4 Ways to support the upcoming Farmworker Freedom Festival!

Posted on by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

1) COME TO THE FESTIVAL! If you’re in Florida, register today to join farmworkers and their allies for three days of celebrating farmworkers’ human rights and the Fair Food Program

2) DONATE: If you’re unable to participate in person, you can join our campaign to raise funds for the festival’s needs

3) SEND A SOLIDARITY MESSAGE: Write a message or send a video of solidarity to the farmworkers

4) DELIVER A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL FAIR FOOD HOLDOUTS: Kroger, Wendy’s, and Publix

We are less than one week away from the first-ever Farmworker Freedom Festival, taking place from March 8-10 in Palm Beach, Florida!  This 3-day celebration of farmworkers’ human rights will feature:

  • the CIW’s mobile Modern-day Slavery Museum,
  • a benefit concert including Malacates Trebol Shop (one of Guatemala’s most popular musical acts today), Olmeca (who needs no introduction…), and Rara Lakay (a traditional Haitian Carnival music group from Miami that will most definitely get you on your feet) to name just a few of the groups scheduled to perform,
  • a two-story tall, hand-crafted farmworker puppet walking the streets of Palm Beach,
  • workshops on building power from the bottom up, and more!

Immokalee is buzzing with preparations for this festival, but we can’t do it alone.

We are counting on our vibrant network of allies around the country to help make this a festival for the history books! Whether you’re in Florida, New York, Ohio, California, or even outside the country – there are many ways you can get involved to help the festival, the Fair Food Program, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. 

Here are four ways you can get involved with the festival and the broader Campaign for Fair Food!

1) COME TO THE FESTIVAL: If you’re in Florida, register today to join farmworkers and allies for three days of celebrating farmworkers’ human rights and the Fair Food Program!

Nothing beats standing shoulder-to-shoulder with workers who for decades have led the charge to combat forced labor in the fields and pioneered the Fair Food Program, a proven model for winning and sustaining true farmworker freedom!  Join us as we gather, Friday through Sunday, at Bradley Park in Palm Beach. For more information, including daily schedules, parking information, and shuttles, click here!

2) DONATE: If you’re unable to participate in person, you can join our campaign to raise funds for transportation needs, art supplies, water to keep us hydrated and meals to fuel our energy for the 3-day festival! 

It takes a lot of preparation and supplies to pull off a festival of this magnitude! From reserving buses, to purchasing food and water and stocking up on much needed supplies, costs can rise steeply… That’s why we need all the help we can get from generous donors like you! If you have the resources to support us, click here to make a contribution today!

3) SEND A SOLIDARITY MESSAGE: Write a message or send a video of solidarity to the farmworkers celebrating their dignity and demanding accountability from Fair Food holdouts!

If you aren’t able to join us in person, we would still love hearing from you! You can make your voice heard by sending a heartfelt message of solidarity for the farmworkers leading the fight for human rights. Share with us what fighting for farmworker justice means to you, how CIW’s work fits into your vision of a world of freedom for all, and what you’d like to see from the three Fair Food holdouts we’re targeting in our march: Wendy’s, Publix, and Kroger. Your messages of support will be shared every night of the festival, and will keep farmworkers’ spirits high as we celebrate the unprecedented success of the Fair Food Program and demand accountability from multi-billion dollar corporations refusing to join the gold standard for human rights today. 

Please send your message or video to workers@ciw-online.org with “Solidarity Message” in the subject line. 

4) DELIVER A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL FAIR FOOD HOLDOUTS: Kroger, Wendy’s, and Publix continue to refuse to join the only proven solution to prevent forced labor in the fields. Let them hear your voice demanding freedom and dignity for farmworkers!

Palm Beach is home to Wendy’s Chair Nelson Peltz, who still refuses to join the Fair Food Program, even after the FFP has, for more than a decade, proven itself to be the one and only solution to preventing forced labor in agriculture. You can send a message to the management of Wendy’s letting them know what you think of their obstinance in the face of facts and of the unparalleled success of the FFP. You can find a sample letter to deliver to your local Wendy’s store by clicking here.

You can do the same for Kroger and Publix – two major grocery chains who remain holdouts despite their major industry competitors, including Walmart, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes’ joining the FFP. For a sample letter to deliver to a Kroger or Kroger affiliate, click here. For a Publix letter, you can click here.

We’ve got a lot more to share with you in leading up to the Farmworker Freedom Festival, so make sure to stay tuned as we continue to ramp up efforts in the Campaign for Fair Food! 

For more information about the Festival, click here.