Category: A Year of Victories: May 2008 – May 2009

Coalition of Immokalee Workers > Archives > A Year of Victories: May 2008 - May 2009

Sustainable food leaders’ letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells

Posted on by CIW
Mr. Steve Ells, CEO Chipotle Mexican Grill 1404 Wynkoop St., Ste. 500 Denver, CO 80202-1729 Dear Mr. Ells, We write with admiration for your efforts to create a socially just and environmentally responsible restaurant chain. We applaud your goal of sourcing "food with integrity," food that's "unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal." Chipotle >> Read More
Shining a rotten apple

Shining a rotten apple

Posted on by CIW
Shining a rotten apple Two farms that used workers held against their will in the Navarrete slavery case were certified as “socially accountable” by the grower-controlled monitoring agency called "SAFE" (Socially Accountable Farm Employers) When news of Florida's latest slavery prosecution hit the headlines last December, one crucial bit of information went largely overlooked.   The paragraph below, tucked into >> Read More

Community Center News

Posted on by CIW
May 2009 Joan and Buck Blessing´s Gift Brings Dream of Community Center Closer within Reach The Coalition of Immokalee Workers would like to extend their gratitude to Joan and Buck Blessing for their wonderfully generous contribution of $10,000 in support of the CIW’s new Community Center! Joan has been very active in the Campaign for Fair Food; recently, for example, >> Read More

CIW wins Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice! (yes, that Salem…)

Posted on by CIW
The Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice Foundation has selected the Coalition of ImmokaleeWorkers to receive its 17th annual human rights award "for its work to eliminate modern day slavery in the agricultural industry"! You can read about the announcement on the foundation's website, here. Brian Watson, a columnist for the Salem News, traveled recently to Immokalee and >> Read More

CIW speaks at conference on slavery in Vienna, Austria!

Posted on by CIW
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) organizes special conference "on trafficking for labour exploitation focusing on the agricultural sector," invites CIW to share experience... The CIW's Anti-Slavery Campaign coordinator, Laura Germino (pictured below, left), traveled last week to Vienna, Austria, to talk about the CIW's work combating slavery here in the fields of Florida and how lessons learned >> Read More

Groundbreaking agreement with Bon Appetit hits the headlines, blogosphere…

Posted on by CIW
  Here's some of the buzz generated by this week's announcement (photo on the right again by Kelli Stanko, Washington Post): "Grist.org" - "Over the past week, much attention has been focused on the “B” part of that classic U.S. sandwich, the BLT. The swine flu outbreak has quite rightly raised questions about the environemtal/public health implications of modern industrial >> Read More

Fair Food movement breaks ground in foodservice industry!

Posted on by CIW
CIW forges "innovative new model for fair labor standards in Florida's tomato fields" with foodservice leader Bon Appetit. Click here for the joint CIW-Bon Appetit press release See the Washington Post article here (photo above shows CIW and Student/Farmworker Alliance members on tour of the Immokalee community with Bon Appetit executives, photo by Kelli Stanko) Gerardo Reyes of the CIW: >> Read More