Students in Carbondale, IL, make front page news in the school paper with a Halloween day
protest outside a local Subway restaurant
Campaign for Fair Food allies keep their eyes on the prize!… Not everything came to a halt over the past couple of weeks as we picked our new president (though it is sure enough hard to think of anything else when we are living days of history that will be told and retold for generations to come…).
Like the students in Carbondale, IL, shown keeping the heat on Subway with a Halloween day protest above, allies across the country did their part to let Subway and Chipotle know that there will be no peace until justice is done in the fields of Florida where their tomatoes are picked.
Endorsements: Five new endorsements came in, including one in Subway’s very own backyard — the Yale Committee on Racial Equality! Joining the students from New Haven, CT, were the United Workers Association (UWA, check out their incredible organizing by clicking here) from Baltimore, MD, the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, FL, the Interfaith Food & Farms Partnership, of Portland, OR, and the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
Netroots: The blogosphere added yet another voice to the growing chorus for Fair Food, with the Unitarian Universalists national office blog, dubbed “Inspired Faith, Effective Action”, where they encouraged their members to “Send a postcard to Subway and Chipotle on behalf of Florida farmworkers”. Go to the post now to see how you can join in the action!
Media: Even the international media got in on the act this past week, with a powerful new editorial from the Netherlands entitled, “US: Fair Prices for Tomato Pickers” (11/3/08). Here’s the conclusion to a well-written reflection on the growing call for “sustainable” food:
“No one knows what the future holds, but as our economic system hovers over the proverbial “rock bottom,” it seems like a good time to revisit our policies, both national and personal, when it comes to the money we spend. What is the value of a tomato, and why? What (from fertilizers and pesticides to labor to transport) went into it, and does its price reflect those inputs? Or has a market driven by speculation and subsidies installed a false cap on that price, creating a decidedly unsustainable system that benefits CEOs over citizens, puts the squeeze on smaller businesses and leaves the laborers to pick up the slack?” read more here