 SUSTAINABLE FOOD MOVEMENT EMBRACES CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR FOOD!... Food justice pioneer Frances Moore Lappe and many more endorse the Alliance for Fair Food; CIW to address upcoming Slow Food Nation gathering!
New endorsements are flooding into the Alliance for Fair Food, the network of human rights, religious, student, labor, sustainable food, environmental and grassroots organizations who work in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
New AFF endorsements include such sustainable food leaders as author and activist Frances Moore Lappe ("Diet for a Small Planet") and her daughter Anna Lappe, leading food blogs ethicurean.com and grist.org, and top NGO's including Food & Water Watch, the
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, the
People's Grocery, and CATA (Centro de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas), whose visionary work through the Agricultural Justice Project has obliged the sustainable food movement to confront the issue of farmworker exploitation, even on organic and small-scale farms.
For the full list of endorsements, go to the Alliance for Fair Food website now!
And in the coming week (August 28-31), the CIW will plunge headlong into the Sustainable Food movement with a keynote panel at the massive Slow Food Nation gathering in San Francisco. The panel, part of the "Food for Thought Speaker Series," is entitled "A New, Fair Food System," and will feature Lucas Benitez from the CIW. Long-time CIW friend Eric Schlosser will be moderating the panel.
What will the CIW's message be?
 Well... Chipotle is a company that prides itself on its efforts to "revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food." Yet for more than two years, the CIW has sought to work with Chipotle -- the self-proclaimed leader in "food with integrity" -- to improve the unconscionable wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. And for more than two years, Chipotle has sought to distance itself at every turn from the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, seemingly content to hide in the shadows of larger companies as the Campaign for Fair Food focused on McDonald's and then Burger King.
You can be sure that part of our message will be to introduce thousands of food activists from around the country to the ugly reality of farmworker exploitation that Chipotle would prefer that its customers, and its friends in the world of sustainable agriculture, simply ignore. In fact, why wait until next week? Here's some reading you can start now:
Click here to see a recent article from The Nation on the glaring contradiction behind Chipotle's food, entitled "Want Some Basic Human Dignity with that Burrito?"
And click here to read our own analysis of the fast-food leader's growing "Chipocrisy." See you in San Francisco!
 FAIR FOOD NATION TURNS UP HEAT ON CHIPOTLE!... More than one hundred students converge on Chipotle HQ in Denver!
August 13, 2008: From the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) website:
"This past Friday, members of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) joined local Denver residents for a rousing action at Chipotle headquarters in the Mile-High City, demanding that Chipotle live up to its own much-lauded "Food With Integrity" mantra and meet with the CIW.
Following the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign, this action served as (yet another) wake-up call to Chipotle that it can no longer skirt responsibility and that our campaign in solidarity with farmworkers will only escalate until it comes to the table. This message was made explicit by this letter, delivered by a delegation of representatives from several national and local organizations."
Check out the excellent photo report on the SFA site from the exciting action and while you're there, you can look into plans for the SFA's upcoming 2008 Encuentro, the annual gathering of student and youth Fair Food activists from around the country for a weekend of planning and analysis in Immokalee!
Additional Resources: You can tell Chipotle that it's time to help improve farm labor conditions, too, with this Manager's letter, perfect for delivery to your local Chipotle restaurant.
And for more context on the history of the relationship between the Campaign for Fair Food and Chipotle, you can read a great article from The Nation ("Want Some Basic Human Dignity with that Burrito?," 7/29/08) and take a minute to read this Scholars' letter to Steve Ells, penned by 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars questioning Chipotle's commitment to human rights.
Stay tuned in the weeks ahead, as the pressure continues to build for the fast-food industry's "sustainable food leader."
Media scrutiny grows as students plan major August protest at Chipotle headquarters.
July 29, 2008: For more than two years, the CIW has sought to work with Chipotle -- the self-proclaimed leader in "food with integrity" -- to improve the unconscionable wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. And for more than two years, Chipotle has sought to distance itself at every turn from the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, seemingly content to hide in the shadows of larger companies as the Campaign for Fair Food focused on McDonald's and then Burger King. However in the aftermath of the CIW's recent agreement with world's second largest burger chain, Chipotle finds itself increasingly isolated as public outcry intensifies.
The Nation joined the growing refrain today with a hard-hitting article entitled, "Chipotle Hypocrisy." It begins:
"In recent years, Taco Bell and Burger King have foolishly resisted efforts by activists to marginally raise the piece rate they pay tomato pickers only to eventually buckle under the pressure of well-deserved bad press. Chipotle Mexican Grill seems to have learned nothing from their lessons.
Although Chipotle, the expanding Colorado-based restaurant chain formerly owned by McDonald's, touts its fair treatment of animals and its locally-sourced organic avocados, its colorful, interactive website neglects any mention of the fair treatment of farm workers. While CEO Steve Ells boasts about his 'Food With Integrity' brand, he has ignored countless letters and petitions from all over the country, asking for an extra penny per pound for his tomato pickers." Read the article here
Meanwhile, the Naples Daily News reports that, "hundreds of members from United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) will be in Denver during the group's three-day conference and they plan to visit Chipotle's corporate headquarters on Aug. 8 to demand that the restaurant chain work with the Coalition to ensure fairer wages and a comprehensive code of conduct." The protest is the first of several upcoming actions in the fast-food chain's backyard and a hint of things to come as students prepare to return to their campuses nationwide. Read the full article: "CIW brings its tomato demands to Chipotle, Subway and Whole Foods," (7/25).
And just a few days earlier, the Bradenton Herald chimed in with its own coverage: "Workers group targets Chipotle," (7/22).
More clearly than ever, Chipotle stands at a crossroads. The company faces a choice between its continued defense of an abhorrent status quo, on the one hand, or meaningful partnership for sustainable change in Florida's fields, on the other. Given the company´s self-proclaimed commitment to "food with integrity," the choice should be obvious, yet Chipotle continues to stall. While Chipotle hesitates, the patience of farmworkers and consumers alike grows wearier with each passing day.
Resources: You can tell Chipotle that it's time to help improve farm labor conditions, too, with this Manager's letter, perfect for delivery to your local Chipotle restaurant.
And for more context on the history of the relationship between the Campaign for Fair Food and Chipotle, take a minute to read this Scholars' letter to Steve Ells, penned by 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars questioning Chipotle's commitment to human rights.
Fasten your seatbelts... looks like things might start to get bumpy for the fast-food industry's "sustainable food leader."
Sustainable food world starting to take a closer look
at the fast-food company that claims to sell "food with integrity"...
July 17, 2008: The blogosphere is turning against the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the fast-food industry, Chipotle Mexican Grill, as its marketing claims come under increasing scrutiny.
Meanwhile, more than 400 people attending the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)'s annual General Assembly sign an open letter to Chipotle's Steve Ells, calling on the company's CEO to help, "hasten the day when farmworkers enjoy the human rights they deserve and consumers have the confidence that the food they purchase promotes human well-being."
"Grist," a leading blog for environmental news and commentary, recently ran a post entitled, "Chipotle grilled: When will the conscientious burrito giant pay up for less exploitative tomatoes?" Here's an excerpt:
"Chipotle Grill has received a lot of good press over its efforts to support local food systems in the areas where it operates.
Even I've gotten into the act. In a post back in March, I reported on a conversation I had had with a Chipotle PR person:
I told her that as long as Chipotle was committed to paying a fair price to farmers -- and not merely using them them for marketing leverage -- I thought the company could play a constructive role in a nationwide transition to a truly sustainable ag. We'll see.
Well, not so fast... Chipotle has refused to sign on to a deal to pay an extra penny per pound for tomatoes from Florida, where farmworkers toil under brutal conditions for sub-poverty wages...
If Chipotle is at all serious about its pledge to serve "food with integrity," it will stop dickering around and pay up in Florida." Read the post here
The Grist post referred to another excellent opinion posted on "The Pump Handle," a popular public health blog, entitled, "Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” ignores tomato pickers." The post asks some hard questions of Chipotle's CEO Ells:
"Two years ago, the CIW asked Chipotle’s Chairman and CEO Steve Ells to follow the example taken now by the world’s three largest fast-food companies to improve the low-wages paid and dire working conditions faced by tomato pickers. To date, Chipotle’s executives have evaded the call and their “Food with Integrity” philosophy doesn’t translate to the plight of farmworkers." Read the post here
 And finally, as mentioned above, on June 27th, 433 attendees at the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in San Jose wrote to the Chipotle's Ells, urging him to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers now, to improve poverty wages and exploitative working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida. Their letter reads in part:
"As followers of Jesus Christ, who announced good news to the poor and freedom for the oppressed, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) endeavors to witness clearly about the forces that exploit our human family as well as about those actions that help to heal the brokenness of our world. For many years the PC(USA) has been a partner with the farmworkers in calling upon the fast-food and grocery industry to do their part
to end these terrible conditions.
Burger King, McDonald’s and Yum! Brands corporations have all made agreements with the CIW farmworkers that are advancing human rights for farmworkers. These companies have taken reasonable steps to address the grievous exploitation which their high-volume/low-cost purchasing practices have helped to create. We urge your company to embrace the principles found in these agreements within your own supply chain."
Click here to go to the PC(U.S.A.)'s website, where you can download the letter in its entirety.
 Two more Florida papers weigh in on the Campaign for Fair Food and the need for change in Florida's fields...
The St. Petersburg Times and the Orlando Sentinel joined the growing discussion on the abysmal conditions facing Florida's farmworkers and the campaign to bring fair wages and humane treatment to the state's fields.
In Sunday's St. Petersburg Times, Bill Maxwell, one of the state's most respected editorialists, wrote:
"Some deeds and practices define our individual and shared morality. When, for example, we turn our backs on the cruel treatment of farmworkers, we are complicit in inhumanity and are acting immorally."
His op/ed, entitled "Eating that tomato can put you in moral peril," reviewed Florida's shameful string of six agricultural slavery prosecutions in the past decade and quoted at length the Rev. Aaron McEmrys, a Unitarian Universalist from California who spoke at a recent seminar on farmworker exploitation in Ft. Lauderdale. Here's an excerpt:
"We all agree that slavery is an abomination — a sin — a crime against humanity. And yet this kind of oppression is exactly what the people who pick our tomatoes have to live with every day. The tomatoes that nourish our bodies and add flavor to so many of our meals come with a price tag. They come at the cost of human dignity, human freedom. Once we know this, we have some real choices to make: We can either change our ways or we can go on eating those cheap tomatoes knowing that we have chosen, by default, to be fed by the suffering of other human beings — human beings just like us.
"It's not a question of whether we should get involved. If we eat tomatoes, then we are already involved. The only real questions are: What are we going to do about it? How will we be involved from here on out?"
Mr. Maxwell concludes his piece with this: "American consumers have a moral duty to stop the exploitation of farm workers. If we do not, as McEmrys argues, we enable servitude and are guilty of the 'sin of complicity.'" Read the op/ed in its entirety here.
The Orlando Sentinel also ran a story on the Campaign for Fair Food this Sunday, a front page piece that looked at the recent Burger King victory and the future of the campaign (it also included some great photos by Sentinel photographer Red Huber, including the one of CIW staff member Mathieu Beaucicot, above, and that of the CIW's Francisca Cortez and her daughter, Noemi, below). The story, entitled "Orlando area immigrants fight to hold the pennies they won," began:
"The battle between Burger King and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers wasn't a fair fight.
The King had loads of money, spin doctors and a powerful corporate brand. The coalition had little cash, high hopes and leaders making minimum wage.
The fast-food giant never stood a chance."
The story examines the FTGE's opposition to the campaign, and concludes:
"Growers also dispute the idea that migrants make poverty wages, saying payroll records show workers earn an average of $12.46  an hour -- nearly double Florida's minimum wage. Brown said thousands of workers return each year, lured by the promise of "big bucks."...
Francisca Cortez, meanwhile, just smiles. The 25-year-old Mexican said rebutting Brown's claim is easy: Just spend some time with the migrants.
"At the end, we'll always win because we have the key in our hands -- which is reality," she said. "Reality can't hide anything."
Read the Orlando Sentinel article in its entirety here.
Florida's reporters and editorial writers have been doing their part to focus public attention on the brutal conditions in the state's fields. Here's a round-up of the Florida press from the past week alone:
We began this update with the words, "How long? Not long." Forty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King would return to those words in speech after speech across the South, as he sought to firm the resolve of the Civil Rights movement in the face of stubborn opposition by political "leaders" who refused to recognize that the time for real change had come.
In his March 25th, 1965, speech in Montgomery, Alabama, following the historic march from Selma, Dr. King said:
"However difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long. Because no lie can live forever."
The lie that all is well in Florida's tomato industry -- a lie that has allowed industry leaders to reap personal fortunes for decades while their workers have remained mired in crushing poverty -- is dying, if not already dead.
It is time, now, for all who play a role in the industry -- farmworkers and farm employers, the major buyers of Florida tomatoes and consumers across the country -- to work together to bury that lie, to confront the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers head-on, and to move forward toward a more sustainable future.
And if you need a bit of inspiration to keep on fighting until that future is securely won, do take a look at this short video.
 OUCH!... Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE), Reggie Brown (right) taken to the woodshed by Florida editorial writers for stand against farmworker justice!
July 10, 2008: Two strongly-worded opinions excoriating the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange for its opposition to the CIW's groundbreaking agreements with fast-food industry leaders were published this week in major Florida papers.
From the state's southwestern Gulf coast (the Ft. Myers News-Press) to its northeastern Atlantic coast (Daytona News-Journal), editorial and opinion writers are saying "enough is enough" to the FTGE's stubborn refusal to allow its member growers to participate in the agreements that would, with the financial help of the large corporate purchasers of Florida tomatoes, significantly improve farmworker wages and working conditions.
Here's an extended excerpt from the lead editorial in today's Ft. Myers News-Press, "Tomato growers must give in" (7/10/08) :
"The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is digging in against progress. It needs to stop playing the spoiler and realize that a new day is dawning in the treatment of farm laborers.
This largest group of Florida tomato growers is refusing to implement an agreement between farmworker advocates and three giant food service companies to increase the pay of tomato pickers by a penny per pound.
The growers need to get out of the way, or Congress needs to investigate the exchange's role in denying farmworkers their hard-won raise...
 The three companies on board with the raise so far are Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W), McDonald's and most recently Burger King, which even added an extra half-cent a pound to cover payroll taxes and other costs.
These are among the very largest food retailers on Earth. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which spearheaded the agreements with years of relentless pressure, is now targeting Chipotle, Subway and Whole Foods. The tipping point has been reached, and we expect other food retailers to join the movement.
We suspect the drive to improve farmworkers' pay and conditions enjoys strong public support.
If the heavyweight food companies are sincere about this agreement, any real problems with getting these raises into the pickers' pockets can be worked out.
The growers need to get on board or be plowed under." Read the editorial in its entirety here
The Daytona News-Journal op/ed, entitled, "Pennies a bucket don't end slavery for Florida farmworkers," (7/08/08), was no less blunt. It begins:
"Reggie Brown was upset. As executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, he was before a U.S. Senate committee in April to dispute charges of slavery and human trafficking leveled at tomato growers by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, what Brown called "a purported labor organization." There's nothing "purported" about the South Florida-based organization (ciw-online.org) other than the status of its mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian membership of migrants.  Their employers often don't consider them quite human. More like purported human beings." Read the op/ed in its entirety here
Don't miss these two remarkably powerful editorials.
The FTGE likes to think of itself as operating beyond the reach of public opinion. But outrage -- public, press, and political -- over the FTGE's unabashed disregard for long-overdue justice in Florida's fields may very well be reaching the tipping point, in the apt words of the News-Press editorial. There comes a time when the call for reform grows so strong that it can overwhelm even the Florida agricultural industry's proven ability to lobby and maneuver against it.
The Campaign for Fair Food makes the NBC Today Show, The Economist, a new book out by the producers of the PBS show "Now" (right), and an in-depth special report in the Ft. Myers News-Press...
July 7, 2008: The Campaign for Fair Food has gotten some much-needed attention from the mainstream media in recent days, and with the stories piling up, it is time for a quick media round-up;
- On July 3rd, the NBC's Today Show interviewed John Siceloff, co-author of a new book entitled, "Your America: Democracy's Local Heroes." You can see the video of the Today Show interview and read an excerpt from the book by clicking here. Here's what the authors had to say about the subject of their book:
"The folks you’ll read about in "Your America" told us they didn’t become activists just to plug holes in an ever-more-leaky safety net. They went to work to help build a better way of doing things, to create an America where ideas, priorities and solutions percolate up from the grassroots." read more here
- On July 6th, the Ft. Myers News-Press ran as the top story in its Sunday paper an in-depth look at the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food, entitled, "They're ripe to fight." The accompanying story, entitled, "Oppressed group vows to fight on," is chock-full of resources for understanding the trajectory of the CIW's work over the past 15 years and the future of the Campaign. The report concludes with a quotation by the CIW's Gerardo Reyes, in response to a question about the continued resistance to change posed by the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange:
"As for the growers’ continued opposition, coalition member Gerardo Reyes Chavez said in the short-term it will keep working with the major buyers of Florida tomatoes and with the Senate, but in the long term, ordinary people will be the key to real change.
The goal, Reyes Chavez said, is to work with consumers to press the people at the top of the industry to respect the people at the bottom until, for the growers, “the incentive to do the right thing finally  outweighs the instinct to do what’s been done for decades — pay and treat farmworkers like we were disposable human beings.” read more here
- Finally, on June 26th, a story on the Burger King agreement and the future of the Campaign for Fair Food was published in the august pages of The Economist, the British news journal first published in 1843. The article, "The price of a tomato: Next stop, Subway," concludes, "The coalition is still on the warpath. It wants other big buyers to pay the extra cent. It is targeting Wal-Mart, as well as the Subway sandwich store chain, Chipotle restaurants, and Whole Foods supermarkets. But most of all it wants people to think about what goes into... their burgers." read more here
 “We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment.”
Chipotle CEO Steve Ells on sustainable agriculture
In the press release announcing his company ’s agreement to work with the CIW to improve wages and working conditions in its tomato suppliers’ fields, Burger King CEO John Chidsey said, “The CIW has been at the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields.” Mr. Chidsey went on to say:
“If the Florida tomato industry is to be sustainable long-term, it must become more socially responsible. We, along with other industry leaders, recognize that the Florida tomato harvesters are in need of better wages, working conditions and respect for the hard work they do. And we look forward to working with the CIW in the pursuit of these necessary improvements. We also encourage other purchasers and growers of Florida tomatoes to engage in dialogue with the CIW in support of driving industry-wide socially responsible change."
With his statement, Mr. Chidsey and Burger King joined Yum Brands and McDonald’s in confirming two propositions that, though seemingly obvious, have been at the heart of the three central, contentious battles of the Campaign for Fair Food:
- The need for labor reform in Florida’s fields is real, and
- The CIW is a proven and effective partner for meaningful farm labor reform.
At the press conference at the US Capitol announcing the agreement with Burger King, Lucas Benitez of the CIW said, “Social responsibility in this country's food industry is inevitable, and though the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers remains unconscionable today, company by company we are building a path toward justice. The next steps are up to those companies that stand before us in the road ahead.” He went on to say:
“There are companies -- like Chipotle in the restaurant world and Whole Foods in the grocery industry -- that already make claims to social responsibility yet, when it comes to tomatoes, fall far short of their lofty claims. It is time, now, that those companies live out the true meaning of their marketers' words.”
 Food with Integrity?...
Let’s take the case of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Chiptole aggressively markets itself as a company dedicated to what it calls “Food with Integrity.” The company’s website even goes so far as to claim that Chipotle will “revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food,” by leveraging its high volume purchases to change its suppliers’ practices.
Given this philosophy, why in the world has Chipotle refused to acknowledge the urgent need for farm labor reform in Florida – in the face of readily available Department of Labor statistics that confirm the severity of farmworker poverty and six federal prosecutions for farm labor slavery in the past decade? And why has Chipotle refused to partner with the CIW?
Well, in the months since the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign, we’ve had some time to look into the companies that “stand before us in the road ahead,” their practices and their stated philosophies, and in the course of that research we came across the quote by Mr. Steve Ells, the founder and CEO of Chipotle, that begins this update. And that quote – precisely for what it doesn’t say -- appears to reveal a crucial blind spot in the company’s vision of “Food with Integrity.”
Here’s the quote again: “We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment.”
The sentence in and of itself isn't outrageous -- the protection of farm animals, family farmers, and the environment is indisputably a good and important mission. But Chiptole's total omission of farmworkers -- of fair wages and humane treatment for farmworkers in its supply chain -- is outrageous. So blind is the company to the need for farm labor reform that, in its list of things exploited in the way our country “grows and gathers its food,” Chipotle excludes the very people who gather our food!
The road to a truly just food industry is long and complex. Chipotle could be forgiven if, in its effort to imagine a world of fair food, it simply overlooked the people who work in the fields.
But as Lucas said in Washington, “After eight years of this campaign -- and the very public commitment of the three largest fast-food companies in the world to the principles of Fair Food -- they can no longer claim ignorance of the problem nor can they say that the solution is not possible.”
So we ask Chipotle this question: Does it really matter that a tomato is organic if it was harvested by workers paid far less than a living wage, or, worse yet, by people forced to work against their will?
We think the answer is obvious, and we suspect those at the top of Chipotle do, too. So what are we waiting for?...
While we wait for Chipotle, here's some more reading and resources that might interest you on the question of Chipotle and the Campaign for Fair Food:
- Scholars' letter - 36 legal, labor, and social science scholars pen open letter to Steve Ells calling on Chipotle to work with the CIW
- Manager's letter - to deliver to the manager of your local Chipotle restaurant
- Chipotle flyer - coming soon!
And meanwhile, you can check out the action at a recent protest by the Denver-based Fair Food Committee outside Chipotle's corporate headquarters. Stay tuned for more to come in the growing campaign for real integrity in Chipotle's tomato supply chain.
 SCHOLARS' LETTER TO CHIPOTLE: "Urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice"...
6/27/08: Nearly a year and a half ago, 36 leading scholars in the fields of labor law, labor studies, and social research, joined by the founding members of the Alliance for Fair Food, wrote a letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells. They began their letter:
"It has come to our attention that in response to the CIW’s requests to meet and to work together to address human rights abuses of farmworkers in your company’s tomato supply chain, Chipotle has, instead, decided to suspend purchases of Florida tomatoes and unilaterally investigate the CIW’s 'claims.'"
The powerfully-written letter continued:
"Suspending tomato purchasing from Florida does not mitigate the problem of sweatshop conditions in Chipotle’s tomato supply chain and will not enable Chiplote to keep the public’s faith in your claim of selling “Food with Integrity.” Nor will it satisfy the growing and committed constituency taking action in support of human rights of farmworkers. On the contrary, it is an abdication of the very notion of corporate responsibility at the heart of your aggressively-marketed mission of 'integrity.'"
The letter was not immediately made public, in order to allow Chipotle to respond before bringing public pressure. The signatories' patience, however, would not be infinite:
"AFF has opted to give your company time and space to examine the issues raised by this campaign, trusting that Chipotle would choose to live up to its commitment to integrity. Instead, with every day that passes, farmworkers in Chipotle’s supply chain continue living a nightmare of exploitation.
If Chipotle continues its current path of avoidance, however, the urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice. As scholars concerned about the welfare of working people, and as endorsers of the Alliance for Fair Food, many with national membership bases, we are committed to continuing the Campaign for Fair Food until fair wages and working conditions become a reality for farmworkers."
 With the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign and the support, now, of the three largest companies in the fast-food industry for the principles of Fair Food, the time to "intensify our call and actions for justice" in Chipotle's supply chain has come.
You can read the scholars' letter in its entirety by clicking here.
You can also take action yourself with these simple tools (click on the links to download the pdf's):
- Manager's letter - to deliver to the manager of your local Chipotle restaurant
- Chipotle flyer - coming soon!
And meanwhile, you can check out the action at a recent protest by the Denver-based Fair Food Committee outside Chipotle's corporate headquarters. Stay tuned for more to come in the growing campaign for real integrity in Chipotle's tomato supply chain.
Click on the link below to read a moving, in-depth profile of the CIW's Mathieu Beaucicot from the Naples Daily News, entitled,
Here's and excerpt to get you started:
"Like any father, he knows certain dates by heart: when he married their mother; the days that they, his five children, were born; and when it was that he sat in the audience at high school graduations, bursting with pride.
But Mathieu Beaucicot’s story includes other moments that many fathers don’t face.
In September 1991, Haiti’s democratically-elected government was overthrown in a violent military coup. Beaucicot was forced to say goodbye to his family and flee his native country. His life was in danger.
He left behind four young children and his wife Roselene, who was eight months pregnant with their fifth child. He arrived in the United States as a political refugee on Jan. 3, 1992.
It would be more than a decade before Beaucicot (pronounced Bo-see-co) would be able to return to see his family, and even longer before they would be reunited." click here for the rest of the article
 In the aftermath of last month's victory in the Burger King campaign, we want to draw your attention to some words about the future of the Campaign for Fair Food that may have been lost in all the news around the agreement. Addressing the joint press conference at the US Capitol, Lucas Benitez of the CIW said:
"Dr. Martin Luther King said it best when he said, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'
Social responsibility in this country's food industry is inevitable, and though the exploitation of Florida's farmworkers remains unconscionable today, company by company we are building a path toward justice. The next steps are up to those companies that stand before us in the road ahead.
There are companies -- like Chipotle in the restaurant world and Whole Foods in the grocery industry -- that already make claims to social responsibility yet, when it comes to tomatoes, fall far short of their lofty claims. It is time, now, that those companies live out the true meaning of their marketers' words.
And there are companies -- like Subway and WalMart -- that, by the sheer volume of their purchases, profit like few others from the pernicious poverty of workers in Florida's fields. They, too, must step up now. After eight years of this campaign -- and the very public commitment of the three largest fast-food companies in the world to the principles of Fair Food -- they can no longer claim ignorance of the problem nor can they say that the solution is not possible.
So to all of you who have marched with us, organized petition drives with us, prayed with us, and struggled with us, today is a day to celebrate this hard-fought victory. Tomorrow, with renewed energy and purpose, we begin our work again to make respect for fundamental human rights in Florida's tomato fields truly universal."
And for more reading on the future of the Campaign for Fair Food, don't miss the new article, "New targets for tomato pickers," ZNet, 6/1/08
- Video excerpts from the press conference
- Exclusive photo report from the press conference
- Click here for the joint press release
- Editorial: "What's with the farmers," Palm Beach Post, 5/28/08
- Editorial: "News reporting advanced justice," Ft. Myers News-Press, 5/28/08
- Editorial: "Coalition of Immokalee Workers," Palm Beach Post, 6/1/08
- Editorial: "At last Burger King does the right thing," St. Petersburg Times, 6/2/08
- "Farmworkers get a Whopper of a win," Creative Loafing (Tampa Bay, FL), 6/1/08
More media coverage of the agreement:
Press release highlights:
- BK CEO John Chidsey: "We are pleased to now be working together with the CIW to further the common goal of improving Florida tomato farmworkers' wages, working conditions and lives. The CIW has been at the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields. We apologize for any negative statements about the CIW or its motives previously attributed to BKC or its employees and now realize that those statements were wrong. Today we turn a new page in our relationship and begin a new chapter of real progress for Florida farmworkers."
- CIW's Lucas Benitez: "The events of the past months have been trying. But we are prepared to move forward, together now with Burger King, toward a future of full respect for the human rights of workers in the Florida tomato fields. Today we are one step closer to building a world where we, as farmworkers, can enjoy a fair wage and humane working conditions in exchange for the hard and essential work we do everyday. We are not there yet, but we are getting there, and this agreement should send a strong message to the rest of the restaurant and supermarket industry: Now is the time to join Yum! Brands, McDonalds, and Burger King in righting the wrongs that have been allowed to linger in Florida’s fields for far too long."
- US Senator Bernie Sanders: "I have been to Immokalee and seen first-hand the conditions for farm workers there, perhaps the most exploited workers in America. I am very pleased that Burger King has agreed to help the tomato pickers who have worked for too long for too little. I know that this has been a long and hard road for Burger King, and I believe the American people will appreciate what they are doing."
- US Senator Dick Durbin: "I applaud Burger King for announcing today that it will be providing an extra penny per pound to the tomato pickers of Immokalee, Florida and establishing a zero-tolerance policy for worker abuses in the region. Today's announcement is a major step forward in improving the wages and working conditions of the Immokalee workers. I call on other purchasers of the region's tomatoes and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to join Burger King and do the right thing for these workers.
Agreement details: The agreement extends Fair Food principles to the world's second-largest hamburger chain. Highlights include:
- BK agrees to pay an additional net penny per pound to the Florida farm workers who harvest its tomatoes. To encourage grower participation in this increased wage program, BK will also pay incremental payroll taxes and administrative costs incurred by the growers as a result of their farmworkers' increased wages, or a total of 1.5 cents per pound of tomatoes.
 BK also joins other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling for an industry-wide net penny per pound surcharge to increase wages for Florida tomato harvesters.
- Together, BK and the CIW have also established zero tolerance guidelines for certain unlawful activities that require immediate termination of any grower from the Burger King supply chain. The BK/CIW collaboration additionally provides for farmworker participation in the monitoring of growers' compliance with the company's vendor code of conduct.
Click here for the joint press release in its entirety.
And click here for more on the history of the Burger King campaign!
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PRESSURE MOUNTS ON CHIPOTLE!...
FATHERS' DAY IN IMMOKALEE... 