlando targets Publix wages," Orlando Sentinel, 2/3/13
- Channel 13 News - video from the protest
- Great video of Rev. Kathy Schmitz of First Unitarian Church of Orlando speaking at the protest
February 5, 2013
Super Bowl ad super small-minded...
"God Made a Farmer" extols virtues of farm labor, fails to value, include farmworkers
Millions of people watching the Super Bowl this past Sunday were treated to a two-minute, lyrical paean to America's farmers. Beautifully paced to a slideshow background of stunning images of rural life, the ad -- promoting a popular line of pick up trucks -- featured the words of Paul Harvey, from a 1978 address to the Future Farmers of America. Here's an excerpt:
| "God said, 'I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.' So God made a farmer." |
The ad was one of the most discussed in the aftermath of the annual advertising gala that is the Super Bowl, and its YouTube version has garnered more than two million views since Sunday. We have embedded the original version here above for those who have yet to see it themselves.
All in all, the ad was a huge success. Except... The vision of rural America at the heart of the ad -- the visual definition of the farmer God made that is the subject of the two minute poem -- is, almost without exception, monochrome as can be. Out of 21 images of people representing farmers, 19 are white, one is African American, one is Latino.
Yet, today, the vast majority of physical labor done on the vast majority of commercial fruit and vegetable farms in this country is done by farmworkers -- the vast, vast majority of whom are not white. There are more than 3 million farmworkers toiling on farms in rural communities from California to Florida and everywhere in between, yet, in an ad extolling the virtues of farm work, the people who work on farms are almost nowhere to be found.
And it didn't take long for people to notice. Here's one video response to the ad, and there are more:
So how could the ad get it so wrong? How could an ad celebrating the American farmer paint such a distorted picture of the people who actually work on farms today? How could it make it through the intense editing and review that a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad faces before airing on the big day?
There are many answers to this question, the country's original sin of racial discrimination chief among them. But there is another answer that isn't as immediately obvious, and that is the traditional undervaluation of agricultural labor—from chattel slavery to convict lease and sharecropping to the present-day migrant farm-labor system. We have written about this before, in the context of the draconian anti-immigrant laws passed in recent years in Georgia and Alabama that cost local farms billions of dollars in lost crops when the laws chased experienced farmworkers away from their jobs harvesting watermelons, peaches, and other crops. But it is at work here again when the team that put this ad together chose to portray a vision of farm life that ceased to exist a century ago, if it ever existed at all.
It is not wrong to extol the labor, daily sacrifices, and invaluable contribution to American life of our nation's farmworkers. It is wrong to paint farmworkers white in order to do so.
The reality is that farmworkers pick the food we eat, and most of those workers are immigrant workers whose backbreaking labor -- the selfsame noble labor exalted in the ad's moving words -- is systematically underpaid and underappreciated. If the words read so powerfully by Paul Harvey are able to reach deep inside of us and move us to buy a truck, they should be powerful enough to move us to reward the work of our country's 3 million farmworkers and provide a living wage and dignified working conditions in return for their virtuous labor.
February 4, 2013
One month away! Are you coming?
The March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food inches ever closer...
In Immokalee, February is greeted not as the month of Valentine's Day or the easing of the winter, but rather as the final stretch before launching the big spring action. And, indeed, a month from today, we will be setting out from Fort Myers on our way to Publix corporate headquarters in Lakeland -- and we would love nothing more than for you to join us!
With the march quickly approaching, farmworkers from the heart of the movement in Immokalee and allies from across the country are signing up to be a part of this 175-mile trek. Last week we posted a visual tour of the route via Google Maps. And now, starting today, you (and your family!) can sign up to join us for a day, a week, or the whole thing.
Please take a minute to register with us. A march like this is no small undertaking, and your information helps us with all the logistical details -- from organizing three nourishing meals a day to arranging beautiful places to stay -- that make these actions such a memorable experience.
As you ponder the possibility of joining us in the street next month, we'd like to share a few words of inspiration (building on last week's commitment from the NAACP of Charlotte County) from two marchers explaining why they decided to join the march. First up is the CIW's own Doña Carmen Esquivel of the CIW women's group:
We are going to share ideas, dreams and efforts to give life to a march that, although to us implies sacrifice, will make history -- so that when our children grow up they know that their ancestors were ordinary people, without names and without numbers, who shared joys like that of today and that of this fight... and if we work with a minimal wage or without one, it was thanks to a union of efforts that we had the wings to get to this meeting today, and to free ourselves of the injustices and of the bars of the mind. Gentlemen, ladies, and young people, thank you for being part of the change. United, we advance to make a reality of the march, united we will win over Publix -- and Publix, united with us, one day will also fight for fair food, because thanks to the uniting of the worker and the CIW, eleven companies are already a part of our history. Doña Carmen, at the Central Committee meeting in January 2013 |
Compañeros: together we go to fight, to share efforts with the Coalition today that we are alive, today that we unite efforts to conquer equality of rights in the fields. Today, united, we are stronger. [...]From another corner of the country, we have a message from Bob St. Peter of Saving Seeds farm in Sedgwick, Maine, (pictured below at the Fast for Fair Food) who is bringing not only himself but his entire family to join the march:
Bob St. Peter, Juli Perry, Luna Perry-St.Peter & Emma Perry-St.Peter |
The CIW are modern day abolitionists who are continuing the struggle to reverse the long, dark history of agricultural labor in this country. As a small-scale farming family we know first hand the challenges of earning a living from the land when the entire system seems rigged against you. We also know the beauty and joy of the work of feeding people and the dignity of working with our hands. Alongside the CIW, we will march towards the day when all people who nurture life and prepare the food we eat will earn living wages and be able to care for their children, the animals, and the land without financial hardship.So if you're thinking of joining the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, make sure to register, and send us a note about why you're coming -- you may just find yourself on the front page of this website as an inspiration to others in the weeks ahead!
January 31, 2013
The Archbishop of Acapulco (Guerrero, MX) visits Immokalee, congratulates CIW members for "fighting for workers' rights, your rights"
In a moving visit, the Archbishop of the Diocese of Acapulco in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, Archbishop Carlos Garfias Merlos (above, left), met with CIW members in Immokalee this past Wednesday afternoon, hearing stories of the organization's struggles for fundamental human rights and warmly expressing his own support and encouragement to the workers, many of whom hail from the Archbishop's diocese in southwestern Mexico.
The exciting visit -- organized by longtime CIW ally Sister Karen Bernhardt HM of the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network -- included an hour-long roundtable discussion with CIW members, where the Archbishop learned not only of the hardships workers face in the fields but also of the historic progress taking place today under the Fair Food Program:
As the meeting wound down, and before blessing all those present, the Archbishop told the workers gathered at the CIW community center, "I have much admiration and faith in what you do here, fighting for workers' rights, for your rights."
Following the discussion, the Archbishop participated in a live radio interview on the CIW's community radio station, Radio Conciencia. He talked about his impressions of Immokalee from his visit and how wonderful it was to learn of the community's efforts to forge a new reality for themselves. Here, below, the Archbishop speaks on the air while holding white paper flowers crafted for him by the CIW's Doña Carmen Esquivel (pictured in the background, left):
Following the interview, it was time for the Archbishop to leave Immokalee, but before he could go, CIW members and the Archbishop alike expressed the strong hope that it not be the last time that his travels lead him through town, a town where so many of his fellow Guerrerans have come to work, and struggle, for a better life in Florida's fields.
In the end, the Archbishop's visit was yet another poignant moment in a long history of Catholic support for the CIW's work. When a small group of workers first came together twenty years ago to discuss conditions in the fields, it was Immokalee's Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church that 
opened its doors to them and offered a room for their meetings. Years later, when six workers undertook a thirty-day hunger strike calling for dialogue with the growers, it was the Diocese of Venice's Bishop John Nevins who bestowed his unwavering public support throughout the month and celebrated communion at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Naples -- with nearly 1,000 church members on hand in witness -- when it was time to break their fast. And two years later, when farmworkers from Immokalee set out on a 234-mile march from Fort Myers to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association offices in Orlando in pursuit of that very same dialogue, it was again Bishop Nevins who encouraged every parish along their route to open their doors to the workers, to feed them, to house them, and to bless them on their journey.
Over a decade later, that tradition of local Catholic support for farmworkers across the state has continued, from Bishop Dewane's public encouragement of Publix to join the Fair Food Program since 2009, to his breaking bread with workers as they rode their bikes 200 miles to Publix Headquarters in 2011. As Bishop Dewane put it in a letter to Publix's CEO, "I am confident that you will agree that for far too long, these workers had had to function on the margins of our society. Please join other companies to help correct this situation."
So it should come as no surprise that, when envisioning this season's trek on which workers are about to embark, the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, the CIW chose to depart from none other than Jesus Obrero/Jesus the Worker Mission in Fort Myers, so as to receive the send-off blessing from Immokalee's beloved former priest, Father Patrick O'Connor, as they set out yet again on foot for two weeks on the road to Publix Headquarters in Lakeland.
Catholic allies near and far have stood with the CIW since the beginning of our struggle here twenty years ago. This week, we were again deeply honored that yet another spiritual leader, the Archbishop of Acapulco, has shown such enthusiastic support for the campaign, for the fundamental dignity of farm labor, and for a food system based on the respect of human rights, not the exploitation of human beings.
January 30, 2013
Map it! The March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food route has been mapped and is ready for your review...
View the march route on a larger map
In just over one month from today, workers from Immokalee and their allies from across the state and the country will begin a two-week, 175-mile march from Ft. Myers to Publix corporate headquarters in Lakeland, Florida. The marchers will be calling on Publix to join the CIW's Fair Food Program, the groundbreaking system of human rights standards, worker-to-worker education, and market-based enforcement mechanisms that is transforming Florida's tomato fields into a model for social responsibility in the US produce industry.
And, as of today, we are happy to announce that the march route is complete! All the stops, protests, community meetings and day-to-day mileage counts are set (subject to a few last minute tweaks here and there, of course...). What's more, we are able to share the route with you, via the magic of Google Maps.
So check out the interactive map above and click on the pins and green flags for all the stops and a few of the highlights of the two-week trek. You'll find a thumbnail description of Sunday's big kickoff event in Ft. Myers at Jesus Obrero/Jesus the Worker Catholic Church (March 3rd), initial details for the final weekend of the march in Lakeland (March 16-17), and brief descriptions of events at several points in between. Then make your own plans to join us -- for a few miles, a day, a weekend, or for the whole two weeks! Of course, we'll do whatever we can to facilitate your participation, so if you are thinking of attending any or all of the march, don't hesitate to contact us at workers@ciw-online.org.
Excitement is building along the route already, with communities organizing for the marchers' arrival. Here below is an example of the groundwork taking place in communities along the entire 175-mile route, this one from Charlotte County, just north of Ft. Myers:
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Branch 5093, Punta Gorda, FL The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, assisted by Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, for many years has been struggling to improve the working and living conditions of farm workers. They have been supported in these efforts by many individuals, groups, organizations and religious communities, including here in Charlotte County. Perhaps your congregation or organization is among them. In this 21st century, the CIW has won many victories but final security has not yet been achieved. The most significant resistance today to winning their goals of safe working conditions, fair wages, protection from physical and sexual abuse, and adequate housing comes from the top of the food chain, the large super market chains due to their great purchasing power. One of the most significant of these is Publix. While there have been many demonstrations, protest marches and other efforts to get Publix to meet with CIW representatives, so far this has not happened. More concerted means are needed. For example, if all those in Charlotte County who support the CIW would act in concert rather than individually, we would speak with a louder voice. An opportunity to do so now presents itself. Early in March, CIW marchers will walk from Immokalee to Lakeland, where the Publix headquarters are located. It is expected that the marchers will be in Charlotte on March 5 and 6. And so, you are invited to help organize such a concerted effort in this area. A committee is being formed to seek the best way to take advantage of this opportunity. Some 25 congregations of various denominations, representatives of social action organizations and individuals have been invited. We would like to meet with you or your representatives to discuss this proposal on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 1 pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1532 Forrest Nelson Blvd., Port Charlotte. Please let us know how many may be coming. Email: Zawistowskitl@embarqmail.com or phone 941-625-3186. Sincerely, Rev. Louis C. Anderson, President Ted Zawistowski, NAACP Board |
Check back soon for much more as the organizing for the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food ramps up in earnest in the weeks ahead!
January 28, 2013
"... While we heard of a dark and disturbing past, we also learned of a path forward that was characterized by dignity, compassion, and innovation..."
Members of Truah gather outside of a local Publix after gathering around the tomato aisle for a pray-in. After emerging from the store, the Rabbis sounded the shofar, a traditional rams horn, pictured above, used throughout the centuries to sound a call to action for justice.
For the fourth time, Immokalee was graced with a visit from the Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (formerly known as Rabbis for Human Rights - North America). Although many of these spiritual leaders from around the country had never been to Immokalee, they emerged from only a few days of touring tomato fields and in-depth discussions with the CIW with powerful new insights into the nation's food system and a deep commitment to take action. Several of the Rabbis posted reflection on their visit to Immokalee:
"Do not bring an abhorrence into your house, or you will become an outcast thing like it..." (Deuteronomy 7:26) In this case, slavery and the abuse of workers is the thing we are warned not to bring into our homes. When we purchase foods, such as tomatoes, that have been picked by abused workers, we become complicit in their exploitation. In a spiritual sense, we could even say that in buying the products of slavery we make ourselves slaves, "an outcast thing like it." It is as if we declare that we are so enslaved by our desire for convenience and cheap produce that we cannot allow our moral sensibilities to override it. Even for a tomato. This is not to say that every tomato is tainted. Pacific Tomato Growers (makers of "Sunripe Tomatoes") is just one of the tomato growers that has signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. So have about 90% of the growers in Florida. The agreements set standards for the treatment of farm workers. Because these workers' wages have not increased in thirty years, the agreement also creates a mechanism for them to receive an extra penny per pound for the tomatoes they pick. The restaurant chains, Taco Bell, Chipotle, McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway also have signed. So have the supermarket chains Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. On the other hand, Publix has not. The largest supermarket chain in Florida, the state that produces the most tomatoes, has refused to meet with the CIW for the last four years to discuss efforts to combat the exploitation of farm workers who pick the tomatoes on their shelves." read more Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser, Temple Beit HaYam in Stuart, FL |
On the final day of their delegation, the rabbi cohort set out for a local Publix in Naples, Florida, just a short drive from Immokalee to carry on the the Campaign for Fair Food's tradition of "pray-ins" at Publix.
All ten rabbis filed into a Naples Publix, gathered around the central tomato stand and began to chant the Song of the Sea, a celebration of the Jewish people's journey from slavery to freedom. After ten minutes of drawing intrigued customers to the produce section (on the right, a curious customer receives an informational flyer from a rabbi), they lowered their song almost to a whisper and CIW's Nely Rodriguez steady voice rose above it. As she spoke of the history of abuse in the fields and the changes workers are finally seeing, as well as Publix's many years of cold intransigence, customer after customer began to approach the gathering. They didn't know the Hebrew words to chant along, but they understood Nely's conviction and the inspiring commitment of the group.
To conclude, we offer some additional (but certainly not final) words from this committed group of spiritual leaders:
"This Shabbat is Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of Song, as we read aloud the text of Exodus Chapter 15, the Song of the Sea, celebrating the Israelites' journey from slavery to freedom. I gathered with other rabbis from the T'ruah delegation for a public action this past week at a Publix Supermarket in Naples, a short drive from the tomato fields of Immakolee. Singing the words of the Song of the Sea in the fruit and produce aisle, we encouraged the stores manager to speak with headquarters about the Fair Food Program." read more Rabbi Jesse Olitzky, Jacksonville Jewish Center in Jacksonville, FL
"The workers have taken their fate into their own hands and are succeeding. We met with workers, coordinators of the coalition, growers, and individuals who are overseeing the enforcement of the agreement. Their work is transformative and inspirational. There are relatively few times that a person has the opportunity to be a part of history, to engage in acts that repair the world, almost before your own eyes. This is one of those times." Rabbi Louis Reiser, Rabbi Emeritus of Etz Hayim Synagogue (NH) now living in Boynton Beach, FL. Former Hillel Director at Emory University and Ohio University. |
January 23, 2013
"Welcome to the Campaign, Wendy's!"...
Reports continue to make their way in from Wendy's wild weekend with the
Campaign for Fair Food!
Over the course of the three-day weekend, Fair Food activists in over 40 cities (including Washington, DC, with the Wendy's look alike pictured above) formed delegations to visit local Wendy's restaurants and talk to the managers about the Fair Food Program. The weekend's action was just a first glimpse of the Campaign for Fair Food for the Ohio-based hamburger giant, the last of the country's top five fast-food chains to refuse to partner with the CIW to improve farm labor conditions in its supply chain. There will be much more action to come at local Wendy's restaurants in the months ahead, including a huge national day of action this Valentines Day, February 14th!
Several cities have sent pictures from their visits, a selection of which, along with some first-hand reports, are collected here below. Enjoy these pics, and get ready for the big day of action in three weeks!...
Rio Grande Valley, Texas:
“We had a spirited delegation to a Wendy's restaurant, in which students visiting the RGV from Easton, PA took part. They said they are going to do manager letter drops to all the Wendy's in Easton when they get home! “ Baltimore, Maryland:
"Here's a pic from from the Wendy's action we just pulled off in Baltimore (MLK Boulevard & McCulloh St.). Much love & solidarity from Baltimore - the United Workers and the Healthcare is a Human Right crew!! “ Denver, Colorado:
"On January 21st, 2013, the Denver Fair Food committee marched in 27th annual Marade - the largest MLK march in the country - and a delegation of about a dozen folks representing various student, labor and human rights groups went to the Wendy's on along the march/parade route to deliver a letter to the manager. Denver Fair Food Committee Member Lani Barry and Student/Farmworker Alliance steering committee member Joe Deras were on hand to explain that Wendy's could no longer deny the fact that they profit from the injustices in the fields of Florida but a new day in the fields is here. The manager promised to pass the letter along to their corporate headquarters (and the franchise owner of the restaurant)." Oakland, California
"We talked to the shift manager about the campaign and urged them to talk to higher admin. We talked about coming back at a later time." Ithaca, New York
“We visited the Wendy's here in Ithaca and gave the manager letter to the manager on shift. He seemed a bit caught off guard but overall receptive and willing to share the information with the rest of the managers.” |
One last note: The Ithaca delegation was by no means alone in finding a receptive manager. In fact -- in what is almost certainly a first for the Campaign for Fair Food -- a number of delegations sent back pictures of managers proudly holding the letter themselves.
While we have chosen not to share those particular pictures (for obvious reasons), we will say that the supportive response of so many local managers is most likely a reflection of the undeniable logic of the call for Wendy's to join the Fair Food Program at this time. With all of its competition on board, and with the Fair Food Program now an established, widely recognized success, even Wendy's managers realize that the company has no valid reason to continue to fight progress. Seems that it's up to the executives, now, to decide just how long, and how hard, that fight will be.
January 21, 2013
"No... we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!" Dr. Martin Luther King
Members of Ohio Fair Food gathered this past Friday to carry hundreds of paper tomatoes signed by Kroger customers during a protest march that began at the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, stopped at Kroger's corporate headquarters, and continued on to a local Wendy's for an introductory chat with the manager.
What better way to celebrate MLK Day than marching to demand human rights in our food system!
Fair food activists in cities across the country celebrated Martin Luther King Day weekend in a style that would surely make its namesake proud. From Immokalee to Oakland, consumers and farmworkers called on Publix, Kroger and Wendy's to honor Dr. King's message of economic and social justice by joining in partnership with the CIW in support of the groundbreaking Fair Food Program.
Leading the charge was none other than the fast-growing Ohio Fair Food -- students, community, and faith leaders who share a passion for food justice and a home state with both Kroger and Wendy's! From an examiner.com article on Friday's protest ("For MLK Day weekend, advocates ask Kroger and Wendy's to support farm workers," 1/20/13):
"While Martin Luther King Jr. is most remembered for his civil rights work, another essential part of his vision was economic justice. Dr. King's purpose in visiting Memphis, Tennessee, where he was assassinated, was to support sanitation workers who were striking to protest dangerous working conditions and inadequate benefits. With this legacy in mind, on Friday afternoon 35 farm worker supporters gathered for a rally in Cincinnati to start off the Martin Luther King Day weekend. Members of Ohio Fair Food and the Ohio Student Association marched from the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center to Kroger's corporate headquarters... ... The rally proceeded to the Wendy's restaurant on 4th Street to speak with the store manager. "Of the five largest fast food corporations in the country — McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy's — Wendy's is the only one not participating in the Fair Food Program," said CIW member Santiago Perez. To illustrate this point, CIW supporters wore costumes representing Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway to invite Wendy's to "Come to the Party." Rally participants also wore party hats and carried balloons..." read more |
Longtime organizer and human rights activist, Ruben Castillo Herrera, sent his own report from the action in Ohio. To call his words inspirational is an understatement:
| "I'm excited about all that lies before us. I wish you could have seen and felt the growing spirit and passion in every person at the action. As a long time organizer, this is the kind of stuff we all work hard for. It's laying the ground for transformation in justice for the CIW workers, for you, for me, for all. It's what we all hunger and fight for. So gracias to you and all in Immokalee. Please pass these sentiments and words on to all!" |
The Wendy's campaign, launched just this past week, is already gaining steam across the country, with manager delegations in over two dozen cities and more to come in the weeks ahead! Stay tuned, as the Campaign for Fair Food ramps up in earnest in 2013...
January 17, 2013
Old fashioned is right!...
It's time for Wendy's to join the rest of the fast-food industry in the 21st century and support the Fair Food Program!
Join consumers from across the country in the coming weeks as they call on Wendy's to partner with the CIW in advancing the human rights and dignity of farmworkers in its supply chain!
2005, Taco Bell. 2007, McDonald's. 2008, Burger King. 2009, Subway. 2012, Chipotle.
What about Wendy's?
With one glaring exception, the top five fast-food companies in the world have joined the Fair Food Program, paying a penny-per-pound premium on the tomatoes they purchase from Florida growers and requiring their suppliers to meet the more modern, more humane labor standards contained in the Fair Food Code of Conduct.
Why not Wendy's?
Well, it's certainly not because we didn't ask. Between the CIW and the Alliance for Fair Food, we sent no fewer than five letters to Wendy's CEO's between 2007 and 2013, asking the 
hamburger giant to "meet as soon as possible... to discuss how your company can become a leader in socially responsible practices that ensure the human rights of farmworkers in your supply chain." You can see an example here. We even visited Wendy's shareholder meetings in 2010 and 2011 to ask in person.
What was Wendy's answer?
To the letters, nothing. And to the shareholder questions, pretty much the same thing, just in actual words. According to National Economic and Social Rights Initiative representative who asked the question on behalf of the CIW at the 2011 meeting in New York City (on far right, above), "the main points were that they have been aware of the Campaign for several years, they have their own corporate responsibility program that already covers the issues, but they are taking it under consideration." In short, nothing.
So ignorance is certainly no explanation for Wendy's absence in the Fair Food Program. In fact, here's the kicker... Wendy's new CEO Emil Brolick is the last person who could claim ignorance of the Campaign for Fair Food, because before Mr. Brolick was President and Chief Executive Officer of Wendy's, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of none other than Fair Food pioneer Taco Bell during the entire 4-yr boycott! Mr. Brolick ran Taco Bell from 2000-2006, then stayed in various leadership positions at Yum Brands, ending up as Yum's Chief Operating Officer before moving to Wendy's in 2011.
What has Wendy's been doing then, if not stepping up to the same ethical purchasing practices for its Florida tomatoes that its competition has adopted?
"A Cut Above"...
According to a recent company press release, the hamburger leader "is in the midst of a comprehensive transformation to contemporize the brand..." What does that mean, exactly?:
 “We are improving the total customer experience, with bold restaurant designs, fresh product innovation, more engaging advertising and digital media advancements,” said Emil Brolick, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The transformation is already resonating with consumers and we’re building momentum, especially with our Image Activation restaurants that position our brand as ‘A Cut Above’ the competition... This is a very exciting time for Wendy’s.” read more |
Bold restaurant designs, fresh product innovation, more engaging advertising, digital media advancements... everything except joining the rest of the fast-food industry in meeting the highest ethical purchasing standards in the US produce industry today in the Fair Food Program.
Wi-Fi, or Social Justice?
Wendy's calls this new direction "A Cut Above."
If you ask us, Wendy's new initiative isn't so much some kind of ultramodern cut above the competition as it is plain old undercutting the competition on ingredient prices to get an edge in the bottom line. By saving money on tomato prices compared to McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell, and Chipotle, Wendy's can invest in upgrades to its restaurants, instead. Why help improve the wages and working conditions of the desperately poor farmworkers who pick your tomatoes if you can put "lounge seating with fireplaces, flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi and digital menuboards" in your restaurants, and get away with it?
Buying tomatoes no questions asked isn't "contemporizing your brand," it's cheapening your brand, especially when everyone around you is investing in social responsibility and supporting the program a recent Washington Post op/ed called "a brilliant model" and "one of the great human rights success stories of our day."
Turning your back on long-overdue social justice is the very definition of old fashioned, of doing business as usual. It's time for Wendy's to get on board with the historic changes underway today thanks to the Fair Food Program.
It's time for action
And to help them get on board, consumers in the Fair Food Nation are going to Wendy's across the country, delivering letters starting today all the way through Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day! With 25 delegations currently planned and the numbers swiftly growing, it promises to be a powerful first step of many to bring Wendy's up to date.
To join them, check out our resources page for the manager letter, and feel free to email us at organize (at) sfalliace.org to find out how you can get more involved!
2005, Taco Bell. 2007, McDonald's. 2008, Burger King. 2009, Subway. 2012, Chipotle.
Let's make 2013 Wendy's year.
January 15, 2013
As the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food draws near, the Fair Food Nation steps up to the plate!
Since the announcement of the big spring action, sparks of anticipation and promises of commitment -- an essential element in the CIW's "consciousness + commitment = change" formula for social change -- have been pouring in.
From coast to coast, Fair Food allies have been contacting the office in Immokalee to offer their feet, their voices, their talents, their time -- and their words of support for the march. Just last week, we were honored to receive author, civil rights activist and Southern food laureate, John Egerton, of the Southern Foodways Alliance (the organization that bestowed its 2012 John Egerton Award on the CIW this past October). After spending the day touring Immokalee and probing the history and dynamics of the Campaign in talks with CIW members and organizers, Egerton wrote of the visit:
As a founder of the Mississippi-based Southern Foodways Alliance, I am looking forward to taking part in the march and adding my voice to the hundreds more who are asking Publix to join with Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, numerous fast-food chains and others in support of CIW's campaign to assure the field workers of the fair labor standards, fair pay and health benefits they are entitled to through their reliability and productivity." |
"The CIW's two-decades-long mission to improve the working conditions of Florida's 30,000 tomato harvesters has produced impressive results and won the respect of farmworkers, growers, buyers and consumers. Now, The CIW is organizing a march from Ft. Myers to the Lakeland headquarters of Publix, the supermarket corporation that is the single largest purchaser of Florida tomatoes.In addition to luminaries from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the CIW will be joined by countles more allies from across the United States. Bob St. Peter, former Executive Director of Food for Maine's Future and a Farmer Director with Family Farm Defenders, recently called the CIW office to announce that he would be joining the full two weeks of the march along with his wife and children; WhyHunger, another organization that honored the CIW earlier this year with the Food Sovereignty Prize, will also be sending delegates for the final weekend of the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food.
Two months out, the list of allied organizations committed to joining us for the march -- not to mention individual allies from Lakeland, Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, Miami, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Nashville, Atlanta, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, the Bay Area, Chicago, New York, and many more cities across the south and the country -- is long and getting longer every day:
|
Even for those who are not able to spend two weeks on the roads of Florida with the CIW, the final weekend is a chance to take part in the crescendo of the march in Lakeland, Florida, at Publix's headquarters -- a hallowed site that still surely remembers the presence of 70 fasting men and women during last year's Fast for Fair Food. As mentioned recently in the Huffington Post by author Beverly Bell, the CIW's movement for justice for farmworkers was one of many hopeful sparks in 2012, "expanding the realm of the possible":
"The CIW, a small group of farmworkers from the hardscrabble Florida town of Immokalee, prove true the source-disputed quote, "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." Publix, CIW's current target, may as well just give up now." |
With this impending march of over 150 miles, joined along the way by thousands of allies, 2013 is sure to be another promising year for the CIW in defining what is possible.
January 10, 2013
Clergy take to their local papers to tell Publix "its position on the penny-per-pound issue lacks justifiable merit."
If you agree, join us for the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!
Religious leaders and people of faith have been a pillar of the Campaign for Fair Food for over a decade, but recently clergy are losing their patience with Publix and writing letters to the editors of their local papers to make their indignation known.
One such letter comes this week from Rabbi Jonathan Katz. After quoting Publix's PR response to the Fair Food Program, Rabbi Katz (pictured above with his daughter at a recent protest) writes in the Longboat Key (Florida) Observer:
"... Basically, this is a smokescreen response. Although other major food providers such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market, Aramark, Sodexo, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, and Chipotle have all found a way to pay that extra penny, Publix executives, with all their corporate smarts, have been unable to do it. In fact, they refuse to even meet with CIW representatives about the matter. Instead, Publix officials focus on trivial things such as making sure police quickly act to have CIW move a case of water deemed too close to Publix property. This echoed my experience earlier this year at a CIW protest in front of Publix’s corporate headquarters, in Lakeland. After arriving to find numerous protesters stationed on the grass berm between the sidewalk and the street, I soon asked where people went to go the bathroom, because there were no facilities nearby. I was told that a trailer hauling several porta-potties would come by in a half-an-hour. Because such bathrooms were theoretically not permitted for more than 30 minutes at a time at that location, Publix insisted that police send the trailer away every time the limit was reached. This is indicative Publix’s needlessly spiteful and obdurate attitude. I have visited Immokalee and seen first-hand the impoverished conditions migrant workers there confront. I, and others, have joined with CIW because we believe strongly in the justice of its cause. CIW protests are always orderly. There is never unruly behavior, threatening words or profanity. Rather, a positive and uplifting spirit of shared struggle characterizes it. In my view, as long as Publix won’t even deign to sit down with CIW, its position on the penny-per-pound issue lacks justifiable merit." read more |
Another comes from retired Pastor Don Utzman of Lakeland, Florida (pictured below, on right, carrying pennies to Publix this past Thanksgiving), who wrote, also this week, in the pages of Publix's hometown paper, the Lakeland Ledger:
The current executives, however, have ignored the workers' plea. I find this hard to understand, especially after reading in The Ledger recently that Publix's profit this past quarter was 17 percent greater than last year... ... If you agree with me, please write to the Publix Corporate Office, 3300 Airport Road, Lakeland, FL 33811, or call 863-688-1188 and ask Publix to pay the penny more per pound these workers are asking. Unless Publix joins the Fair Food Program, buying 'fair tomatoes' will not be possible in Lakeland." read more |
We'll see the Rev. Utzman's invitation to contact Publix's corporate leaders and raise him a call to join us for the upcoming March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food! As we wrote last month when announcing the march:
The march will have two goals. First, we will march to mark the progress we have made since the turn of the new millennium, progress culminating in the historic changes underway today thanks to the Fair Food Program. And second, we will march to underscore the hard work that remains to be done as supermarket industry leaders -- chief among them Publix -- continue to undermine that progress and deny their responsibility to do their part to end decades of farmworker poverty and degradation. (read more) |
Write us at workers@ciw-online.org for more all the latest information on how you can join us for the entire two weeks, a few days, or even just a few miles for this historic march!
January 8, 2013
UPDATE: Arrest made in 2012 farmworker beating case...
Slow pace of progress through court system underscores swift response, justice of Fair Food Program
The December 20 edition of the LaBelle, Florida, weekly, The Caloosa Belle, included these four short lines of text in its "Arrest Reports" column:
Garcia Farias was arrested in connection with the March, 2012, beating of a worker (pictured above, his nose freshly broken by his supervisor's punch) at an Immokalee area eggplant packing house. Nine full months passed between the incident and the arrest, despite the fact that the victim reported the battery to police that same day, as quickly as he could get away from the packing house.
At the time of the incident, we posted a reflection that focused on the growing divide taking shape in Florida's fields between farms that did business the old way -- characterized by an underlying dehumanization of workers -- and those that had joined the Fair Food Program (FFP), where the old ways are no longer tolerated and workers fully participate the ongoing development of a more modern workplace. Here's an extended excerpt from that reflection:
"A man can't ride your back unless it is bent"... Those words were spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King on the eve of his assassination, in his ever powerful "Mountaintop" speech in Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968. Speaking about the Civil Rights movement in Albany, Georgia, he said, "Whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent."
They are straightening their backs up, and -- in a true partnership with those growers who have made a real commitment to the Fair Food Program -- taking steps to eliminate violence and humiliation in Florida's tomato fields, to end the long nightmare of the state's Harvest of Shame. That is not to say that all is right in the fields where the Fair Food Program is in effect. But it does mean that workers and employers determined to improve conditions in the tomato industry now have real, effective tools with which to identify and eliminate the abusive bosses and exploitative structures that have plagued the industry for decades. And they have done so this season, time and time again, on participating farms from Homestead to Ruskin.
These workers, who received the orientation on workers' rights under the Fair Food Code of Conduct at a participating farm, confirm the positive impact of the Program every time they call with complaints ranging from verbal and physical harassment to forced overfilling of buckets and systemic minimum wage violations on non-participating farms. Having seen the New Day taking shape in participating growers' fields, they are shocked anew at the conditions as they used to be, and continue to be, in fields outside the Fair Food Program. And while the distinction is good news for workers on the participating farms, it is also good news for the participating growers themselves, who, thanks to the more humane workplace environment they are creating this season, are better able to attract and retain workers, leading to lower turnover, reduced training costs, and higher productivity..." read more |
Today, in tomato fields across the state of Florida, the men and women who pick this country's tomatoes are indeed going somewhere, through the Fair Food Program. Not only have they won new rights and protections against exploitation and abuse (verbal and physical), but they are learning about those rights, on the farm and on the clock, through the CIW's educational efforts, and are enforcing those rights through the Fair Food Program's protected complaint mechanism. 
But what's even more interesting is what's happening at farms outside of the Fair Food Program -- whether they are vegetable fields outside the tomato industry, or tomato fields where growers have refused to join the Program. With increasing frequency, the CIW and Program auditors are receiving complaints from workers who, having picked tomatoes on participating growers' farms earlier in the season, now find themselves working for companies beyond the reach of the Program, where conditions are every bit as harsh and demeaning as they ever were. But in the intervening nine months, another significant distinction has grown increasingly clear. That distinction is manifest when farmworkers in the two different worlds, faced with an abuse, seek justice.
To illustrate this distinction, let's take a typical beating case, an event of violence by a supervisor against a worker, and follow it through the two worlds, a farm participating in the Fair Food Program and one that isn't.
On the non-FFP farm, if a worker is assaulted by his supervisor, in most cases the worker simply chooses to leave the job and seek employment elsewhere. The supervisor has established his control over the workplace, the worker feels powerless to challenge it, and the resulting hierarchy is perceived and understood by other workers on the job in no uncertain terms.
In the event the worker does decide to challenge the assault, almost without exception he does so from a safe distance. Having left the job, he makes a complaint to the police, taking the first step down a very slow, labyrinthine, and ultimately uncertain path toward justice. Some of the many challenges he will face in the next year or more include: language barriers that tilt the scales of justice strongly toward the supervisor, the fear, vulnerability and mobility of any potential witnesses, and the long delay built into the system itself. These hurdles often drain even the victim of his will to see the case through, not to mention his (and any willing witnesses') availability, as his life as a migrant worker may well have led him a thousand miles from the town where he was assaulted by the time the case comes to trial.
Finally, in the extremely rare event the supervisor is found guilty, a year or more after the assault he may go to jail. But in the meantime the worker has moved on, the other workers who witnessed the event have also likely moved on without ever having seen justice done, and the supervisor has remained on the farm, reminding workers every day by his very presence of his power over their lives.
On a Fair Food Program farm, however, the story is very different. First, violence by supervisors is far, far less likely to happen than it ever was in the past, because on FFP farms, if a supervisor beats a worker, the grower can lose a significant amount of business almost overnight. The market consequences for violations under the Fair Food Code of Conduct are real and they are nearly immediate. Combined with the fact that workers on FFP farms are informed of their rights under the Program, and what to do if those rights are violated, through the worker-to-worker education program, the prospect of market consequences ensures that the farms within the FFP police themselves far more closely than do those farms that operate outside of the Program.
But in the event an assault does occur, what happens next is truly a sea change in the history of farmworker rights. If a worker is assaulted, that worker can call -- immediately, even from the field -- the FFP hotline. That call is answered by a staff member of the Fair Food Standards Council, the monitoring body established to oversee compliance with the Fair Food Code of Conduct. The complaint then initiates a prompt investigative process. The worker is interviewed without further delay, witnesses are interviewed at or off the farm, management is informed and involved, and a finding is issued. All of this normally occurs within a matter of days (although more complex investigations may take up to several weeks). The entire investigative process is underpinned by the clear and absolute protections against retaliation contained in the Fair Food Code of Conduct. This protection helps witnesses overcome the fear of losing their own jobs, or worse, that so often cripples investigations on non-FFP farms.
If the FFSC determines that an assault took place, the supervisor is fired and an education process is undertaken -- at the management level as well as in the fields -- to reinforce the message that violence will not be tolerated on that farm. This resolution and message are backed by the business of the eleven multi-billion dollar retailers that have signed Fair Food Agreements with the CIW. And, in addition to the FFP process, the victim can of course still pursue a criminal complaint, but that process will then unfold without the assailant ever-present in the workplace, a very different context than that on a non-FFP farm. In this way, rather than supplant the criminal justice system, the FFP in fact supplements it.
In many ways, as impressive as the early results have been from the FFP, this tale of two farm labor worlds is still a developing story. The Program is entering only its second full season of operation on the vast majority of Florida tomato farms and so remains very much a work in progress. Adoption by the different growers of the new standards and structures put in place through the FFP is still not uniform -- some growers have eagerly embraced the Program, others only reluctantly. Meanwhile, the beating case at the top of this post, a case which illustrates many of the difficulties faced by workers locked in the non-FFP system, is also many steps from completion. It would be premature to comment much further before it is resolved.
But one thing is already beyond doubt: Workers within the Fair Food Program have access to a complaint process that has never existed before in the history of Florida agriculture. That process is quickly approaching its 200th complaint, the vast majority of which have been investigated and resolved within a matter of weeks, if not days, to the expressed satisfaction of the workers involved. This new reality is, each day, changing lives and building a more humane workplace in Florida's fields.
We will revisit this developing story in the months ahead as the case proceeds through the court system and the FFP continues to mature in its second full season. In the meantime, know that, thanks to the FFP -- and to the Fair Food movement that has marched, fasted, and protested across the country to make the FFP a reality -- workers in Florida's tomato fields today have a powerful new tool at their disposal when faced with abuse.
January 2, 2013
Unfinished business remembered on the New Year...
2013 prompts a look back at what brought us here, and a look forward at the road ahead toward a more perfect justice for the country's farmworkers
The image above is a close-up of the original Emancipation Proclamation, which is today on rare display in the National Archives in Washington, DC, as part of the national commemoration of its signing by President Lincoln on January 1st, 1863 (the original has been severely damaged by exposure to light over the years and so is only infrequently available for viewing by the public). This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Proclamation, the document that helped pave the way for the eventual abolishment of slavery two years later with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Of course, that was the mechanical role that the Emancipation Proclamation played in the ending of slavery as a legal institution in this country and in the upheaval of the Civil War. But its metaphysical role in those tumultuous times, in the bending of the "arc of the moral universe" to which Martin Luther King would refer 100 years later, was far deeper than that. In the words of Reginald Washington, an archivist of African-American history at the National Archives, the Emancipation Proclamation also brought "a fundamental change in the character of the war." He added:
"With the stroke of Lincoln's pen, a war to preserve the union had overnight become a war of human liberation." read more |
History's Echoes Today
That war of human liberation would continue, by other means, for more than a century after Lincoln's death, and two recent articles reflecting on that continuing battle remind us that the fight, in some meaningful ways, is still not over.
Eric Foner, a professor of history at Columbia University, writes in the New York Times ("The Emancipation of Abe Lincoln," 12/31/12), of Lincoln's "magnificent second inaugural address of March 4, 1865, in which Lincoln ruminated on the deep meaning of the war" :
"He now identified the institution of slavery — not the presence of blacks, as in 1862 — as its fundamental cause. The war, he said, might well be a divine punishment for the evil of slavery. And God might will it to continue until all the wealth the slaves had created had been destroyed, and “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” Lincoln was reminding Americans that violence did not begin with the firing on Fort Sumter, S.C., in April 1861. What he called “this terrible war” had been preceded by 250 years of the terrible violence of slavery. In essence, Lincoln asked the nation to confront unblinkingly the legacy of slavery. What were the requirements of justice in the face of this reality? What would be necessary to enable former slaves and their descendants to enjoy fully the pursuit of happiness? Lincoln did not live to provide an answer. A century and a half later, we have yet to do so." read more |
A second article in the pages of the Times looks at the "legacy of slavery" still present in the United States of the 21st century. In a piece entitled, "How Many Slaves Work for You" (1/1/13), Louis Masur, a professor at Rutgers University, writes:
"In 1963, standing before the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. labeled the Proclamation a “beacon light of hope” to African-Americans and used the centennial to call for a renewed commitment to civil rights in America. Fifty years later, we might consider what a new Emancipation Proclamation would look like, one written for our times." |
He continues:
"In a speech delivered in September at the Clinton Global Initiative, President Obama declared that the time had come to call human trafficking by its rightful name: modern slavery. “The bitter truth is that trafficking also goes on right here, in the United States,” he declared. “It’s the migrant worker unable to pay off the debt to his trafficker. The man, lured here with the promise of a job, his documents then taken, and forced to work endless hours in a kitchen. The teenage girl, beaten, forced to walk the streets. This should not be happening in the United States of America." |
And concludes:
"For those who insist they would have been abolitionists during the Civil War, now is the chance to become one." read more |
Fair Food in the 21st Century
The CIW has long been at the forefront of the fight against modern-day slavery. And with the implementation of the Fair Food Program -- launched in earnest in 2010 when over 90% of the Florida tomato industry agreed to participate in the groundbreaking social responsibility initiative -- many significant changes have begun to take place in Florida's fields.
In recognition of those changes, Take Part, the digital division of Participant Media (which, in an interesting coincidence, happens to be the production company behind this holiday season's blockbuster film, "Lincoln"), chose the CIW's Campaign for Fair Food as one of its "5 Biggest Food-Movement Victories of 2012".
Writing, "Thanks to increased awareness, advocates for healthy food and fair farming made massive progress this year," the folks at Take Part congratulated the CIW for the advances of 2012:
Fairer Conditions For Farmworkers In February, Trader Joe’s, which has more than 350 outlets, became the second major food retailer (after Whole Foods) to sign the document. The agreement not only guarantees higher wages, but it also grants workers much-needed basic rights, like safety education, protection from violence and sexual harassment in the fields, accurate time-keeping, and grievance procedures that protect them from the threat of retaliation by employers. By October, Chipotle buckled to the pressure of CIW as well: After six years of working to bring Chipotle into its Fair Food Program, CIW issued a press released stating that the two groups had reached an agreement. Chipotle wasn’t the first fast-food chain to make the leap—Burger King and McDonald’s did so much sooner—but the company’s reputation for making “food with integrity” makes it a prime example for the rest of the industry. Gerardo Reyes of the CIW called the development “a turning point in the sustainable food movement as a whole, whereby, thanks to Chipotle’s leadership, farmworkers are finally recognized as true partners—every bit as vital as farmers, chefs, and restaurants—in bringing ‘good food’ to our tables.” |
Of course, "good food" is first and foremost food produced free of forced labor. In this sense, the most important progress of the past two years may well be the transition in CIW's anti-slavery efforts from an approach based solely on prosecution to one focused on prevention.
Rather than addressing slavery after the fact through investigation and prosecution of the ringleaders, the Fair Food Program has put into place -- through a carefully woven fabric of worker-to-worker education, effective complaint investigation and resolution, and real market consequences for growers in the event forced labor is found on their farms -- a system aimed at eliminating the conditions that encourage slavery to take root. With the participation of progressive growers and of the retail food giants whose volume purchasing power shapes the 21st century food market, we are building a new agricultural economy that supports fairer wages for farmworkers, rewards those growers who provide fairer working conditions in the fields, and punishes those who allow abuses to take place on their farms.
Unfinished Business
But despite the historic changes underway, there are still some retail food giants who refuse to do their part to support the Fair Food Program and eliminate forced labor and other human rights abuses -- from wage theft to sexual harassment -- in the fields.
That's why this coming spring (March 3-17) we are taking to the streets in a two-week march, from Ft. Myers to Publix headquarters in Lakeland, the "March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food."
The march will have two goals. First, we will march to mark the progress we have made since the turn of the new millennium, progress including the implementation and growth of the Fair Food Program. And second, we will march to underscore the hard work that remains to be done as supermarket industry leaders -- chief among them Publix -- continue to undermine that progress and deny their responsibility to do their part to end decades of farmworker poverty and degradation.
And because this is ultimately a reflection on the unfinished business ahead of us, we'll end this first post of the new year with the conclusion from our announcement of the march last month:
And so we will, once again, march. We will march to celebrate the changes underway today in Florida's tomato industry. We will march so that Publix does, finally, support the Fair Food Program. We will march so that those growers who refuse to meet the new standards no longer get solace, and sales, from retailers Join us, and help us win the participation of Florida's wealthiest corporation in a program that is changing the lives of Florida's poorest workers, workers who harvest the food for Publix's shelves and still bear unimaginable poverty for its profit. It is time for Publix to “do the right thing.” Until they do, it is time for us, all of us, to march. Stay tuned in the months to come for how you can be a part of the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food! |
December 22, 2012
Holiday season sparks reflections on Campaign for Fair Food in national media...
... grocers and consumers alike called on to "give thanks for those hands who struggle day in and day out in Florida’s fields to produce the meal before you."
In most cases, retail companies that sign Fair Food agreements tend to go about the business of implementing those agreements rather quietly. The Bon Appetit Management Co., which joined the Program in 2009, is the exception to that particular rule. Always active on Twitter, this holiday season Bon Appetit's Vice President of Strategy, Maisie Greenawalt, decided to go a bit more long form, gracing the Huffington Post with a strikingly personal, moving reflection on the Campaign for Fair Food and the new world being built by the Fair Food Program, "My Holiday Wish: Let's Change the Lives of America's Farmworkers". Here's an excerpt:
"I've got more-than-adequate food and shelter. And I also have a great job. As the vice president of strategy for Bon Appetit Management Company -- a food service provider committed to a sustainable future for us all -- I get to work on issues that are important to me and to make changes that I think are meaningful. But one of those issues still needs addressing, and I can't do it alone. And despite our spending power of over $75 million a year for produce, my company can't do it alone, either. Which brings me to my holiday wish: that by the end of this column, you will be moved to action and help make real, lasting change in the lives of the people who harvest this country's food. Or at least think about the real cost of that seemingly cheap winter tomato from Florida." read more |
Greenawalt goes on to describe her experience with the Program, from when she first stepped out into the heat of a Florida tomato field to the changes her company has helped to build as the Fair Food Program spreads across the industry. She closes with a humble but unflinching summons for those supermarkets, like Publix, that continue to turn their backs on farmworkers:
"This is just a start. But as I discovered after standing in those tomato fields, it's hard to un-learn things. Grocers and other large food buyers who take this first step will have their eyes opened, as I did, and will only go forward, not backward." read more |
From the faith community, long-time supporter Rev. Libby Shannon highlights one of the most scandalous moves from Publix this past fall in Sojourners magazine, when Sarasota clergyman Rev. Clay Thomas was ejected from Publix for wearing a CIW t-shirt:
"Over Labor Day weekend, the CIW had just finished a peaceful picket on the sidewalk in front of Publix and Rev. Thomas — taking a break from sermon writing — stopped by to greet CIW members and convey his support before heading to the deli to buy a sandwich. Instead, he was served a yearlong ban from the store. Publix's labor relations manager Mark Codd had three police officers called to document the supermarket's issuance of the trespass warning and to escort Rev. Thomas from the store. {…] Throughout the holiday season we will gather at tables to enjoy the company of those we love and the food of our hearts. I encourage you to take a moment and give thanks for those hands who struggle day in and day out in Florida's fields to produce the meal before you. Ask yourselves and those gathered if that meal would taste just a little bit better if it were harvested with integrity and justice and then write a letter to Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw asking him to do the right thing and join us in the Fair Food Program." read more |
Finally, one last holiday wish comes via Twitter, from the Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel (who recently highlighted the Coalition's much-celebrated video, "A Tale of Two Holidays" in the Huffington Post):
These encouraging words -- from the highest reaches of the food industry to the grassroots faith community -- call on us to consider the hands that pick our food this holiday season. Let us continue that reflection into the New Year, when we can convert that consciousness into commitment in the streets for the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food -- and create lasting change in the Florida tomato industry.
December 17, 2012
Luxury island off Sarasota coast sees first Publix protest...
Exclusive Longboat Key
plays host to sizeable action for Fair Food at latest Publix store opening!
Longboat Key is a beautiful, exclusive island community on Florida's gulf coast that's home to miles of crystalline, white sand beaches, some of the area's priciest real estate, and celebrities from Wimbeldon champion Maria Sharapova to Aerosmith's lead guitarist Joe Perry. With a median family income of $107,983, it is not a place accustomed to protest or workers' struggles for social justice.
But this past Sunday, Longboat Key hosted its first-ever Fair Food protest, as farmworkers from Immokalee and student and faith allies from the Sarasota area gathered for the opening weekend of the island's only grocery store, a brand new, expanded Publix store, tailored to the Longboat Key community (with an extensive wine and cheese section, free wifi, and an outside patio seating area).
Rabbi Jonathan Katz from neighboring Temple Beth Israel, Rabbi Peter Kasdan, a longtime farmworker movement supporter, and the Rev. Clay Thomas (who was famously exiled from the Publix store in his own Sarasota neighborhood for his support for the Campaign for Fair Food) joined many other local clergy, congregants, and students from USF-Tampa, Manatee High School, and New College for a spirited rally that filled a city block outside the store and was remarkably well-received by the locals, as drivers signaled their support with a steady stream of honks and inquisitive cyclists and joggers eagerly took flyers to learn more about the Fair Food Program:
Farmworkers were also joined by other stalwart allies including DJ's from WSLR community radio in Sarasota (a local sister station to the CIW's Radio Conciencia) and members of Pax Christi, Unidos Now, and the Southwest Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice.
All in all, it was an upbeat action that served as an excellent introduction to the Fair Food movement for thousands of Longboat Key residents. And once it was all over, the former mayor of Sarasota even headed into Publix and bought himself a sandwich while proudly wearing his CIW t-shirt -- without incident! (That's the same offense that got Rev. Thomas banned from his local Publix earlier this year, leading to a march of 200 workers and clergy in protest.) Maybe Publix is starting to listen to its customers after all...
December 12, 2012
Spring action announced! CIW, allies to march 150 miles to Lakeland in March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!
2/20/2000: The two-week, 230-mile "March for Dignity, Dialogue, and a Fair Wage" (right) begins in Ft. Myers...
... 3/3/2013: Join us as we take to the streets again for the two-week "March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food" from Ft. Myers to Lakeland, Florida!
The Fair Food movement began nearly thirteen years ago, in February of 2000, when farmworkers from Immokalee -- who until then had been largely locked in anonymous battle with Florida tomato growers within the boundaries of Immokalee -- joined forces with students, people of faith, and everyday 
consumers to take their call for "Dignity, Dialogue, and a Fair Wage" on the road. With little more than a map to guide them, a field truck to carry their supplies, and a 12-ft tall replica of the Statue of Liberty made of fabric, plaster and duct tape to lead the way, they took off on a two-week long trek from Ft. Myers to the offices of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association in Orlando.
Among the marchers' number were several workers whose testimony led to convictions in two seminal slavery prosecutions (US vs. Flores, US vs. Cuello); an 18-yr old Romeo Ramirez, 23-yr old Lucas Benitez, and 22-yr old Julia Gabriel who three years later would receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for their leadership in the struggle for farmworker rights; and the core of young student activists who came together in the wake of those two unforgettable weeks to form the Student/Farmworker Alliance, now a key ally in the Fair Food movement. The march marked the first major excursion of Immokalee farmworkers outside the confines of southwest Florida and onto the cognitive map of the nation as a creative, and courageous, new force for social change.
Today, we would like to announce that the Fair Food movement is returning to its roots. This coming spring (March 3-17) we are taking to the streets again in a two-week march, from Ft. Myers to Publix headquarters in Lakeland, the "March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food."
The march will have two goals. First, we will march to mark the progress we have made since the turn of the new millennium, progress culminating in the historic changes underway today thanks to the Fair Food Program. And second, we will march to underscore the hard work that remains to be done as supermarket industry leaders -- chief among them Publix -- continue to undermine that progress and deny their responsibility to do their part to end decades of farmworker poverty and degradation.
Thirteen years is a long time in the life of a movement, and as we prepare in the coming months for two weeks on the road, we begin by taking a quick look back at what has transpired in this remarkable period.
The March:
The Naples Daily News article from the launch of the march on February 20th, 2000, began:
"At first glance, the tall statue on the back of the pickup looked like a small-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty. The pickup inched along U.S. 41 shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday for the start of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' walk from Fort Myers to Orlando. The 230-mile march is aimed at calling attention to workers' efforts to get higher wages and scheduled to end on March 4.
The statue, which workers say also represents liberty, was a bit different than the one of New York fame. In the statue's left arm was a bucket of tomatoes; her right hand extended outward, offering up a single tomato. On the pedestal, a simple message: "I, too, am America!" The words echoed the concerns of about 200 people who gathered for a short rally in Fort Myers before the march began. "We march for dignity and respect," said Samuel Mar, a member of the coalition. He was among workers who held a month-long hunger strike two years ago that was aimed at improving wages and working conditions..." read more |
The march ended two weeks later at the locked doors of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, to which Julia Gabriel affixed the Ten Principles of Farm Labor Justice, founded on this fundamental principle: "By virtue of the hard and dangerous work we do we have earned the right to talk with our employers about wages and other working conditions."
Since the March:
Though they were turned away that day, the marchers' efforts were by no means in vain. Here are just a few of the highlights since those two hundred intrepid marchers crossed the Caloosahatchee River on their way north from Ft. Myers:
- The statue has moved to Washington, DC, where it now resides as part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History:
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"'It's wonderful and it's evocative. It's a democratic movement for a political voice and it's great because it reminds us of some of the core values we think of as Americans and the freedom to participate,' said Barbara Clark Smith, museum curator of social history." - The award-winning Student/Farmworker Alliance has gone on to become one of this country's most successful student movements for social justice.
"The spark that ignited SFA was the 230-mile March for Dignity, Dialogue and a Fair Wage from Ft. Myers to Orlando, Florida, led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in February 2000. This march provided the opportunity for students from several Florida colleges to learn about and directly participate in the movement to end 'sweatshops in the fields.'" read more |
- And Florida tomato growers have moved from their original posture of unwavering resistance in the face of the pending march, captured in these quotes from industry leaders at the time:
"... Meanwhile, (Ray) Gilmer said the FFVA's Board of Directors has no way of knowing if the Coalition is a 'bona fide representative' to all of Immokalee's migrating farmworker population.... ... "We are struggling to try to make ends meet," [Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange] said. "I personally would not want to ask for any more money at this point...the dollars are not there." read more |
to one of cooperation and partnership, sealed with an historic breakthrough a decade later, when the CIW and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange came together in 2010 for a joint press conference to announce their landmark Fair Food agreement:
“This is a watershed moment in the history of Florida agriculture,” said Lucas Benitez of the CIW (above, second from the left, with Reggie Brown of the FTGE at his side). “With this agreement, the Florida tomato industry – workers and growers alike – is coming together in partnership to turn the page on the conflict and stagnation of the past and instead forge a new and stronger industry.” read more
Even more important than that phenomenal victory, however, has been the development of the worker-driven Fair Food Program that it made possible. Under the Fair Food Program, participating growers have:
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The Fair Food Program has created a new world within the Florida tomato industry, one in which workers have new rights on the job, are able to learn about those rights while at work, and are free to complain, without fear of retaliation, when those rights are violated, knowing that those complaints will be effectively investigated. (Below, workers learn about their rights under the Fair Food 
Program at an Immokalee area farm during a worker-to-worker education session last month.)
And this new world is built upon the Fair Food agreements established over the nearly 13-year history of the Campaign for Fair Food, under which buyers agree both to help increase workers' pay, through the penny-per-pound price premium, and to purchase Florida tomatoes only from those growers who are in compliance with the Fair Food Code of Conduct. This second condition supports the changes underway today in the Fair Food Program in two essential ways: 1) It provides growers a market incentive to join the Program and leave behind the world in which workers' rights are routinely violated without recourse, and 2) It creates market consequences when workers' rights are violated within the Program, which both makes those rights real in the event of a violation and encourages the prevention of abuse before it happens.
This new world stands in stark contrast to the old way of doing business, where tomatoes were grown, sold and purchased with "no questions asked," where crewleaders ruled the fields with an iron fist for decades, and where growers turned a blind eye to repeated headlines exposing sexual harassment, wage theft, and slavery, as long as sales remained unaffected.
Today:
But while much has changed -- prompting "Tomatoland" author and longtime Florida tomato industry observer Barry Estabrook to describe Florida tomato growers today as "on the road to becoming the most progressive group" in the US produce industry -- one thing has remained the same. Despite the growing acceptance of the Fair Food Program among the nation's retail food giants -- with eleven multi-billion dollar food corporations now on board -- the supermarket industry, including Florida-based Publix, has stubbornly refused to recognize the changes sweeping through Florida's fields, and refused to contribute its fair share to those changes.
In fact, it was almost two years ago to the day when Publix spokesperson Dwaine Stevens told the Baldwin County News:
“We don’t have any plans to sit down with the CIW,” Publix’s Media and Community Relations Manager Dwaine Stevens said, also citing that the company sells around 36,000 products in the stores and it cannot get involved with each product’s labor issues. “If there are some atrocities going on, it’s not our business." (emphasis added) read more |
In the two years since that statement, Publix has only grown more entrenched in its unconscionable resistance to joining the most promising program for farm labor justice in a generation. The company's 
justifications for refusing to do its part are as varied as they are disingenuous. Here are just a few:
- "As a community partner for more than 80 years, it would be unconscionable to believe that our company would support a violation of human rights. We are unaware of a single instance of slavery existing in our supply chain."
- "This is a labor dispute and we have a practice of not intervening in labor disputes."
- "We suggest... [the Fair Food Program] put the cost of the tomatoes in the price they charge the industry for the goods... 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 the goods to our customers."
All of these public relations responses to a human rights crisis represent a daily betrayal not only of the most basic tenets of modern corporate social responsibility, but of the eloquent words of Publix's own founder, Mr. George Jenkins, who once famously described his guiding business philosophy in this simple, honorable, phrase: "Don't let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing."
In its decision to reject the opportunity to join the more modern, more humane world of ethical supply chain management represented by the Fair Food Program, today's executives at Publix have besmirched their founder's vision of social responsibility and shamed the company he helped build into the $27 billion giant it is today.
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And so we will, once again, march. We will march to celebrate the changes underway today in Florida's tomato industry. We will march so that Publix does, finally, support the Fair Food Program. We will march so that those growers who refuse to meet the new standards no longer get solace, and sales, from retailers 
like Publix who remain willing to purchase tomatoes produced the old way, “no questions asked.” And we will march so that, one day, farmworkers across this country might enjoy the unprecedented new rights and working relationships being born today in the fields of Florida.
Join us, and help us win the participation of Florida's wealthiest corporation in a program that is changing the lives of Florida's poorest workers, workers who harvest the food for Publix's shelves and still bear unimaginable poverty for its profit.
It is time for Publix to “do the right thing.” Until they do, it is time for us, all of us, to march. Stay tuned in the months to come for how you can be a part of the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!
December 9, 2012
Publix holiday video catches the attention of national media...
... while last week's protest at Naples, Florida store opening (above) keeps local pressure on Florida supermarket giant!
The outstanding new, two-minute video from the Campaign for Fair Food, "A Tale of Two Holidays," has caught the attention of some of the largest, and oldest, national media outlets -- new media giant the Huffington Post and the oldest continuously-published weekly magazine in the United States, The Nation.
In the Huffington Post, Katrina vanden Heuvel penned a piece entitled, "Must-See Farmworker Video Takes on Supermarkets, Holiday Season Food Industry Hypocrisy." She begins:
"The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the remarkable farmworker organization in Florida that I have written about many times over the years as they continue to win victory after victory in their Campaign for Fair Food, has done it again. This time they have put together a must-see video that is mandatory watching this holiday season..." read more |
Following a passage in which she embeds the video and discusses the progress made under the Fair Food Program -- and the rejection of that progress by the majority of the supermarket industry -- she includes an inspiring quotation from best-selling author Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation"):
"This may be the most important victory for American farmworkers since passage of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975. That bill heralded a golden age for farm workers. But the state government apparatus it created, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, got taken over by the growers in the 1980s and watered down the reforms. In Florida, the Coalition has chosen a different path, avoiding government and putting pressure on the corporations at the top of nation's foodchain. The strategy clearly works and can be emulated by other workers in other states. In the absence of a government that cares about the people at the bottom, here's a way to achieve change." read more |
Meanwhile in the pages of The Nation, Peter Rothberg also picked up on the new video in an article entitled "Pressuring Publix," writing:
"... Watch and share the video, then add your name to this open letter to Publix imploring the supermarket giant to join eleven major food retailers including McDonald’s, Whole Foods and Chipotle in the Fair Food Program. It would require only a small increase in the price it pays for tomatoes, compliance with a new Code of Conduct and the implementation of a system of Health and Safety volunteers on every farm to give workers a structured voice in the their work environment. Even if you throw out morality, the PR benefit could be invaluable. The Fair Food Program is viable, it’s working and, with our help, it could eventually fulfill its enormous promise as an unprecedented collaborative model for farm-labor justice." read more |
Finally, last week also saw another exciting action (photo at top of this post) at another Publix store opening, this time in nearby Naples. Naples Daily News photographer William Deshazer was there and caught the remarkable photo, below. The photo captures the moment when the CIW's Oscar Otzoy, who rode his bike 42 miles from Immokalee to Naples for the protest (in an echo of last year's Bike Tour to Publix Headquarters), offers to share a recent Washington Post op/ed on the Fair Food Program with Publix's spokesperson Shannon Patten so that Publix might learn more about the changes being forged every day under the Program:
Oscar also invited Shannon to visit Immokalee, to learn more about the reality faced by the workers who pick Publix's tomatoes. There was no indication that she planned to take him up on the invitation.
December 6, 2012
Pennies from Heaven...
Lakeland Churches Run Symbolic Penny & Prayer Drive to Urge Publix to Join Fair Food Program
Between the launch of "A Tale of Two Holidays" and the Thanksgiving Week of Action, the Campaign for Fair Food has ridden into December on a powerful wave of support.
Our flagship video is continuing to make the rounds, meriting kudos in the Twitterverse from both Grammy-award winning guitarist Tom Morello and actress Olivia Wilde!
Check out the @ciw's beautiful 2 min farmworker video from the #FairFoodNation for #Publix! "A Tale of Two #Holidays" chn.ge/TMvEtW
— Tom Morello (@tmorello) December 5, 2012
So don't forget to keep sharing that important message through your own email, Facebook, and Twitter networks as we head into the holiday season.
But before the holidays wrap us fully in their warm embrace, we want to take a quick look back at a special action that took place two weeks ago, because when big news stories keep rolling in like they have of late, sometimes the more quiet -- but still truly noteworthy -- events can get lost in the wash.
One such action that didn't get its due the first time around was the beautifully creative protest organized by the congregants of several Lakeland churches for the Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action (pictured above). The idea for their action was spawned earlier this fall when theologian Brian McLaren, named one of the nation's "most influential Evangelicals" by Time magazine, spoke together with the CIW's Lucas Benitez at an interdenominational gathering in Lakeland - Publix's hometown - to press the need for people of faith to stand up and do justice. Following this talk, eight Lakeland churches resolved to hold a "Penny and Prayer Drive" in order to convey to the city's principal employer, Publix, their wish that the grocer immediately join the Fair Food Program.
In the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, participating churches set shiny red tomato buckets in the entries of their sanctuaries to symbolically collect the pennies, while ministers invited parishioners from the pulpit during worship services to take part in the sacred call to foster justice where it matters most. One church bulletin insert titled "Pennies And Prayers for the Fair Food Program" stated:
"[W]e prayerfully invite Publix Supermarkets to expand their good works by becoming a Fair Food leader within the supermarket industry ... We honor farmworkers' contributions by joining other Lakeland congregations in collecting pennies that represent our shared hope that Publix might soon join the Fair Food Program, taking moral leadership within the supermarket industry." |
Just a few days before Thanksgiving, representatives of the congregations met up in the parking lot of Saint David's Episcopal Church, where they consolidated the pennies into just a few tomato buckets (exceedingly heavy buckets, we might 
add!... see the photo below) to walk together to a neighboring Publix, the iconic Southgate store built in 1957.
Among the local, interdenominational delegation to deliver the pennies were a Disciples of Christ minister, a retired United Methodist pastor, a Unitarian Universalist congregational president, the president of the Lakeland Democratic Club, and a former associate of Publix's corporate offices.
If Publix didn't heard the Fair Food Nation clearly enough during creative Thanksgiving actions like these, they will have another chance this very morning! Farmworkers and their allies will be gathering at a Publix re-opening in Naples at noon, where they will greet CIW staff member Oscar Otzoy as he coasts into the parking lot after biking 42 miles from Immokalee.
We'll conclude this update with a powerful speech from the Rev. Russell L. Meyer, executive director of the Florida Council of Churches, who read the following statement to the assembled media in Lakeland on the occasion of the delivery of the buckets full of pennies (pictured at the top of this post):
"Publix Can Lead on Florida Fair Food The generosity of Publix and the family foundations of its owners is well known in Lakeland. House of worship, food pantries, shelters, community projects have all received charity from Publix. Children and families have benefited from health clinics, parks, gardens and playgrounds sponsored by Publix. Publix is an education partner for both public and private schools. Publix has an outstanding reputation as an employer, and its payroll drives a lot of other local businesses through the spending habits of its employees. There is good reason why other companies aspire to become a corporate citizen like Publix. It is this very spirit of generosity which will also make Publix a leader in Florida’s Fair Food Program. Already 90% of Florida’s tomato growers and a dozen major food corporations have signed onto the campaign. They have committed to fair working conditions in Florida’s fields and to paying a penny per pound premium for tomatoes to correct the market stagnation in farmworker wages. When Publix joins the campaign, Florida consumers will proudly be able to participate in the Fair Food Program. Consumers will gladly buy Florida tomatoes that they know have been picked in fairness and not exploitation. Publix and other retailers understand the idea of premium surcharges. Surcharges are paid now to cover market fluctuations in fuel and pesticide costs. Tomato picker wages remain at 1978 levels because farmworkers have not had a way to participate in market pricing. New structures are now in place to correct this injustice. Publix already sells fair food brands because they know consumers prefer them over food that comes from exploitation. Because of Publix’s reputation for doing good in the community, we are confident that it will respond to Florida consumers. This Thanksgiving, Publix can make us all proud by joining the Florida Fair Food Program. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, people of faith in Lakeland and across of Florida have collected these pennies. Faith and goodwill are paying the premium forward. We call on Publix to join us for fairness on the grocery shelves and in Florida’s fields. Publix, be the leader that you are known to be!" |
December 2, 2012
Encore!
Two weeks ago, as families across the country gathered in preparation for Thanksgiving, the Campaign for Fair Food released a powerful new video highlighting the unconscionable poverty of our nation's farmworkers and calling on Publix to join the unprecedented partnership among farmworkers, growers, consumers, and retail food corporations that is taking root today through the Fair Food Program. The video was a moving reflection on a food system that marginalizes the very people who labor to produce our nation's bounty of fruits and vegetables, and on a supermarket industry that turns its back on the first real solution in decades to the age old problem of farmworker poverty and abuse. "A Tale of Two Holidays" concludes on an optimistic note of thankfulness, underscoring the common thread of gratitude for the changes brought about by the Fair Food Program that unites farmworkers and consumers in the Campaign for Fair Food.
Playing on Publix's iconic holiday commercials, the video points the camera at the real story behind Publix's cloying holiday message. As we wrote at the time, the holiday season:
"... has become an annual reminder that Publix -- a company founded by a man, George Jenkins, who famously said the words 'Don't let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing' -- is a company that has lost its way. Like any family, the families who own and run Publix gather around their holiday tables and reflect on their joys and struggles. For the families who run Publix, among those joys, year after year, are soaring profits. Yet they inexplicably continue to turn their backs on the farmworkers who make those profits possible. Despite the tremendous strides made by the Fair Food Program in recent years -- progress made possible thanks to tens of thousands of consumers, dozens of Florida tomato growers, and eleven multi-billion dollar food corporations that have joined farmworkers at the Fair Food table -- Publix refuses to do its part to help farmworkers live a dignified life for the backbreaking, essential work they do day in and day out. In the words of the CIW's Lucas Benitez, 'Publix doesn't want us at the table. They want us under the table.'" |
The video generated such strong interest and positive feedback -- including tweets of support from food movement leaders like Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman and blog posts from faith leaders and food writers across the country -- that we have decided to bring it back for a second run, so that its message of justice and reconciliation, the true meaning of the holiday season, might ring out once again as we enter the holiest days of the year!
So watch the video again above for another dose of inspiration, then help us spread its message through your own email, Facebook, and Twitter networks. Let's make this holiday season the beginning of a bright new future for Florida's farmworkers in which Publix, and all the major supermarkets, do their part so that the Fair Food Program may continue to fulfill its enormous promise and be the beacon for farm labor justice -- not just here in Florida, but across the country -- that it can be.
November 30, 2012
CIW's Nely Rodriguez recognized for leadership in struggle for farmworker rights!
Rodriguez selected to be highlighted in WGCU Public Media's "multi-platform project Makers: Women Who Make Southwest Florida. Inspired by the PBS national project makers.com"...
For anyone who has watched the CIW's Nely Rodriguez over the past several years -- speaking at CIW events, heading up the CIW's Women's Group gatherings, meeting with public officials and food industry leaders to press the case for Fair Food, leading worker-to-worker educational meetings on farms across the state on farmworkers' new rights under the Fair Food Code of Conduct, or pursuing, behind the scenes, justice for her fellow workers facing everything from wage theft to sexual harassment in the fields -- today's news that WGCU Public Media has chosen Nely to be one of several leaders recognized for their contributions to building a stronger, and more just, Southwest Florida was a long time coming.
Here's an excerpt from the WGCU press release announcing the recognition:
WGCU Public Media Announces November 30, 2012… WGCU Public Media announced today that 21 women have been selected to be highlighted in its multi-platform project Makers: Women Who Make Southwest Florida. Inspired by the PBS national project makers.com , WGCU’s project honors exceptional women residing in Southwest Florida who have left or are leaving a legacy in the arts, business, education, the environment, community-building and/or politics or through activism in social justice issues... ... The nominees were rated on these criteria: leaving a legacy, building community, affecting lasting change, defying social norms, and serving as a “first” in her field... ... To honor these extraordinary women, WGCU will produce video and audio portraits to air on WGCU TV, WGCU FM and at wgcu.org. WGCU will also feature written portraits in its member magazine, Expressions. WGCU will also produce a television documentary exploring how women have helped to shape our region. The documentary will air in spring 2013 on WGCU-HD in conjunction with the PBS Makers series highlighting trailblazing women... |
So stay tuned in the months ahead for more on this wonderful, and much-deserved, honor. Those of us who have the privilege to know and work closely with Nely are constantly inspired by her courage, her intellect, and her unwavering commitment to justice. We are extremely happy that, through this recognition, her remarkable work will be shared with, and appreciated by, a still wider audience.
And as a special treat as we head into the weekend, we will leave you with one of those awesome moments that Nely has helped create over the years, this a reflection on the occasion of International Women's Day on Day 4 of this year's Fast for Fair Food. Enjoy -- and Congratulations, Nely!
Novemeber 27, 2012
More pics, more video, more media from the Thanksgiving Week of Action!
Brown University students gather for a tour of Stop & Shop stores in the Providence, RI, area, where they met with managers and distributed informational flyers on the Fair Food Program to customers with the headline "We're thankful for the workers who harvest our food. Is Stop & Shop?"
The Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action was so big that, just when we had finally crawled out from under the avalanche of photos and media reports and posted Monday's massive week of action round-up, what did we see hurtling our way? More photo reports, videos, and media stories from more actions across the country, lots more! And so, we present to you the Thanksgiving Week of Action round-up, Part Two...
We begin the second installment of our round-up with this fine bit of video reporting (below) from the formidable crew out in Colorado with Denver Fair Food. As you'll see, what the video may lack in production value (we have gotten mighty spoiled around here lately, what with the epic "Tale of Two Thanksgivings" still drawing crowds), it more than makes up in spirit and creativity:
You can find more video briefs from Albuquerque, NM, and Gainesvile, FL, here and here, respectively.
And speaking of spirit and creativity, the folks at Tampa Bay Fair Food were not about to let a bunch of Coloradans outshine them. So they donned their turkey 
beaks and tails and headed to a local Publix to express their support for the farmworkers who put the food on all our Thanksgiving tables (right).
But perhaps most surprising was the amount of media attention paid to the Thanksgiving actions during a week when media coverage is traditionally quite slow. In the last update we posted many of the news stories that came out around the actions across the country, and today we'd like to share some of the commentary that buzzed around the blogosphere in response to the Thanksgiving actions and video.
Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Director of North American Programs for longtime CIW allies Rabbis for Human Rights North America, wrote an extremely thoughtful article for the Huffington Post which merits an extended excerpt:
"...Farmworkers want real solutions, not charity. As a member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Gerardo Reyes has repeatedly said, 'Why do I spend every day harvesting food for the rest of America and then have to stand in line at a food pantry on Thanksgiving for a plate of food?' There is a solution: an amazing, worker-led organization in Florida called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is bringing transformation and justice to the tomato fields. Their Fair Food Program is grounded in human rights and dignity for farmworkers. Under the Program, retailers (such as major fast food companies and grocery stores) commit to paying an extra "penny a pound" premium for tomatoes directly to the farmworkers (raising their wages without raising costs for growers) and to only buying from growers that have instituted a strict human rights code of conduct in the fields. The first farmers agreed to implement these agreements in 2010, and last year was the first year that the Program was in place in more than 90 percent of Florida's tomato farms. In Immokalee, I hear stories of how the Program is changing lives. One man tells of how he used to get up hours before his children to go to the fields, just to sit unpaid waiting for the work to start. Now, because there are time clocks in the fields that require payment for all hours on the job and which discourage unpaid time in the fields, he leaves later and can see his children in the morning for the first time in their lives. Another man was the subject of both wage theft and a subsequent denial by the grower that he had ever picked tomatoes in those fields. After an investigation by the Fair Food Program, the grower had to acknowledge that he had worked there, and the man walked through the front door of the company to receive his paycheck. Complaints of violence or harassment are taken now serious and investigated, and there are market consequences for failing to appropriately respond to sexual harassment or forced labor. Workers have received over seven million dollars of wage increase through the penny-per-pound pay increase, and they finally have the right to water and shade in the fields. This year, I am thankful the Fair Food Program is making a difference. The Fair Food Program is unique among the various supply chain audits that human rights groups use because it prioritizes the wisdom and experience of the workers themselves in ending abuses in the fields. The workers educate each other about their rights, both under the Program and under American law. They now know there is a confidential way to report abuses that will be taken seriously. This year, I give thanks for the 11 corporations who have already signed Fair Food Agreements, including two -- Trader Joe's and Chipotle -- who have signed in 2012. But many grocery stores have not yet committed to this new day in the tomato fields. For example, in the CIW's home state of Florida, Publix Supermarket has refused to sign a Fair Food Agreement. Publix founder, George Jenkins, said: "Don't let making a profit get in the way of doing the right thing." It is unfortunate that today, when there is such a clear way for Publix to "do the right thing," that Publix has not demonstrated that it values the hard work of farmworkers who make possible the food we share this holiday. They need to hear from us that it is time for that to change. This Thanksgiving, as we thank God for the many people and their hands that produce our food, we can be thankful for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Program. There is a story of real suffering behind our food, but today that story is changing, thanks to the historic partnership among workers and growers and retail purchasers established in the CIW's Fair Food Program." read more |
But Rabbi Rachel was hardly alone. The food blog Inherit the Spoon added:
"This Thanksgiving, the CIW created a video and e-action directed specifically to Publix, one of the major Florida supermarkets that is still refusing to participate in the Fair Food Program. By contrasting the Thanksgiving days of a farmworker and a consumer, they hope the video will show “that we are inextricably linked by our food system and all have a stake in transforming it for the better.” The CIW is circulating a petition to Publix grocery stores, hoping that in addition to the work they do providing meals to impoverished farmworkers around Thanksgiving, they will also take real and permanent action to address the root causes of farmworker poverty." read more |
While over at Civil Eats, another widely-read food blog, they wrote:
“'I’m thankful for all of you,' says the patriarch praising a table of plenty where friends, family, and food take center stage. This scene is the setting of Publix’s several Thanksgiving commercials–like this one–that positions the Florida-based grocery store chain as the oracle of gratitude. He is not only saying grace for the turkey and stuffing, but for all of you as well, because without you, they wouldn’t be able to come together and host such a fine dinner. In fact, they wouldn’t be able to provide for anyone’s Thanksgiving dinner if it weren’t for some key players–the farmers and farmworkers who are vital to a grocery store’s success. These commercials create theater, where food means family and family means Publix. This is a very fine motif, but an incomplete and skewed one... ... To counter this, the campaign is diligently working to break through these barriers of resistance, focusing on Publix’s opposition. As one of the leading buyers of Florida tomatoes, Publix has refused to work with the CIW on any agreement that pays farmworkers a penny more per pound or guarantees fair labor practices. However, Publix’s plans to expand into other states and this could change as communities set terms and conditions that demand that the grocer come to an agreement with the CIW before moving in." read more |
And, ultimately, it comes down to that: Supermarkets will change when communities force them to, and not before. The supermarket industry has had twelve years to heed the call for ethical supply chain standards, and for twelve years supermarket leaders -- not only Publix, but Kroger, Stop & Shop, Giant, and more -- have turned a blind eye to abuses in the fields where they buy their produce. They have made one thing perfectly clear: They will not come to the table willingly, they will only come when enough consumers make their demands for Fair Food heard forcefully enough and widely enough that they have no other choice.
And so it is fitting that we close this update with one more picture from one more community -- Orlando, Florida -- raising its voice during the Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action so that it, too, may be heard among the growing chorus of communities calling for Fair Food:
November 25, 2012
Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action rings in the holiday season in style!
Actions across the country call on Publix, Kroger, and Ahold to get with the Fair Food Program -- now!
Perhaps more than ever before in the 12-year history of the campaign, Thanksgiving this year was a celebration of Fair Food, as consumers and workers joined in actions across the state of Florida and across the nation demanding food justice from the supermarket industry.
First, the stunning video and accompanying change.org electronic petition, "A Tale of Two Thanksgivings," caught the attention of food movement leaders -- including bestselling author Michael Pollan and New York Times food writer Mark Bittman -- and countless consumers, who let Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw know it is time that his company "be part of a proven model to address the root cause of farmworker poverty across Florida, and demonstrate that it values the hard work of farmworkers who make possible the food we share this holiday." If you haven't seen the video or signed the petition yourself yet, you can do so here.
Meanwhile, Fair Food committees from Lakeland, Florida, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, were busy taking the fight to their local supermarkets, with some creative and exciting protests as part of the Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action, and we have the pictures, video, and media reports to prove it!
From a raucous street theater outside a King Soopers (Kroger) store in Denver, Colorado...:
... to an impromptu visit to the produce aisle of a Washington, DC, Giant Food store...:
... to a dance for joy, and food justice, outside of a Publix in Phenix City, Alabama...:
... the action was wild and woolly across the Fair Food nation!
For more pictures, and links to videos and media reports from all the actions, click here.
Thanks to everyone who organized the Thanksgiving week actions, and check back soon for more!
November 23, 2012
What are you waiting for?...
(click on the expand icon -- the four arrows in the bottom right corner -- for
optimal viewing)
Sign the change.org petition today to demand justice from Publix for the workers who pick their tomatoes!
First of all, let us begin by saying that we hope you had a wonderful, and peaceful, Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends (though we assume that the Cowboys, Lions, and Jets fans among the Fair Food Nation might be feeling a little worse for wear today...).
Second, let's get right to business. The holiday gift season has officially begun, so make sure to include farmworkers on your list and sign the Fair Food petition to Publix today! If you haven't signed yet, head over to the change.org petition site and check out the reasons why over 1,000 Fair Food lovers have already signed (you can find the signers' comments at the bottom of the petition page -- definitely take a moment or two to check it out, the comments make a great read).
Now we know you're busy today, so we'll keep this short. But before we sign off, we want to leave you with a selection, below, of the very best comments from the change.org site. That should be all the motivation you need to add your own name to the rolls today (and when you're done, don't forget to share the petition link with your friends!):
Reasons for signing Adele azar-Rucquoi SANFORD, FL Jessica Valenzuela HOLLYWOOD, FL Betty Londergan ATLANTA, GA Lupe Larez NEW YORK, NY Kathy Lancaster LEWISVILLE, TX Susan Taylor PUNTA GORDA, FL Dick Swift YUKON, OK Andrea Trupiano GOODRICH, MI about Diane Barrett LYNDHURST, NJ Anne McCudden LAUDERHILL, FL Shirley Gun RAMROD KEY, FL Tina Michel NEWPORT, KY John-Michael Torres MISSION, TX |
Supporters
November 19, 2012
A Tale of Two Thanksgivings...
(click on the expand icon -- the four arrows in the bottom right corner -- for
optimal viewing)
This holiday season, ask Publix to join us at the Fair Food table...
The holiday season is upon us, which means it's time again to gather around the table with loved ones to celebrate another year of life together, of new beginnings and old friends, of triumphs and of the challenges ahead.
The holiday table unites us, and reminds us that -- no matter how high, or low, our day to day lives may take us -- in the end, we always make our way back to those whom we love the most, and when we are with them, the world feels right.
Love is the essence of the holidays. Love for our parents and their parents, love for our children and their children. Love for our friends, and love for all men and women with whom we share this fragile world. The holiday table reminds us that, in the end, we are all family, and that we can only truly enjoy the bounties that life gives us if we all enjoy them together, as one.
No one knows this better than Publix. Its holiday commercials (right) are a tour de force in touching that place deep inside each of us that loves not just our families and friends, but our fellow man, too, regardless of the divisions that may separate us in our daily lives. Publix commercials never fail to remind us just how much we have to be thankful for, and how powerful an emotion our love can truly be.
But love without goodwill is an empty emotion. And, sadly, the holiday season has become an annual reminder that Publix -- a company founded by a man, George Jenkins, who famously said the words "Don't let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing" -- is a company that has lost its way. Like any family, the families who own and run Publix gather around their holiday tables and reflect on their joys and struggles. For the families who run Publix, among those joys, year after year, are soaring profits. Yet they inexplicably continue to turn their backs on the farmworkers who make those profits possible.
Despite the tremendous strides made by the Fair Food Program in recent years -- progress made possible thanks to tens of thousands of consumers, dozens of Florida tomato growers, and eleven multi-billion dollar food corporations that have joined farmworkers at the Fair Food table -- Publix refuses to do its part to help farmworkers live a dignified life for the backbreaking, essential work they do day in and day out. In the words of the CIW's Lucas Benitez, "Publix doesn't want us at the table. They want us under the table."
No matter what your faith or philosophy, the holiday season is a time to remember that no one was born into this world to suffer, and that, in some real way, the suffering of one diminishes us all. This year, let's remind Publix of the true meaning of love, a love that goes beyond the bottom line and embraces all the people that make up Publix's extended family, including the farmworkers that put food on their shelves and the consumers who ask their favorite grocery store to make that food Fair Food.
To do so, you can click here to sign a change.org petition to Publix today. Ask Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw to ensure that his company "be part of a proven model to address the root cause of farmworker poverty across Florida, and demonstrate that it values the hard work of farmworkers who make possible the food we share this holiday."
Here below is the text of the petition, so take a look and click on the link above to send it to Publix today:
To: Publix Super Markets, Inc. As the holiday season approaches, we pause to spend time with friends and family, give thanks, and reflect on the importance of community. We know that Publix takes pride in giving back to communities across Florida, especially in donating food during the Thanksgiving season. It is true that food insecurity -- as Publix defines, “a condition that arises from a lack of enough income and other resources for food” – is a persistent, sobering reality in our communities. We recognize, as signs hanging in your stores this year state, that local families are going hungry. Indeed, many of these families will enjoy a hearty Thanksgiving meal because of Publix Super Markets Charities and Publix customers’ donations. Paradoxically, many of these Florida families who cannot afford to purchase their own turkey dinners are the very people who harvest the bounty that we celebrate on Thanksgiving Day. Some of these families work hard picking tomatoes, laboring 10+ hour days, six days a week to put food on their – and our – tables. Despite this strenuous work, farmworkers’ pay is often so low that they do not have the resources to adequately provide for their own families. Farmworkers deserve fair pay and dignified working conditions for that hard work. Thankfully, tremendous progress has been made towards these aims through the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program, a historic partnership between farmworkers, 90 per cent of tomato growers in Florida, and 11 major food retailers including McDonald’s, Whole Foods, and most recently Chipotle Mexican Grill. Under the program, major retailers pay a small premium on their tomato purchases, to be passed through to farmworkers by the growers for whom they work, and target their purchases to growers who meet higher human rights standards. Since 2011, the Fair Food Program has distributed over $7 million to workers through the penny-per-pound premium. This money gives farmworkers resources to be able to provide for their families all year round. As we gather for Thanksgiving, we will give thanks for the Fair Food Program and the transformation it has brought to Florida's tomato fields that is dramatically improving farmworkers’ quality of life. We ask you, Publix Super Markets, to deepen your commitment to giving back to the community by joining the Fair Food Program – a real, sustainable solution to food insecurity and poverty in our shared communities. Publix’s participation in the Fair Food Program would dramatically expand its impact. Today, we ask Publix to take the opportunity to be part of a proven model to address the root cause of farmworker poverty across Florida, and demonstrate that it values the hard work of farmworkers who make possible the food we share this holiday. |
Have a happy, and safe, Thanksgiving.
November 15, 2012
The first law of social change dynamics: For every action there is an equal and attendant reflection...
We typically dedicate this space to chronicling the many actions taking place around the country in the Campaign for Fair Food (and, more recently, the many advances taking shape through the Fair Food Program), but today we wanted to do something a little different. Specifically, we wanted to take a peek behind the actions, in this case, to share the very personal reflections of one student -- a young woman studying at Denver's Iliff School of Theology -- who decided to tell the story of her own leap into activism for Fair Food, in the form of a very beautiful poem.
In some ways her poem, and her path to activism, is deeply personal. But in other ways, it is a captivating portrait of the very same movement from reflection to action that sparked the CIW's organizing twenty years ago in Immokalee and continues to fuel the growth of the Campaign for Fair Food on college campuses and community gathering places across the country today.
For two decades, CIW members have built awareness in Immokalee among their fellow workers through the practice of what is often called "popular education". Using drawings, theater, and other forms of art to provoke reflection and dialogue within the community, CIW leaders help other workers examine the root causes of their poverty and address those root causes through thoughtful, informed action. This poem, though born of a very different community, is every bit as powerful, and effective, as any art we have used over the years here in Immokalee. We share it with you today in the hope that its story serves to ignite the spark of activism in others, to, as her professor wrote when sharing it with us, "see her voice extended":
tomatoes. they came. the hungry, the poor, the silenced. they created a community to overthrow. i’m jealous. i crave the brave. they made the hard choice to strike back. no more pesticide low wages broken bodies long hours no healthcare beatings wage too small to live. all for the sake of tomatoes on my taco. i could see the pain, the anguish the despair i felt my heart strings tug and i felt pain i felt a drive. i knew the reason (again) why i was here. i get bogged down in the papers, the reading. but seeing his face and his bucket i felt the fire again. this is the reason why i am here, to do what i could to lend my voice albeit small. to stop the tears, the sickness, the pain. do what i could by raising my voice to pay more for the tomatoes on your burger. let’s march. let’s sit in. let’s yell. let us make our wants heard for dignity and for the ability, as john says, “to live abundantly”. ruminate on that. when you enjoy the tomatoes on your tacos. |
November 12, 2012
"We knocked once and the door was closed..."
Allies from the Unitarian Universalist congregations from across Florida joined farmworkers from Immokalee and their families this past Saturday in Port Charlotte, FL, calling on Publix to not only come to the Thanksgiving table, but to join the 11 corporate buyers at the table of the Fair Food Program.
"... but we will knock again."
In the crisp air of a beautiful fall day in Florida, 70 leaders from 11 Unitarian Universalist congegrations and fellowships gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County for a day of reflection and action. Building off of a summertime Justice General Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona, these leaders spent the day strategizing around how to move forward in their long-standing partnership and collaboration with the CIW.
The day began with a core practice of the Coalition: Popular education. Adapting an oft-used theatre piece for the occasion, CIW staff facilitated a presentation involving two goats, both straining to reach a bowl of food, tied together with not quite enough rope to both reach their bowls simultaneously. After moments of pulling against each other, the two came together, and after some dialogue (much baa-ing), they worked together to eat from one bowl, and then the other. As participants shared their insights, the message became crystal clear: Only by working together can farmworkers and their allies achieve their goals: just wages and dignified work, on the one hand, and a fulfilling spiritual life that follows the call to do justice, on the other.
Beyond building greater collaboration between Floridian UUs, these faith leaders had another objective in mind for the weekend: Show Publix the profound weight of a faith community united behind the Fair Food Program. Joining over 50 farmworkers from Immokalee for a demonstration, the pastors sang and marched in the streets of Port Charlotte, and then ventured across the Publix parking lot for a delegation. The Publix manager's response, even by the low standards we've come to anticipate after three years of a campaign, was disappointing.
After refusing to allow the members of the delegation to introduce themselves and rejecting an offer to step outside to talk, the manager curtly told the pastors, "Get out of my store" -- and proceeded to retreat to her office, closing the door behind her.
The manager's decision to turn her back and close the door on the delegation was a resounding echo of the response of Publix's executives to the call by farmworkers and their faith allies for Florida's largest grocer to support the Fair Food Program. But the delegation, like the Campaign for Fair Food more broadly, remained undaunted by the manager's rejection of their appeal for justice. In the words of the Rev. Amy Kindred of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County said after rejoining the protest: "We knocked once and the door was closed. But we will knock again."
And Fair Food activists across the country will be knocking again soon as we kick off the Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action tomorrow! Check in with us at organize@sfalliance.org for an updated list of actions, and for the resources to plan your own!
November 7, 2012
Publix protest in Ft. Myers, FL portent of things to come in next week's Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action!
This past weekend, dozens of farmworkers from Immokalee and their local Southwest Florida allies joined forces for a spirited protest outside of a brand new Publix store in north Ft. Myers, crashing the grand opening party with a clear, compelling message of economic justice. From the local FOX affiliate, WFTX-TV, report on the protest:
'We are farm workers and we have families,' said Silvia Perez. 'We deserve to be paid a fair amount and also for our rights to be respected.' |
"For more on the exciting protest, definitely take a few moments to check out full story here, including a great video report.
But good as the protest was, it was only a preview of much more to come when the Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action kicks off in earnest next week! Here below is a quick list of the places where actions are already being planned, with more to come in the days ahead:
PUBLIX Sarasota, FL |
KROGER/AHOLD Cincinnati, OH |
This Thanksgiving will truly be one to remember, as Fair Food activists from Florida to California will be taking to the streets to demand justice with their holiday feasts! If you see your city on the list above, or you're interested in organizing a Thanksgiving Week protest in your hometown, contact us at organize@sfalliance.org, and we'll hook you up with other nearby Fair Food activists. Together, you can let your local supermarket know that now is the time to join the Fair Food Program!
November 4, 2012
The real news coming out of Florida's fields today...
Workers learn about their rights under the Fair Food Program during a worker-to-worker education session on an Immokalee area farm. An article in The Atlantic by food writer Barry Estabrook, "Tomato School: Undoing the Evils of the Fields," reports on a recent education session and the impact of the Fair Food Program on the Florida tomato industry, describing the industry's trajectory from "one of the most repressive employers in the country... to being on the road to becoming the most progressive group in the fruit and vegetable industry."
For many years, farmworkers from Immokalee traveled the country speaking with consumers in churches and synagogues, university classrooms and community centers, with one goal – to inform people about the brutal reality of exploitation behind the tomatoes in their tacos, burgers, and produce aisles. And for years, a battle raged between the CIW and the Florida tomato growers over that reality, with workers fighting to expose the truth and growers struggling to keep it under wraps.
While the fighting continued, the conditions only grew worse.
From Conflict to Collaboration in the Fields
But that all changed almost two years ago to the day, when, on November 16th, 2010, the CIW and the FTGE signed an historic agreement to work together to build the Fair Food Program, the CIW’s ambitious plan to harness the power of every major level of the supply chain – from consumers and retail buyers at the top to growers and farmworkers at the bottom – to construct a verifiable, enforceable, and sustainable system for social responsibility.
The shift from antagonism to partnership began when Jon Esformes, Operating Partner of Pacific Tomato Growers, said the following words as his company signed the CIW’s first Fair Food Agreement with a major Florida grower:
“Pacific Tomato Growers (PTG) believes that it is time to speak out publicly about working conditions in agriculture. We along with many other responsible agricultural firms work daily to provide safe and fair working conditions, yet continued abuses within the industry demand that we speak out.” read more |
With those simple words, years of denial came to an end, setting the rest of the Florida tomato industry on an irreversible course toward change. A month later, Reggie Brown (below, second from right) of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange signed a Fair Food Agreement on behalf of over 90% of the Florida tomato growers, saying:
|
“As we move forward, we can be certain that labor complaints will continue to arise in the foreseeable future, but it is how we deal with these complaints in this new partnership that will serve to demonstrate that we are serious and that our approach is working.” read more |
And with that, the transition from conflict to collaboration was complete.
Supermarkets turn their backs on progress
Since that time, the day-to-day, hard work of building the Fair Food Program has dominated the CIW’s efforts on the ground in Florida. With worker-to-worker education sessions in the fields almost daily, a 24-hour complaint line backed by a team of investigators and a tested system for complaint resolution, regular farm office and field audits to measure systems for compliance with the Fair Food Code of Conduct, and market consequences for growers who fail or refuse to comply with the Code, the Fair Food Program is quietly revolutionizing social responsibility in the US produce industry. In the words of a recent op/ed in the Washington Post ("Fair Food Program helps end the use of slavery in the tomato fields"):
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“This Labor Day, like every other day, the world’s most exhausting, dangerous, poorly paid and degrading jobs are being performed by the world’s most impoverished and vulnerable people. But that is not true anymore in Immokalee. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has changed Florida and U.S. agriculture for the better. May their brilliant model flourish and inspire producers, buyers, consumers and workers in every industry where labor slavery persists." read more |
That same article called the Fair Food Program, “one of the great human rights success stories of our day.”
And that is the story -- recognizing that the Fair Food Program is still a work in progress, with much yet to be done to weed out the bad actors and consolidate its gains -- that farmworkers from Immokalee are telling today across the country.
Yet despite the historic advances under way in Florida’s fields -- despite the vibrant and vocal support of consumers, and the participation of eleven major tomato buyers -- supermarkets across the country still refuse to join the Fair Food Program. Instead of doing their part to support this remarkable new partnership, supermarkets are turning their backs. And they are turning their backs not only on the farmworkers who harvest their produce, but also on their customers – and even, in the case of companies like Publix, on their own public claims that “social responsibility is the life blood of our company.”
Giving thanks by taking action for Fair Food
That is why this Thanksgiving, the Fair Food nation is focusing on supermarkets across the United States. In a statement from Just Harvest USA:
"With the Chipotle agreement just weeks ago on the eve of a National Day of Action and a base of support that continues to grow and grow, the Fair Food Movement has a lot to be grateful for.Join the wave of actions building across the country as Fair Food allies plan protests and delegations to call on supermarkets to recognize and give thanks to the farmworkers who provide food for their shelves, and profits for their shareholders, by joining the Fair Food Program.
Write us at organize@sfalliance.org to plan your own action!
November 1, 2012
Rural women play critical role; Food movement rising; Talking poverty... It must be time for a media round-up!
Plus... 2013 Peace Calendar features CIW!
It's that time again. For several weeks now, articles have been piling up about the Campaign for Fair Food, good, compelling articles that, amidst the flurry of actions, tours, and visits to Immokalee that accompany the beginning of the fall season, we haven't had a chance to share.
But we can't let all those great stories gather dust forever, which means it's time for a media round-up! Here below are links and excerpts to three of the top articles from the past few weeks, plus a bonus link to the 2013 Peace Calendar from the Syracuse Cultural Workers, which features the CIW and the Fair Food Program as its image/theme for the month of May (the beautiful photo at the top of this post is the calendar image).
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"Rural women play critical role in development, go unrecognized," VOXXI, 10/16/12
"As in other rural communities around the globe, the role of women is crucial in Immokalee. They not only participate in crop production but they also engage in off-farm activities (from handicrafts to empanadas) to diversify their families’ livelihoods.
Rural women strongly support each other especially in taking care of the children, the elderly and the sick. Rural women who come from migrant families today run most childcare centers, health facilities and charitable organizations operating in the area.
Migrant rural women in Immokalee have also been active in the CIW campaigns against slavery and for fair food. Thanks to their active contribution, in 2005 and after a national campaign, the coalition reached an agreement with Yum! Brand (which controls Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC) for a penny-a-pound increase in the price of tomatoes. Other wholesalers, including Subway and McDonalds signed similar deals.
The agreement also included shorter workdays, portable tents for breaks, reduced exposure to pesticides and worker’s education on rights.
Coming from very poor communities in the Third World country, rural women are used to not having tap water, electricity or even a cement floor in their homes. These migrant women in Immokalee are not very demanding and certainly know to make the best out of scarce resources, but without them the town would not have made any progress." read more
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"The Food Movement Rising," Earth Island Journal, 10/24/12
"Farmworkers’ rights: Farmworkers continue to be among the most poorly paid and exploited workers in our economy and yet, thanks to the hard work and organizing by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), farmworkers in Florida are starting to see wages and working conditions improve through the organization’s Fair Food Program. This month, after six years of campaigning, Chipotle announced it will sign the Coalition’s Fair Food Agreement to respect the rights and dignity of farmworkers by committing to pay a "penny-per-pound" premium for tomatoes to lift farmworker wages and only to buy from farms with fair labor practices." read more
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"Bill Moyers: Talking About Poverty With Greg Kaufmann," billmoyers.com, 10/31/12
"Riley: Who are the visionaries — the people who are thinking creatively and realistically about how to overcome poverty?
Kaufmann: These days, I’m very much drawn to both of the Edelmans — Peter and Marian Wright. I think Angela Glover Backwell is a powerful speaker with a clear vision. I love what Witnesses to Hunger is doing — women in poverty using photographs and their own testimonials to advocate for change at the local, state and federal levels. I’ve been following the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for about five years now, and I’m constantly astounded by what they are achieving with farmworkers — and the collective way in which they go about their work. I’m inspired every day by advocacy groups like Half in Ten, the Coalition on Human Needs, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, who are constantly pointing out the priorities and choices we are making and what a difference they make in people’s lives, for better or worse. And then there are the thinkers — at places like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, EPI, CEPR, CLASP, Urban Institute — I could really go on and on. But again, I’m determined at this point to really speak as much as possible with people living in poverty. The three students I talked to last month who have dealt with poverty inspired me as much as anyone in the past year." read more
And, last but not least, it's never too early to order your 2013 calendar, so head over to the Syracuse Cultural Workers website now and order your copy of the 2013 Peace Calendar, where -- along with months celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington -- the last month of spring greets you with this inspiring message:
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October 30, 2012
Get ready for the big Thanksgiving Week of Supermarket Action,
Nov. 14-21!
Publix's Pilgrim salt shaker, shown here standing next to a bag of Publix's store label Fair Trade coffee, is ready to hit the streets to protest Publix's hypocrisy, are you?
Thanksgiving is the time of year when our thoughts turn to family, football, and the wonderful, abundant feast that marks the start of the holiday season. But in Immokalee, and across the country, farmworkers and their allies in the Campaign for Fair Food have another tradition, as we pause to remember the hard work and sacrifices of the men and women whose undervalued labor has put food on Thanksgiving tables for generations.
Thanksgivings past have brought us many holiday treats through the years, including a critical reflection on the two faces of Publix ("Publix vs. Publix"), a community-wide festival in Immokalee, and even a rare appearance by Rolando the Clown at the famous Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade.
This Thanksgiving will truly be one to remember, however, as Fair Food activists from Florida to California will be taking to the streets in a Thanksgiving Week of Action! If you're interested in organizing or joining a Thanksgiving Week protest in your hometown, contact us at organize@sfalliance.org, and we'll hook you up with other nearby Fair Food activists. Together, you can let your local supermarket know that now is the time to join the Fair Food Program!
In the meantime, here are a couple of things to get you in the mood. First, this past Wednesday, October 24th, the CIW joined the festivities celebrating Food Day, "a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food." While some CIW members were in Boston taking part in Food Day activities there, back here in Immokalee we co-hosted a national "twitter conference" on sustainable food. Here below is a sampling of some of the thought-provoking tweets that emerged from that conversation, all in response to the question: Why is it important for farmworkers to be a part of the vision for a more sustainable food system?:
Dawn Brighid @dbrighid Food Alliance @foodalliance Dawn Brighid @dbrighid TomikoP @TomikoP ChildrenintheFields @CIFCampaign |
And we close this update with a look back at a story from two Thanksgivings past, the CBS News video "Harvest of Shame: 50 Years Later," just the ticket for gearing up for next month's big Week of Action. The first "Harvest of Shame" aired 52 years ago on the day after Thanksgiving, shocking the nation with the first in-depth report from the fields of Florida in the modern media era. This look at the original documentary in light of today's conditions, and most importantly, in light of the historic advances under the CIW's Fair Food Program, is a stark reminder of the urgent need for supermarkets like Publix, Kroger, and Ahold (parent company to the supermarket chains Stop & Shop and Giant) to get on board and do their part to help improve farmworker wages and working conditions.
So, check out the video below, contact us organize@sfalliance.org for details on an action near you, and get ready for a Fair Food Thanksgiving!
October 26, 2012
FIU students take matters into their own hands, send Publix personal appeals to join Fair Food Program...
It's always an eye-opening experience when people learn about the history of exploitation and abuse in Florida's fields, about the unbroken decades of degradation faced by generations of Florida farmworkers.
It's even more of an eye-opener when they learn that there is finally a real solution to those decades of poverty and abuse, yet, despite this new hope for long overdue farm labor justice, their favorite supermarket chain, Florida's own Publix, refuses to do its part to change history.
It's a reaction that we have seen too many times to count over the past several years. But this week, students at Florida International University in Miami put a personal twist on their indignation following a visit to campus by the CIW, and we thought you might enjoy seeing a sample of the results. Student after student picked up a dry erase board that happened to be in the area and had their pictures taken with hand-written messages for Publix. In doing so, they joined growing numbers of Publix customers who have lost patience with the company over its inexplicable refusal to participate in the CIW's Fair Food Program.
The Fair Food Program, entering its third season in operation this November, combines a code of conduct (forged over several years in a unique collaboration among workers, buyers, growers, and consumers) with an oversight program that monitors and enforces the code through worker-to-worker education, a protected complaint investigation and resolution process, regular farm office and field audits, and market consequences for failure to comply the most comprehensive, verifiable, and sustainable program for social responsibility in US agriculture today.
So, without further ado, we present to you the thoughts, hopes, and demands of FIU students as expressed in notes to Publix:
October 23, 2012
Southern Foodways Alliance selects Greg Asbed of the CIW as winner of the 2012 John Egerton Prize for advancing civil rights in the South "through the lens of food"...
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A whole hog is prepared for conference participants by conference participants for Saturday night's feast as part of the SFA's 2012 Symposium on southern barbecue. |
Award presented as part of SFA's 2012 Symposium on the many splendors of -- and cultural, social, and economic significance of -- barbecue!
Some people just love barbecue. Then there are the people of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA).
The Atlantic Monthly's Corby Kummer described the SFA as “this country’s most intellectually engaged (and probably most engaging) food society.” And nowhere is that engagement more profound than when it comes to the discussion and consumption of that premier icon of southern food culture, barbecue.
Except maybe when it comes to that other abiding theme of the southern story, civil rights. And so it was that when the theme of this year's SFA symposium was to be barbecue, and the intersection of southern socio-political culture with barbecue, the symposium was sold out in 12 minutes.
This past weekend, 400 fortunate souls gathered in Oxford, Mississippi, for the 2012 Symposium, and the very first panel on the agenda, entitled "The Politics of Protein and Tomatoes," featured CIW member Greg Asbed, together with Georgia cattleman Will Harris and restaurateur Nick Pihakis. They discussed the hidden costs of a food system that focuses on producing cheap food and various paths toward producing sustainable, and affordable, food that protects the people, animals, and environmental elements that go into its production.
Later that evening, Greg Asbed was presented the 2012 John Egerton Prize (above, Greg is shown speaking after receiving the award), a prize created in honor of John Egerton's "work in chronicling and championing the cause of civil rights in America, and for his contribution to our understanding of the power of the common table." The prize recognizes:
"artists, writers, scholars, and others--including artisans and farmers and cooks--whose work, in the American South, addresses issues of race, class, gender, and social and environmental justice, through the lens of food." |
By the end of the CIW's stay in Oxford, one thing had made itself abundantly clear: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Southern Foodways Alliance are not only neighbors, but nearly kin, with the same analysis and vision for a more just food system driving our work and the same joy of collaboration and spirit of community animating our actions. Against the otherwise barren backdrop of progressive food movement organizing in this country's south, this new alliance, born this past weekend in a celebration of barbecue and food justice, will almost certainly stand tall in the years ahead as we continue our mutual work to build a better food system that respects human rights, not exploits human beings.
Many thanks to the SFA for this wonderful honor, and here's to many more days of working -- and playing -- together to come.
October 18, 2012
Rabbis for Human Rights -- North America return to Immokalee, produce aisle at Publix, to lend voices to growing call for Fair Food!
Longtime readers of this site recognize the name Rabbis for Human Rights -- North America. In a relatively short time RHR-NA has become one of the most steadfast and active allies in the Campaign for Fair Food. From pray-ins at Publix, to open letters to Trader Joes and protests at Stop & Shop, RHR-NA has been anywhere and everywhere the campaign has gone to demand Fair Food in the past two years.
This deep commitment is founded on a growing connection between the community of Immokalee and the members of RHR-NA, fed by a series of visits to Immokalee by delegations of rabbis from around the country who spend several days in town in dialogue with CIW members and in prayerful study of the forces at play behind farmworker exploitation. This week a new delegation was in town, and we have a report on their visit, including a trip to a local Publix store (pictured above), from the people at Interfaith Action, who help organize the visits:
"This week, the indefatigable Rabbis for Human Rights-North America returned to Immokalee with seven more rabbis from across the country, from neighboring Fort Myers to Philly and NYC, to learn about the dramatic advances in Florida's fields and to plan efforts to endear Kroger's, Giant, Stop & Shop and Publix to join the growing partnership. They dug in deep, spending three days learning the extraordinary tale Immokalee has to tell from workers, enthusiastic growers, and the Fair Food Standards Council. Less than twenty-four hours had passed before the rabbis had determined that they needed to take their voices to Publix. And so they did just that: they walked into a Bonita Springs Publix, surrounded the tomato aisle and joined together in a melodic Niggun (a wordless harmony). While some rabbis spoke to those purchasing tomatoes of Publix's erosion of the long-awaited Fair Food Program, effectively convincing the shoppers to join them, others offered words and prayers of hope that Florida's supermarket giant would, someday soon, see the light. At the visit's closing, after each rabbi had laid out plans for their congregation's involvement in the campaign, Rabbi Eric Soloman of Raleigh, NC relayed to the others that he had concluded to explain this week's Torah portion, the story of Noah and the ark, to his congregation a bit differently this Friday. As the tale goes, God destroyed a corrupt world in the hopes of building a righteous creation in its place. Rabbi Eric plans to pronounce that there indeed exists a place of such transformation, where an unjust world of human rights abuses in the fields has been washed away, a system of partnership and dignity erected in its place. It's called Immokalee. |
This powerful new alliance for fundamental human rights has already borne fruit in the short time since it began in 2011. We are looking forward to much more success in our work together for food justice in the years ahead!
October 15, 2012
CIW, allies join forces in Miami to protest Publix, School of the Americas, in support of human rights!
More Publix actions in the pipeline...
All too many CIW members came to this country years ago fleeing widespread political oppression in their home countries at the hands of military dictators and their subordinates who had one thing in common -- they were trained at the School of the Americas (SOA), an infamous military training facility located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia. The SOA boasts a long track record of graduates responsible for brutal human rights violations in CIW member home countries including Haiti, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Because of this deep connection, and because the struggle for human rights is without borders, the CIW has joined with members of the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) for nearly a decade in their untiring efforts to end human rights abuses throughout Latin America. This past weekend in Miami was no exception, as CIW members and their families joined SOAW members for a march in Miami (the young man pictured above is carrying a cross bearing the name of a young victim of political oppression), then continued from there, with the support of the SOAW marchers, to a march on a Miami-area Publix store that stretched a full city block:
There are many more Publix protests in the weeks ahead, including a picket at the grand opening of the Dunedin Publix (902 Curlew Rd) this coming Thursday morning, Oct 18th, at 7:30 AM. We'll be there bright and early for the ribbon cutting, so don't miss it!
You can contact us for more details on how you can join us at the Dunedin picket, and other Publix protests in the month of October, at workers@ciw-online.org.
October 12, 2012
Denver Fair Food wastes no time in making the pivot...
Ask not for whom the bell tolls in Denver, King Soopers (aka Kroger), it tolls for you!
All is decidedly not quiet on the western front in the fight for food justice!
Just days after last week's big announcement that the CIW had reached a Fair Food agreement with Chipotle, the incredible crew at Denver Fair Food is back in the street, taking its message to local grocery giant King Soopers (one of two brands in the Rocky Mountain region owned by Kroger, the other being City Market).
From the examiner.com ("Chipotle signs Fair Food Agreement, is Kroger next?", 10/9/12):
"Protests for Chipotle’s Cultivate festival at City Park in Denver were cancelled due to Chipotle’s recent alliance with the CIW. Instead, on Saturday October 7, 2012, The CIW and protesters gathered outside of the King Soopers on 9th and Corona to ask Kroger (King Soopers parent company) to follow Chipotle and become the 12th corporation along with McDonald’s, Burger King, and Whole Foods to sign the Fair Food Agreement. Oscar Otzoy and Gerardo Reyes from the CIW along with members from the Student Farmworker Alliance, Denver Fair Food, and Reverend Mary from Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church reported that they delivered a letter to the manager of King Soopers asking them to join the FFP." |
Robert McGoey, a longtime stalwart of the Campaign for Fair Food in Denver, spoke about the significance of the agreement with Chipotle and the next chapter in the campaign for Denver Fair Food:
"(The Chipotle agreement) is a reminder that grassroots organizing between conscientious consumers and farmworkers has the power to shape our food system for the better. We... can take an active role in creating the world we want to see. Now it is time for the country's massive supermarket chains to join the Fair Food Program. Here in Denver we'll be calling on Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain and owner of the local King Soopers brand, to join." read more |
If what's past is indeed prologue, the time has come for King Soopers to stop stalling and join the Fair Food Program! There will undoubtedly be much more to come from Denver Fair Food, so we, for one, will be keeping an eye turned to the west in the weeks and months ahead.
And with that we will give the final word of this update to the fine people of Denver, Colorado, graphic style:
October 10, 2012
Food Sovereignty Prize tonight in NYC!
If you're an NYC Fair Food activist, don't miss this big night, with the CIW, three incredible grassroots organizations fighting for food justice, Tom Morello, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and much more -- and it's open to the public!
Tonight is the big night in New York City for the gala Food Sovereignty Award ceremony, and if you live in the city and care about food justice, you're definitely not going to want to miss it!
This year’s Food Sovereignty Prize Ceremony will be held in New York City on October 10, 2012, at 7 PM in the Diker Pavilion of the National Museum of the American Indian featuring the 2012 Honorees and other special guests. The event is free and open to the public.
You can find more on the event here. And you can click here to register to attend.
Grist.org has a great story about this year's prize, entitled "These grassroots heroes are fighting for food democracy". Here's an excerpt:
"The award originated at the grassroots just like the groups it honors. Siena Chrisman of WhyHunger, the organization hosting the prize, explains that the idea for it came about in 2009 when the nonprofit Community Food Security Coalition held its annual meeting (a gathering that draws several hundred people from around the progressive food world) in Des Moines, Iowa. It just so happened that the World Food Prize was being awarded in Des Moines the same weekend. The World Food Prize, Chrisman explains, “really focuses on the industrial agriculture model” – rewarding individuals who have made technological innovations in line with Norman Borlaug’s “green revolution,” which introduced the type of high-yield, disease-resistant crops often credited with both alleviating third-world hunger on a mass scale and ushering in the era of pesticide-reliant monocrops. “We felt like we needed to have some kind of response,” Chrisman says. “The Food Sovereignty Prize is very focused on organizations and communities. We believe solutions to community problems come from the ground up.” |
The CIW is one of this year's four honorees, which include top honoree the Korean Women's Peasant Association, as well as the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement of Sri Lanka and the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan Region in Honduras. It should be quite the night, so check it out if you are lucky enough to live in NYC!
October 7, 2012
More Chipotle agreement coverage as the blogosphere weighs in...
"As business after business recognizes the worth of this agreement, perhaps it will inspire even more to follow suit."
Last week's agreement with Chipotle struck a very large nerve in the country's food movement, driving coverage and commentary on the news throughout the extensive world of food blogs and food industry news outlets. There are a lot of stories to catch up on, so, without further ado, here is your Chipotle agreement media round-up, part two, with all the links and an occasional excerpt:
Oct. 5th
Democracy Now: "Chipotle Signs Fair Food Agreement with Coalition of Immokalee Workers"
Huffington Post: "Chipotle, CIW Finally Reach Accord to Support Florida Tomato Pickers' Right"
fooddigital.com: "Chipotle Signs Contract with Coalition of Immokalee Workers"
"While any time would be a good time for Chipotle to sign on with the CIW’s Fair Food Program, the timing of this agreement is especially visceral in that it comes right before the onset of the winter growing season when most of the tomatoes used in the United States start coming from Florida’s vast tomato farms. While the impact of Chipotle’s induction into the program remains to be seen, any chance to shine a light on this issue, improve the lives of farm workers, and elevate the industry as a whole is immensely valuable. As business after business recognizes the worth of this agreement, perhaps it will inspire even more to follow suit." read more |
ecocentricblog.org: "Now With More Integrity -- Chipotle Signs on to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Fair Food Program"
"In a world where change comes slowly and deals are often made by powerful players behind closed doors, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ successes are a bright shining light, proof that people — and corporations — can make real progress toward a more truly sustainable future." read more |
grist.org: "Finally! Chipotle Signs Deal to Pay Tomato Pickers More"
takepart.com: "Your Burrito Just Got More Ethical: Chipotle Commits to Fair Wages for Farmworkers"
"... Chipotle's decision comes just in time: Winter months are prime tomato-growing season in Florida, where most of the nation's tomatoes are grown. For farmworkers there who toil in substandard conditions, this is a step forward on a slow path toward a fair food system for all." read more |
csahewitt.com: "Another Win for Fair Farming! Chipotle Sidles up to the Coalition for Immokalee Workers!"
sustainablefoodnews.com: "Chipotle Signs Fair Wage Labor Agreement with Florida Tomato Pickers"
Oct. 6th
tarantarist.com: "Chef Jose Duarte and Taranta Staff at Starchefs ICC2012 Congress"
"We believe that as restaurant professionals this is exactly our job. There is no food without farmworkers and there is no sustainable food without fair treatment of farmworkers. This is a human rights issue that is much affected by how we act within our industry. We would like to believe that our efforts sharing this story with the chef community has paid off. On Thursday afternoon Chipotle chairman Steve Ells signed the Fair Food Agreement with representatives of the CIW. We are happy that such an important company in our industry is now an ally in this cause. The battle is far from over but this week has showed great strides." - Chef Jose Duarte read more |
Oct. 7th
qsrmagazine.com: "Chipotle Signs Agreement with CIW to Join Fair Food Program"
analisfirstamendment.com: "Stop & Shop: Please Work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers"
"Hopefully many of you in the New England area, especially those of you who are food bloggers, or just concerned people, will make your voices heard to Stop + Shop. Those of you who live in places where the other targeted supermarkets are located, please do the same. We can make a difference if we all act together." read more |
October 5, 2012
Chipotle agreement media round-up!
Plus: What's it all mean for the Fair Food Program and the Good Food Movement?
Despite the late hour of yesterday's news out of Denver, coverage of the Chipotle agreement is flying fast and furious. In the interest of keeping up with the flow, here below are links to some of the early returns:
- "Chipotle signs fair food agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers," examiner.com
- "Mexican food chain latest to join Fair Food Program," Ft. Myers News-Press
- "Food Justice Victory: Chipotle Signs Agreement With Coalition of Immokalee Workers," Common Dreams
- "Farmworker coalition signs Chipotle to higher-wage agreement for tomato pickers," Naples Daily News
- "Chipotle signs agreement to improve conditions for workers," Denver Post
Most of the initial coverage stuck mainly to the fact that an agreement was reached, without getting into an analysis of the significance of the agreement for the food movement or farm labor justice more broadly. One exception was the examiner.com, which opened its coverage by placing yesterday's events this broader context:
"In the fight for fair labor practices in the U.S. food industry, grass-roots organizing by conscientious consumers has been taking an increasing role. A case in point is today, when Chipotle Mexican Grill signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to become the 11th large food retailer to join the coalition's Fair Food Program. For decades, farm laborers in Florida have harvested tomatoes and other fresh produce for stagnant, sub-poverty wages, under harsh working conditions. The CIW's advocacy begins at the top of the food supply chain, with consumers who demand that large food retailers source their produce only from growers who pay fair wages and treat their workers in accordance with national and international human rights standards..." read more |
The full significance of the Chipotle agreement is still to unfold, but a few things can be safely said even at this early juncture.
First, the Fair Food Program -- which combines a code of conduct (forged over several years in a unique collaboration among workers, buyers, growers, and consumers) with an oversight program that monitors and enforces the code through worker-to-worker education, a protected complaint investigation and resolution process, regular farm office and field audits, and market consequences for failure to comply -- is already the most comprehensive, verifiable, and sustainable program for social responsibility in US agriculture today.
Adding Chipotle's full support and partnership to that mix, given its leadership in so many other fields of sustainable agriculture, will only make the Fair Food Program, and the Florida tomato industry as a whole, stronger.
Second, it is no secret that the sustainable food movement in this country has had something of a blind spot when it comes to farm labor. Way back in 2008, Eric Schlosser penned an article for The Nation on the first Slow Food gathering in San Francisco. Entitled "Slow Food for Thought," Schlosser's piece found the movement to be falling well short of its own goals, as expressed by the Slow Food movement's charismatic founder Carlo Petrini, when it comes to labor and human rights:
"At the heart of Petrini's Slow Food philosophy is a set of fundamental values that aim to distance its celebration of pleasure from mindless decadence. According to the Slow Food trinity, food must be 'good, clean, and fair.' The 'good' refers to taste; the 'clean,' to local, organic, sustainable means of production; and 'fair,' to a system committed to social justice... ... The first Slow Food Nation partly fulfilled (this) broad agenda. It earned high marks for the good and the clean but next time could do a hell of a lot better with the fair. At the moment, the majority of Americans--ordinary working people, the poor, people of color--do not have a seat at this table. The movement for sustainable agriculture has to reckon with the simple fact that it will never be sustainable without these people." read more |
Again, given its position in the sustainable food world, there can be little doubt that Chipotle's embrace of the Fair Food Program's core principles will help move the entire food movement in the right direction on workers and human rights.
Finally, for those supermarket companies and restaurant chains that are still desperately trying to avoid joining the Fair Food Program -- from Publix, Kroger and their kin in the grocery industry to restaurant stragglers like Wendys and the Florida-based Darden Restaurants -- Chipotle's decision to partner with the CIW and Florida tomato growers in the Fair Food Program sends a powerful message. As the examiner.com article says at the top of its story:
"In the fight for fair labor practices in the U.S. food industry, grass-roots organizing by conscientious consumers has been taking an increasing role." read more |
The 21st century supermarket or restaurant company no longer has the luxury of distancing itself from the sins of its supply chain. The connection between those often gross inequities and consumers is nearly instant in this age of communication, and the channels feeding that connection are growing every day.
In the case of the Florida tomato industry and the remarkably encouraging changes already underway due to the Fair Food Program, it is not so much the sins of their suppliers that will tarnish the supermarkets and restaurant companies that refuse to participate. Rather, it will be their own sin of refusing to support the groundbreaking progress spearheaded by the Fair Food Program that will, with every passing day, haunt them as the rest of the food industry -- along with many of their better informed customers -- slowly, but surely, passes them by.
October 4, 2012
BREAKING NEWS:
Chipotle signs agreement with CIW to join Fair Food Program!
From left to right, the CIW's Oscar Otzoy, Chipotle's Chris Arnold, and the CIW's Gerardo Reyes, joined in the background by student and faith allies, at today's signing ceremony at Chipotle's Denver headquarters.
From the joint press release:
(Note: With the signing of today's agreement, all plans for this weekend's
action in Denver are CANCELLED)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Chris Arnold Gerardo Reyes CHIPOTLE SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH CIW DENVER, October 4, 2012 – Chipotle Mexican Grill and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker-based human rights organization, have reached an agreement that brings Chipotle’s commitment to sustainable food to the CIW’s Fair Food Program. The agreement, which will improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers in Florida who pick tomatoes for Chipotle, comes in advance of the winter tomato-growing season, when most of the nation’s tomatoes come from growers in Florida. The Fair Food Program provides a bonus for tomato pickers to improve wages and binds growers to protocols and a code of conduct that explicitly include a voice for workers in health and safety issues, worker-to-worker education on the new protections under the code, and a complaint resolution procedure which workers can use without fear of retaliation. The Program also provides for independent third party audits to ensure compliance. “With this agreement, we are laying down a foundation upon which we all – workers, growers, and Chipotle – can build a stronger Florida tomato industry for the future,” said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “But more than this, today’s news marks a turning point in the sustainable food movement as a whole, whereby, thanks to Chipotle’s leadership, farmworkers are finally recognized as true partners -- every bit as vital as farmers, chefs, and restaurants -- in bringing ‘good food’ to our tables.” “Chipotle has an unmatched track record driving positive change in the nation's food supply and is continuously working to find better, more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients we use — sources that produce food in ways that demonstrate respect for the land, farm animals, and the people involved,” said Chris Arnold, communications director at Chipotle. “We believe that this agreement underscores our long-standing commitment to the people who produce the food we serve in our restaurants.” Chipotle becomes the 11th company to join the CIW’s Fair Food Program, which is designed to create a sustainable tomato industry through respect for the rights and concerns of all involved. The Fair Food Premium paid by participating buyers like Chipotle is used to help participating growers improve wages and working conditions for Florida farmworkers. ****************** About Chipotle About CIW
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Again, with this agreement, all plans for this weekend's action in Denver are CANCELLED.
There will be much more on this developing story in the days ahead, so check back again soon!
