Farmworkers have announced a five-day march to celebrate the extraordinary success of the Fair Food Program, and to demand holdouts Wendy’s, Publix, and Kroger finally join the Fair Food Program.
Join us in building a new world of freedom for all farmworkers – either by taking part in the 2-mile grand finale in Palm Beach on March 18, or marching with us for the entire five days. Register here!
We’re less than three weeks away from the highly-anticipated Build A New World March, taking place from March 14-18 across the Sunshine State from the small, agricultural town of Pahokee to the billionaire island enclave of Palm Beach. Today, we’re announcing the full details on how you can participate in this historic March for Farmworker Freedom, whether you join us for the entire 5-day trek or just march the last two miles with us in Palm Beach on March 18!
In the early morning hours on March 14, Immokalee farmworkers and their families will travel 80 miles northeast to Pahokee, Florida, for the opening ceremony of the 5-day Build A New World March, where they will be joined by religious leaders, students, low-wage workers and consumer allies. The location of the opening ceremony is the very same site in Pahokee where, in 2016, two farmworkers with guestworker visas escaped from a labor camp surrounded by barbed wire by hiding in the trunk of a car. Those two workers, fleeing inhumane working conditions under the control of farm boss Bladimir Moreno, called the CIW to report what they has experienced and seek help. The CIW promptly referred the case to federal authorities, and in December 2022, after a lengthy investigation and prosecution, Moreno was sentenced to nearly 10 years in federal prison on charges of conspiracy to commit forced labor and organized crime.
The Build A New World March will draw attention to the two parallel worlds that have existed within U.S. agriculture since the inception of the Fair Food Program in 2011. On Fair Food Program farms, farmworkers harvest our food free from the fear of outrageous human rights abuses like forced labor, sexual assault, and systemic wage theft. But beyond the reach of the FFP’s gold standard human rights protections still exists a dark world of harsh, and worsening, exploitation and abuse, as illustrated by the horrific facts of the recently-prosecuted Moreno case, and the sprawling “Blooming Onion” forced labor prosecution announced late last year by federal prosecutors in Georgia — involving tens of thousands of workers and $200 million in illegal profits — before it.
In light of the Fair Food Program’s unprecedented success, on the one hand, and the growing modern-day slavery crisis on farms outside the Program’s reach, on the other, farmworkers and consumers are demanding that Wendy’s, Publix and Kroger do their part to ensure freedom in their supply chain by joining the Fair Food Program once and for all! Beginning on Tuesday, March 14th, we will be marching to continue building the world where workers no longer fear being beaten, raped, or robbed by their bosses, and where consumers know that the workers who picked their produce were treated with dignity and respect. Only when all large buyers of produce are part of the Fair Food Program will the work of building that world be complete.
That’s why, after launching our march where the most recent slavery prosecution began, we will be culminating the 45-mile journey in the city of Palm Beach, where Wendy’s Board Chair has a beachfront estate and secondary headquarter offices, and where the power to end farmworker exploitation resides! On Saturday, March 18, hundreds of farmworkers and allies will gather for a rally and street theater performance at Lake Drive Park (500 Brazilian Avenue) in Palm Beach at 10:30 a.m. followed by a 2-mile march.
Are you ready to march with us? Click here to register!
Once you fill out the registration form, an event organizer will contact you to provide more details on logistics and answer and questions. Share this page with others who might be interested in attending the final rally and march, or who may be interested in joining us for the entire five-day march.
Stay tuned in the coming days for even more ways you can support the 2023 Build A New World March!