When we can’t keep up with everything happening in the Campaign for Fair Food, it’s time for a round-up!

The Campaign for Fair Food has been very busy as the holiday season approaches, visiting Stop & Shop (one of several US brands owned by Dutch supermarket giant Ahold) at its corporate headquarters in Boston, Giant (another Ahold brand) at its headquarters in Landover, foodservice titan Aramark at its corporate headquarters in Philadelphia (pictured above right), and, of course, Florida-based Publix throughout the southeast.

And in Immokalee, we hosted an exchange with 30 members of Baltimore’s own United Workers Association, famous for their great work winning a living wage for the workers who maintain the Baltimore Orioles’ beautiful Camden Yards stadium.

Click here to continue reading the Campaign for Fair Foods News Round-up!…

******************************

Stop & Shop: A delegation of Fair Food activists, the New England Delegation for Farmworker Justice, paid a visit to Stop & Shop’s corporate headquarters last week in Boston, MA. The Boston Herald covered the visit in a piece entitled, “Farmworkers eye Stop & Shop” (Dec. 13, 2009). Here’s an excerpt:

“A group calling itself the New England Delegation for Farm Worker Justice demonstrated outside Stop & Shop’s Quincy headquarters Friday to put pressure on the company and raise public awareness. It was following up on a letter sent to the grocery chain a month earlier that’s so far garnered no response, according to Camilo Viveiros, the group’s coordinator and executive director of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice. ‘It’s a simple request that they give farm workers a penny-a-pound raise and build a relationship where they would monitor the conditions in the field,’ Viveiros said… … Stop & Shop spokeswoman Faith Weiner said the chain shares CIW’s concerns and will give its letter ‘thoughtful and careful’ consideration. ‘We will reiterate to our suppliers our expectations and our commitment that (parent company) Ahold source tomatoes in a socially responsible manner, as we believe we currently do,’ Weiner said. ‘We also will continue to monitor the situation.'”

Aramark: Before heading south from Baltimore to Immokalee for a two-day exchange (see below), a joint CIW/UWA delegation took a quick detour to Philadelphia, where they were joined by Philly allies for a lively rally and delegation visit to Aramark headquarters. Marina Saenz-Luna of Just Harvest USA sent this firsthand report:

“About 60 people came out to Aramark HQ. The delegation included: Brandon Jones – United Workers, Marina Saenz-Luna – Just Harvest USA, Gerardo Reyes-Chavez – CIW, Julian Phillips – St. Joseph’s University, Ron Blount – Unified Taxi Workers Alliance, Manuel Gonzalez- Radio Tlacuache, and Milena Velis – Media Mobilizing Project. We delivered 139 petitions, 131 individual letters from St. Joseph’s, and the most recent Alliance for Fair Food letter to an Aramark employee.”

Check out the great gallery of pics from the Aramark event, courtesy of community photographer extraordinaire, JJ Tiziou.

Giant: The CIW/UWA group also stopped in Landover, Maryland, at the corporate headquarters of the Giant supermarket chain. Check out the Student/Farmworker Alliance website for a report on the delegation visit (the SFA report does double duty as a great summary of the UWA Solidarity Tour, which you’ll find described on the SFA site in the UWA’s own words).

Publix: Of course, Publix didn’t escape the pressure during the past week. After a quick stop and protest at a Publix on the road to Florida in South Carolina, the UWA crew arrived in Immokalee for two days of dialogue between CIW and UWA members on approaches to organizing and campaign strategies, last stop on the Solidarity Tour.

It was a great exchange between two organizations with deep community roots and powerful visions of a better future for some of this country’s worst-paid, least-protected workers. The visit ended with a Publix protest, and the Naples Daily News was there to cover it (“Farmworkers go public in North Naples with a protest against Publix,” 12/11/09). Here’s an excerpt:

“Silvia Perez, a coalition staff member and Immokalee farmworker for 16 years, said in Spanish that it wasn’t a labor dispute. ‘Publix always says that it supports families, but in reality they aren’t doing it. They are neglecting to help farmworkers,’ said Perez, 35, holding a sign that read: ‘End the Poverty.’… … Other supporters included about 30 visitors from United Workers, an organization of low-wage earners fighting for human rights in Baltimore, Md., and members of Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Collier County. Among supporters was Jackie Vanden Dorpel, 74, who has been shopping at Publix since 1950. The Bonita Springs resident and Vanderbilt Presbyterian member said she hopes Publix realizes that all of the big corporations are dealing directly with the coalition. “I think they can act like a corporation with integrity,” Vanden Dorpel said. Among Publix shoppers Friday was Ida Phelps, of North Naples, who said she supports the coalition’s cause. “I think it’s taken awhile. These people work as hard as I do,” said Phelps, 53, who is a security officer.

Read the Daily News article in its entirety here, and while you’re there, be sure to check out the video from the action!