The Palm Beach Post
Opinion

Half of all farm workers earn less than $7,500 a year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and 60 percent of their households fall below the poverty line. A Florida farm worker’s life is essentially the same as it was 30 years ago.

The state’s growers say they face fierce competition from foreign products — the North American Free Trade Agreeement is a constant source of complaints — and are tormented by Florida’s fickle weather: flash floods, drought and cold weather have plagued recent growing seasons. All that is true, but it does not justify the industry’s rejection of collective bargaining. Nor does it condone wages that are shamefully low.

Not many new ideas have come to bridge the gap between market forces and morality. With appeals for government intervention ignored, one group of tomato pickers is taking its cause to the college campuses.

The protested with students Saturday in Gainesville at the University of Florida. It was the beginning of a six-week demonstration camaign that also will visit other universities, including Miami, Florida State and South Florida. The pickers and students will target Taco Bell restaurants, one of the largest buyers of Florida tomatoes. The idea is to persuade Taco Bell to use its influence to start meaningful talks between growers and workers.

The protesters also want Taco Bell to voluntarily pay 1 cent more per pound for its tomatoes, which are selling for about 40 cents per pound. If the growers then would pass that penny along to the pickers, their wages would double to a livable level. The cost to consumers would be less than one half-cent for each chalupa or taco. The growers would benefit from having a stable, motivated work force, and Taco Bell would reap public relations rewards as a company with a social conscience.

The farm workers have reason to turn to the colleges. Student activism played a signifiacnt role in persuading Nike to crack down against sweatshop labor. And the 18-24 year-old age group is Taco Bell’s targeted market. So far, the company has declined to respond to the pickers’ requests. So has Gov. Bush. After intervening in wage talks during his campaign for election two years ago, Gov. Bush since has refused to get involved, calling it “inappropriate”.

Today, the best hope for improving life in the fields is on the campuses and at the counters of fast food restaurants.