The lead editorial in the Ft. Myers News-Press, entitled “Convicted slaver shouldn’t be back in business,” concludes:

“Until big, respectable names start being linked with “forced labor camps” and “slavery,” the whole wink-and-a-nod system will continue to be a profitable, if inhumane way to get cheap fruits and vegetables to fast food chains, restaurants and our dinner tables.” Click here for full editorial

The editorial recounts the horrors faced by workers on Abel Cuello’s tomato crew, adding:

“Southwest Floridians have been reminded yet again in an investigative report by The News-Press on Abel Cuello Jr., convicted slaver, of our state’s decades of sorry treatment of farm workers. Cuello forced people to work for him by threat of beatings — or worse. He housed them in cramped, squalid trailers in remote areas so they didn’t know where they were. He took money from their meager paychecks to pay their border-crossing debts and rent.”

But the News Press opinion went further than to simply condemn the crewleader. The editors took the unusual step of drawing the direct connection between the unremitting poverty and exploitation of farmworkers at the foundation of the food industry, on the one hand, and the sparkling, wholesome image — fueled by tens of billions in advertising every year — of the fast-food restaurants and supermarkets across the country, on the other. Read the editorial here!