Plus: Trader Joe’s Northeast Tour ends with spectacular visits, actions in Portland, Maine and Northampton, Massachusetts…
Courtesy of Brian McLaren’s blog, we have a great new video from Friday’s Pray-in at Publix to share with you today (click on the image above to go to the youtube page for the video). Brian is a nationally known author, activist for social justice, and public theologian whom Time magazine called one of “the 25 most influential Evangelicals in America”. You can also find the text of Friday’s prayer in the produce aisle at Brian’s blog, which ends with these words:
| You are the God of compassion and fairness. Guide Ed Crenshaw to be a man of compassion and fairness like his grandfather. Guide the associates of Publix not to disappoint us customers who feel connected by the food we eat both to them and to the hard workers of Immokalee. And guide the Immokalee workers who are going to visit Mr. Crenshaw soon, traveling by bicycle to Lakeland. Give them good success in their visit. We pray with faith, hope, and love in our hearts, Lord, remembering Jesus’ words that your will would be done on earth as in heaven. And all God’s people said, “Amen.” read more |
The video not only captures the pray-in, but also includes a report on the remainder of the day, during which workers from Immokalee and several Southwest Florida faith allies joined to announce the upcoming bike ride to Publix headquarters in Lakeland and reflect on the future of the Campaign for Fair Food with the picking season set to begin anew in November. We are pleased to announce that Brian McLaren will also be joining us on Sept 6th for the 10 AM brunch at Barnett Family Park in Lakeland and for the ride’s culmination at Publix headquarters.
Speaking of the bike tour, Bruce Diamond, rabbi of the Community Free Synagogue in Ft. Myers, FL, wrote a nice opinion piece for the Ft. Myers News-Press this past Thursday, entitled, “Support farmworkers’ bike ride for better treatment,” (8/18/11). His op/ed begins:
| “You don’t have to be a bicycling enthusiast to enthusiastically support the historic 200-mile bike trek that will end up on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Publix’s headquarters in Lakeland.Organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the purpose of this “Pilgrimage to Publix” is to extend a personal invitation to Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw to visit Immokalee so that he can learn firsthand about the Campaign for Fair Food.
Crenshaw is a grandson of Publix founder George Jenkins, whose photo graces the front of all of its supermarkets. Crenshaw’s motto is “Do the Right Thing,” and it is hoped that after he sees the real-life conditions of the men and women who pick the tomatoes he sells, his company will do the right thing and join the highly successful “Penny a Pound” program endorsed by 90 percent of Florida tomato growers and national restaurant chains like Subway, Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Burger King…” read more |
You can read more about the “Pilgrimage to Publix” in the Lakeland Ledger article here. And last, but most definitely not least, the Trader Joe’s Northeast Tour wrapped up last week with spectacular stops in Portland, Maine and Northampton, MA. We’ll have a full report from the tour’s final actions soon, but in the meantime, here’s a little sneak peek, from Portland:
Check back soon for the full photo report from Maine and Northampton, MA!