Unitarian Universalist Church to Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw: "As the Chief Executive officer of a large corporation, you have the opportunity... to end the human rights abuses and sub-poverty wages faced by the workers who pick the tomatoes sold in your stores."

7/2/09: Faith communities across Florida -- from the Jewish community in Miami to Catholics on Marco Island -- are making their voices heard at the Lakeland, Florida, headquarters of grocery giant Publix.

And as part of the rising religious call for Publix to support full human rights for Florida's farmworkers, Rev. Allison Farnum of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ft. Myers wrote a powerfully-worded letter to Publix CEO ED Crenshaw. Here's an excerpt:

"As the Chief Executive officer of a large corporation, you have the opportunity to to set a precedent by calling to end the human rights abuses and sub-poverty wages faced by the workers who pick the tomatoes sold in your stores. Departed are the days when we could point fingers at others and abdicate responsibility. As many political critics remind us, we cannot rely on the government to do everything for us. That includes taking a stand against injustice in Florida's tomato fields. Publix continues to purchase tomatoes from both Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L's, despite the fact that workers who worked on those farms have been held against their will." Read the letter in its entirety here!

Cick here to read more about Publix and the latest slavery case from Florida's fields.

And you can join in calling on Publix to improve wages and conditions for those who pick their tomatoes. Click here to download a letter you can deliver to to the manager of your local Publix!

Take Action: Tell Chipotle to stop stiff-arming farmworkers!

6/29/09: Last week, leaders of the food justice movement -- including Eric Schlosser and Robert Kenner, producer and director of the hard-hitting new documentary "Food, Inc." -- sent a strongly-worded letter to Chipotle demanding that they "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers' rights."

Now it's your turn to get in on the action! Click here to add your name to the letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells demanding real "food with integrity" and an end to the human rights crisis in Florida's tomato fields in an email action sponsored by our friends at American Rights at Work.

Dictionary: hy·poc·ri·sy

1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

Dictionary: Chi·poc·ri·sy...

6/22/09: The phenomenon known as "Chipocrisy" was in the news this past week, beginning with the June 15th open letter by more than two dozen leading sustainable food activists calling on Chipotle to live up to its claims of "Food with Integrity" and "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers' rights."

But it didn't stop there. Also last week, the ABC news show "Nightline" did a piece on Chipotle's relationship with Polyface Farms, a model sustainable farm in Virginia that, in the words of owner Joel Salatin, "fully respects and honors the pigness of the pig."

In the same Nightline story, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells professed, "I think it's really important that people know where their food comes from. I mean we spend a lot of time researching the very best sources, so that when people go to Chipotle, they can rest assured they are getting the very best food."

Really? The Nightline piece, while valuable for shedding light on Mr. Salatin's admirable operation, was incomplete, and therefore deeply flawed. By allowing Mr. Ells to effectively direct the spotlight, the story revealed only that part of Chipotle's supply chain that the company wished to showcase, creating the impression of an ethical restaurant company that indeed earns its claim to "Food with Integrity."

If, however, Nightline had only turned that same spotlight on the fields where Chipotle's tomatoes are picked, perhaps it would have found that the "humanness" of the men and women who pick those tomatoes isn't afforded the same honor or respect.

This might be a good moment to quote a relevant passage from last week's impeccably-timed sustainable food movement letter to Mr. Ells:

"... (F)or us, naturally raised meat – important as it is – does not trump decently treated human beings... Your company has shown admirable leadership in working with – and incubating – meat suppliers willing to meet your higher standards. But your failure to do that same hard work in the Florida tomato industry – together with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – threatens to render your announcement an empty gesture aimed more at public relations damage control than an effort to make real change."

Chipotle's failure to live up to the virtues it professes to hold dear was not lost, however, on one Denver-based blogger last week. Writing on the Denver Fair Food blog, "Robert" noted that, on its corporate website, Chipotle strongly recommends that its customers read Eric Schlosser's hard-hitting analysis of the fast-food industry's ills, "Fast Food Nation". The contradiction was too much to stomach for the Fair Food blogger, who undoes Chipotle's claims to sustainability using a series of quotes by none other than Mr. Schlosser himself. His conclusion is withering, and it shall be our conclusion here as well:

"... It’s abundantly obvious. Quoting Eric again: 'the exploitation of farm workers should not be tolerated in Florida. It should not be tolerated anywhere in the United States. There are many social problems that are extremely difficult to solve. This is not one of them.' Plain and simple, the solution is for Chipotle to work in partnership with the CIW. That’s been Eric’s demand of fast-food companies for a long time and that’s his demand explicitly of Chipotle today.

It’s funny really, Chipotle isn’t listening to the guy that Chipotle recommends everyone listen to. Chipotle’s “further reading” is demanding that Chipotle go further, and yet Chipotle refuses to take its own advice. This is a phenomenon that’s become so common place we have a name for it: Chipocrisy.

That’s the thing about further reading – sometimes you end up eating your words."

Read the Denver Fair Food blog post in its entirety here.

Food justice leaders to Chipotle: "We view the CIW’s struggle for dignity as a non-negotiable part of the struggle for a sustainable food system."

"Food, Inc." director (Robert Kenner) and co-producer (Eric Schlosser) join more than two dozen sustainable food movement leaders in open letter to burrito giant Chipotle!

6/15/09: In a strongly worded letter, more than two dozen of the country's leading sustainable food activists are demanding that Chipotle, the fastest growing company in fast-food, live up to its claims of "Food with Integrity" and "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers' rights."

Frances Moore Lappe ("Diet for a Small Planet"), Raj Patel ("Stuffed and Starved"), Josh Viertel (President, Slow Food USA), and Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser (director and co-producer, respectively, of the critically acclaimed new documentary on the food industry, "Food, Inc.") are just a few of the voices for a more just food system that added their names to the open letter. Here's an excerpt:

"We realize that Chipotle has announced that it's paying an extra penny per pound for tomatoes, but we have to ask: What has Chipotle done since that announcement to identify and cultivate growers who are willing to raise their labor standards and pass the penny along to their workers? Your company has shown admirable leadership in working with – and incubating – meat suppliers willing to meet your higher standards. But your failure to do that same hard work in the Florida tomato industry – together with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – threatens to render your announcement an empty gesture aimed more at public relations damage control than an effort to make real change."

The letter comes in the wake of last week's news of an important breakthrough in the Campaign for Fair Food -- Whole Foods' announcement that two of Florida's leading organic producers, Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms, will implement the company's agreement with the CIW, including the penny-per-pound wage increase and a strict code of conduct.

Click here to see the letter in its entirety and the full list of signatories!

"A Tale of Two Groceries"...

Publix, Whole Foods taking sharply different approaches to farm labor injustice in tomato supply chain

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair;..."

"Immokalee workers turn eye toward Publix," Ft. Myers News-Press 6/5/09
"Editorial: Publix should back tomato workers' fight," News-Press 6/6/09

6/8/09: The oft-quoted opening paragraph of the Charles Dickens classic "A Tale of Two Cities" provides a remarkably apt frame for a reflection on the different responses by supermarket giants Whole Foods and Publix to the revelation of slavery and other forms of extreme exploitation in Florida's tomato fields.

This past winter, headlines across Florida told of unimaginably brutal conditions on a labor camp in Immokalee where workers were forced to pick tomatoes against their will, had their pay stolen week after week, and were beaten, chained and locked inside box trucks so that they wouldn't escape overnight. In late December, as most people gathered with friends and family for the holiday season, one of the workers, Mariano Lucas Diego, testified at the sentencing hearing in Ft. Myers' federal court, saying these achingly simple words to Judge John E. Steele, "Bosses should not beat up the people who work with them."

With the sentencing of his bosses to 12 years in federal prison, Mariano Lucas Diego's "winter of despair" came to an end. And thanks to his suffering, farmworkers in Immokalee and throughout Florida saw, for the first time, signs of a "spring of hope." That's because this latest slavery case was the first slavery case involving tomatoes to have been prosecuted since the CIW had established supplier codes of conduct with five major food retailers, codes that included "zero tolerance" provisions for forced labor.

The same article on the farm bosses' sentencing that quoted Mariano Lucas Diego also identified two farms that used the workers being held against their will -- Six L's and Pacific Tomato Growers. The identification of the growers where the enslaved workers picked tomatoes triggered responses by all five of the companies that had signed agreements with the CIW.

As a result, Whole Foods, the first grocery store chain to have reached an agreement with the CIW only months earlier, cut-off purchases from Six L's and Pacific.

Also, Whole Foods began aggressively courting alternative suppliers, growers willing to go against the grain of Florida's tightly-controlled tomato industry, growers willing to implement the terms of the CIW's agreement with the organic supermarket leader. And just last week, news came of a breakthrough -- Whole Foods had reached an agreement with two of Florida's leading organic producers, Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms. As Tom Wilson of Alderman Farms told the produce industry journal The Packer:

“Whole Foods has a lot of excitement for this program, to do it right,” said Tom Wilson, an Alderman Farms salesman. “We listened to what they said and how they will support the program. In that light, we felt it was the right thing to do. More and more people will be doing this.” Read more

Meanwhile, at Publix (the country's largest privately owned grocery chain, with revenues in 2008 of $23.9 billion) it seems that nothing has changed, despite last winter's disturbing look behind the scenes at the brutal conditions facing Florida's farmworkers.

In an article published in last Friday's Ft. Myers News-Press, it was revealed that both Senator Dick Durbin and United Methodist Church Bishop Timothy Whitaker had asked Publix to join other food industry leaders in supporting the Campaign for Fair Food, to which Publix responded icily, "we respectfully decline the opportunity to participate in this program."

But not only that. The same article revealed that Publix continues to purchase tomatoes from Pacific Tomato Growers. And photos (right) taken just days ago at a Publix store in Ft. Myers leave no doubt that Six L's also remains one of the grocery giant's tomato suppliers (bottom right of label clearly shows the "Six L's" logo).

That's two for two.

Indeed, when asked about slavery in its supply chain, a Publix spokesperson appeared to take the position that the company has little or no role to play in policing its own suppliers. Shannon Patten of Publix told the News-Press, "We are confident that Governor Crist and Florida's law enforcement agencies will work tirelessly to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from our great state."

As the CIW's Lucas Benitez told the News-Press:

"In its commercials, Publix likes to cast itself as Florida's community grocer - the good neighbor. But how can you be a good neighbor when people are ... forced to work as slaves and robbed of their hard-earned pay in your own backyard, and you turn a blind eye?

"Instead they continue to buy their tomatoes from one of the farms where workers held against their will picked tomatoes." Read more

Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities" as a cautionary tale for the aristocracy of England, holding the brutality of the French Revolution up as an example of what might await the British upper classes if they remained blind to the social injustices of their times. In Book 3 of the serial novel he wrote:

"Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."

In this Tale of Two Groceries, we will close with the words of a modern-day voice for social justice, the editorial writer at the Ft. Myers News-Press, who wrote this weekend:

"Farmworker mistreatment is an ancient sin against the hardworking people who put food on our tables. A concerted effort to end it, including farmworker advocacy groups, and religious, political and law enforcement leaders and now some retailers and agribusinesses has finally evolved.

Whole Foods joined the fight because it reflected the company's "core values." The same should be true of a leading company like Publix." Read more

"Florida growers join Whole Foods to support labor coalition"

Yesterday's announcement brings strong reaction as the press, two U.S. senators, and the food industry weigh in...

6/5/09: From the Associated Press and MSNBC to the produce industry weekly "The Packer," coverage of yesterday's announcement was widespread and positive. Here are a few of the highlights:

• The Packer: “Whole Foods has a lot of excitement for this program, to do it right,” said Tom Wilson, an Alderman Farms salesman. “We listened to what they said and how they will support the program. In that light, we felt it was the right thing to do. More and more people will be doing this.” Read more
  
  
• Associated Press (New York Post): "If all Florida tomatoes purchasers joined the penny deal, the farmworkers could nearly double their earnings. The idea is that the national restaurant and grocery chains that have the deep pockets pay the extra money, including administrative costs, and the farmers pass it on to the workers when they receive their checks." Read more
  
  
• And this cheeky little commentary from MSNBC: "The one chain the CIW hasn't been able to entice over to the light side is Chipotle, which has been tsk tsked for responding with a snubby 'thanks, but no thanks.' C'mon, Chipotle, your burritos are overpriced as it is, what's a few more cents?" Read more

But the media and the Campaign for Fair Food's Senate allies were not alone in remarking on yesterday's big news (scroll down for statements from Senators Dick Durbin and Bernie Sanders). The broader food industry took notice, as well. Here's a statement from Bon Appetit CEO Fedele Bauccio (shown here on right with the CIW's Lucas Benitez during a recent visit to Immokalee), who may well be the next major buyer to support Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms for supporting farmworkers:

"The agreement between Whole Foods Market and Alderman and Lady Moon Farms proves that there are growers in Florida interested in doing the right thing. At Bon Appétit Management Company we're heartened by this news and feel optimistic that we will be able to source tomatoes from Florida that have been picked by workers that are treated with respect and paid a fair wage commensurate with the difficult job they are performing."

Stay tuned as reaction to this important new development continues to come in!

Stalemate broken -- two Florida growers move to implement CIW agreement with Whole Foods!

Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms, two of Florida's largest organic growers, officially onboard to pass penny-per-pound on to workers, meet strict labor standards...

Senators Durbin, Sanders issue statements on the new agreements...

6/4/09: In a press statement released today, Whole Foods has confirmed that two of Florida's largest organic growers have agreed to implement the principles of the Campaign for Fair Food, effectively breaking the stalemate established nearly two seasons ago when the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange threatened to fine any of its members that sold tomatoes under the terms of the CIW agreements. At that time, two Florida growers who had been passing on the penny-per-pound increase under the Taco Bell agreement ceased doing so.

Here's the press release, followed by statements by Senators Durbin (IL) and Sanders (VT):

Florida Tomato Growers Sign Agreement with Whole Foods Market supporting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) “Penny-per-Pound” Program

Lady Moon Farms and Alderman Farms are First in Florida to Join Effort to Improve Worker Wages & Working Conditions

AUSTIN, TX (June 4, 2009) – Whole Foods Market, the leading natural and organic foods supermarket announced today that Florida tomato growers Lady Moon Farms and Alderman Farms are the first to sign agreements with Whole Foods Market supporting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ “penny-per-pound” program designed to improve wages for tomato harvesters.

“Lady Moon and Alderman Farms are examples of Florida growers that Whole Foods Market is proud to support” said Karen Christensen, Global Produce Coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “These farms are long term partners of Whole Foods Market and we look forward to continued growth together. Agreements like these are consistent with Whole Foods Markets’ core values and are in the best interest of the people who harvest our tomatoes.”

"The Campaign for Fair Food is bearing fruit,” said Lucas Benitez of the CIW. “For nearly two seasons, the Campaign’s promise of fair wages for Florida's farmworkers has been held hostage by the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange. Today, however, the higher wages and fairer conditions we have fought for will begin to reach the workers who so clearly deserve them, thanks to the leadership of Whole Foods Market and the forward thinking growers at Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms."

"Without a doubt, the food market is changing, and for the better. Sustainability, social as well as environmental, is the way of the future," continued Benitez. "Together we -- as farmworkers, farmers, and buyers -- are forging a path toward that better future."

In September 2008, Whole Foods Market became the first in the supermarket industry to sign an agreement with the CIW to work in partnership to help improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers.

END

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

Quote from Senator Dick Durbin:

"I applaud Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms for recognizing that treating workers fairly and paying a better wage isn't bad for business but rather the best way to ensure the long-term success of Florida’s tomato growers. Whole Foods should also be congratulated for its leadership in demanding higher standards from its suppliers. All Florida tomato growers should follow the example set today and join with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in bringing fairer wages and more humane working conditions to all of Florida's tomato harvesters."

Quote from Senator Bernie Sanders:

“Today’s agreement is an important and hard-earned victory for tomato workers who have been fighting for years for an increase in their abysmally low wages and an improvement in their working conditions. I commend the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Lady Moon Farms, Alderman Farms, and Whole Foods for working together to make this day a reality.

With the signing of this agreement, it is long past time for the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to drop their threats of fines or surcharges on other growers who want to participate in the penny-per-pound program so that more workers can benefit. As someone who has been to Immokalee and seen the deplorable conditions of farm workers there, it is my hope that today will mark the beginning of the end of the ‘Harvest of Shame’ that has existed in the tomato fields in Florida for far too long.”

Check back soon for more on this breaking news!

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)

5/18/09: 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 the end of the Ft. Myers News Press story from December 20th entitled "Family sentenced for slavery," touched on an aspect of the story that ultimately got lost in the swirl of sordid facts around the Navarretes case:

"The Navarretes took their crews to work on farms owned by some of the state’s major tomato producers: Immokalee-based Six L’s and Pacific Tomato Growers in Palmetto. Both tomato growers are part of the Socially Accountable Farm Employers (SAFE) program, designed to prevent labor abuses." (emphasis added)

What exactly is “SAFE”?

SAFE is the product of a particularly unseemly union, the coming together of Florida’s plantation-scale tomato growers and the multi-billion dollar companies that buy their produce in an effort aimed at blunting the growing Campaign for Fair Food. 

The two joined forces in 2005 in the wake of the successful Taco Bell boycott.  An article in the Lakeland Ledger from the early days of SAFE -- entitled “Growers Seeking SAFE Haven: Group hopes to set practices for farmworkers, but some say it's skirting issue” – describes the birth of a bad idea:

WASHINGTON -- Jay Taylor recalls the seeds being sown last spring in a tomato packinghouse in Palmetto, where members of the restaurant industry and Florida agriculture met to discuss an escalating labor war... read more!

Excerpt from new book highlights CIW Anti-Slavery Campaign!...

"The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today"

5/14/09: Here below is an extended excerpt from the new book on modern-day slavery by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter that takes a close look the CIW's work to fight slavery in the fields.

The first paragraph below describes the barbaric conditions on the labor camps that were the focus of the CIW's first major slavery case, a case that took five years to carry from investigation to sentencing:

"... Despite all the efforts being put forth by the CIW, and the dozens of witnesses and escapees who had come forward, life went on undisturbed in Flores’s camps. Many mornings, Sebastian Gomez woke the workers by firing his 9-millimeter semi-automatic Smith and Wesson pistol in the air, and his partner, Miguel Flores, would punctuate his curses in the fields with shots from his own gun. When vendors or visitors approached his camps, he drove them off by brandishing his pistol or firing over their heads. On one occasion, he shot out a visitor’s tires. Over the years, Flores was arrested periodically on firearms and abuse charges, and sometimes he was bailed out by the local growers for whom he supplied the workers. He was never prosecuted. Former Department of Labor Senior Investigator Armando Brana states, “In my files, I have seven reports of workers who disappeared or died while working for Flores. Even for those who were shot, it was listed as ‘death by natural causes.’ Some, it seemed, fell off a bridge, or were hit by a tractor or a bus….” Investigations were cursory. “In one case,” recalls Brana, “the coroner on the case was the farmer Flores was working for!"...”

The story continues, describing the sentencing and the courageous testimony of CIW member Julia Gabriel (shown here on the right during the CIW's "Root Cause" march in Miami, 2003), who would later be recognized for her valor with the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award:

"... Finally, in October 1996, an indictment was brought in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, against Miguel Flores, Sebastian Gomez, and two of their recruiters, on charges of conspiracy, involuntary servitude, extortion, illegal possession of a firearm, use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, transporting and harboring aliens, and unlawful entry into the United States after deportation. The judge considered the defendants a high flight risk, and ordered them held without bail.

In May 1997 – nearly five years after the CIW started its campaign against the Flores slavery ring – the defendants entered a plea of guilty. This left only the sentencing hearing. Julia Gabriel, the tiny woman with the big story to tell, came forward to speak for a severe sentence. She told her story, and that of friends and co-workers who had been threatened and brutalized, and when she finished, she said, “That’s what I saw. And everything they did to others, they had no compassion for them. A lot of people were hurt. And there were a lot of victims, because they were very sure of themselves, and they could do anything. And they took advantage of the people, and that’s why I’m here, so that they will receive a harsh sentence, because they hurt a lot of people…and these people did nothing to them. These people are victims….And now is the moment of sentencing, and what I want is for them to see that…if they are prisoners…they will see what they did to other people. And if they are given a short sentence then they can, once they are out…go for revenge, and no, that shouldn’t be. They are bad people. And that’s the truth I’m telling you.”

The court believed her. Flores and Gomez were each sentenced to 15 years in federal prison..."

The excerpt ends with an analysis of the significance of the Flores case, a seminal case in the movement to end modern-day slavery:

"... The conviction of Flores was a landmark case, and instrumental in bringing about the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000, with its sets of definitions, charges and penalties for dealing specifically with cases of sex and labor slavery in the United States. And from a time when, in the words of (federal agent) Mike Baron, “you could fit the whole anti-slavery movement in the back of my patrol truck,” it helped spark the anti-human trafficking effort in the country today. Baron is lavish in his praise of the Coalition’s efforts: “If law enforcement had the same dedication and tenacity as the CIW, and weren’t bound by our restrictions, there wouldn’t be a place for the criminals to hide. They maintained contact with the workers, and tracked the movements of the crew leaders. Without the CIW, we wouldn’t have had any witnesses; we never would have found the victims."

Click here for a more extended excerpt from the new book, and here to purchase a copy today.

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

5/6/09: The Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice Foundation has selected the Coalition of Immokalee Workers 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 has written a series of excellent opinion pieces on the situation of farmworkers in Immokalee and the CIW's Campaign for Fair Food. You can read his columns here:

• "Salem award winner leads fight against exploitation," Salem News 5/6/09
• "Exploited farm workers pick the tomatoes we eat," Salem News 4/24/09

Click here for more!

CIW speaks at conference on slavery in Vienna, Austria!

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...

5/4/09: 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 in the course of our experience might aid the OSCE's member states in their own battle with the growing problem of agricultural slavery.

Here's an excerpt from the CIW's presentation, delivered to an audience (above) comprised mainly of policy makers and representatives of government authorities:

"... When the CIW began in the early 1990s, we did not set out to be an anti-slavery organization – it was formed as a labor and human rights organization, fighting for better wages and dignity for farmworkers. But in the course of our work, we came across first one forced labor case, then another, then another, and it became clear that the initial cases were not anomalies, but rather that an all-too significant percentage of the overall farm workforce is being held against their will. So today, we have an Anti-Slavery Campaign focusing on investigation, training, and prevention as part of our organization’s overall mission...

... We now have a network of members who work across the Southeast who can report suspected instances of peers being held against their will, because the community as a whole has been educated on the issue. We have staff and members who conduct labor rights outreach at worker housing, through house-to-house visits up north, as well as community radio programs and weekly meetings in our home base. This anti-slavery education takes place within a broader framework of overall labor and human rights campaigns. If a degraded labor environment does tip over into actual slavery – and I’ll discuss in a minute the difference – peers of the captive workers will recognize it and will also understand that something can be done about it..."

Check back soon for a complete text of the CIW's presentation!

Groundbreaking agreement with Bon Appetit hits the headlines, blogosphere...

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 hog production. Almost lost amid the furor was much happier news about the “T” part of the delectable lunch item..." more
  
  
• "The Ethicurean" - "... Florida’s tomato growers have a special infernal circle reserved for them: they fought tooth and nail against a penny-a-pound increase (workers’ wages hadn’t risen in three decades), but even after their fast-food customers caved to consumer pressure and agreed to pay the increase, they have som ehow avoided passing it along to worker... I look forward to seeing [Bon Appetit] face off against the tomato growers, with possibly Whole Foods joining the cause." more
  
  
• "La Vida Locavore" - "... I've long been in awe of the excellent, continued campaign run by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the group representing the workers in Florida's tomato fields... I honestly cannot even imagine the hell those workers live through every single day of their lives. My friend Jim Goodman joined a delegation that visited Immokalee earlier this year and he posted his comments along with some photos here. The trip REALLY affected him, which makes me think that as serious as I take this issue, I STILL underestimate the severity of the workers' situation... Congrats to Bon Appetit for their strong moral stance and to the Immokalee workers for their victory. And shame on any company that does not do the same." more
  
  
• "The Daily Table" - "... While many people think the sustainable food movement has solely to do with food, environment, and processing, a large part is fair treatment for workers. Bon Appétit, along with stores like Whole Foods and others, are starting to work this idea of fair treatment into their philosophies." more
  
  
• Ft. Myers News-Press - "First, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers took on fast food. Then came natural food. Now, it's targeting campus and corporate food, with a powerful new ally pledging support - and dollars - to the group's Campaign for Fair Food..." more

Stay tuned for more news as the Campaign for Fair Food continues to gather momentum!

Fair Food movement breaks ground in foodservice industry!

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: "The future of a fairer tomato industry is being written today, and this agreement is a rough draft. It's not a final product, and it's not meant to be. But it is a great first cut at building a relationship between farmworkers and their employers based on a genuine appreciation for the value of farmworkers' labor - something that has been absent since the birth of the agricultural industry in Florida - and driven by a vision of universal human rights. We see this as a golden opportunity for Florida's smaller, family-scale farmers to gain access to a market that has traditionally been beyond their reach, and to help elevate Florida's agricultural industry in the process."

Fedele Bauccio, CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company: "America's agricultural workers do jobs that are far more difficult and dangerous than the average retail or restaurant worker, yet these jobs are critical to our entire food chain. When I met with workers in the fields and saw first-hand how difficult their lives are, I knew that I could not, in good conscience, contribute to such a system. We buy almost 5 million pounds of tomatoes a year. I decided to use that power to make a real difference in the supply chain."

Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder, UFW: "We congratulate Bon Appétit Management Company for their support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to bring humane treatment to those that bring the food to our table. This historic partnership between the food industry and farmworkers can end the slavery and slave-like conditions that farmworkers are subjected to in Florida and other states. ¡Si Se Puede!"

Check back for more on the groundbreaking agreement soon...

Governor Crist letter to CIW: "I support the Coalition's Campaign for Fair Food,"... "I encourage the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and its members to participate in the campaign..."

Lucas Benitez, CIW: "Today, with the addition of a single voice, the chorus of support for the Campaign for Fair Food grew immeasurably stronger."

3/27/09: Governor Charlie Crist issued a letter to the CIW's Lucas Benitez and Gerardo Reyes late yesterday. The letter reiterated his support for the Campaign for Fair Food, called on the FTGE to participate in the CIW's agreements with corporate purchasers of Florida tomatoes, and closed with a reaffirmation of his commitment to work with the CIW toward a Florida agricultural industry free of labor abuse. Here below are the highlights of the letter (you can see the whole letter on Governor Crist's website by clicking here):

• "I have no tolerance for slavery in any form, and I am committed to eliminating this injustice anywhere in Florida..."
  
  
• "I support the Coalition's Campaign for Fair Food, whereby corporate purchasers of tomatoes have agreed to contribute monies for the benefit of the tomato field workers. I commend these purchasers for their participation, and I encourage the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and its members to participate in the campaign so that these monies can reach and provide assistance to the workers..."
  
  
• "I look forward to working with you and your organization in the future to advance these important causes."

The CIW issued the following response:

Lucas Benitez: "Today, with the addition of a single voice, the chorus of support for the Campaign for Fair Food grew immeasurably stronger.

We are tremendously pleased to see that Governor Charlie Crist has chosen to lend his support to our campaign. There can be no doubt that this marks a significant step forward toward our vision of an agricultural industry founded on the respect of human rights, not the exploitation of human beings. We, too, look eagerly forward to working with Governor Crist to make this vision a reality."

Gerardo Reyes: "There is, of course, much to be done. And the first order of business is for the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) to end its senseless opposition to our agreements with food industry leaders, so that farmworkers may receive the increased wages promised in those agreements. While the leadership of the FTGE may not yet realize it, the market around them is changing, and a more modern, more humane agricultural industry is undoubtedly in the interest of all the growers it represents. As John Chidsey, the CEO of Burger King, said in the announcement of our agreement last year, 'If the Florida tomato industry is to be sustainable long-term, it must become more socially responsible.'

Today's announcement by Governor Crist also sends a strong message to the rest of the restaurant and supermarket industry: Now is the time to join Yum Brands, McDonalds, and Burger King, Subway and Whole Foods in righting the wrongs that have been allowed to linger in Florida’s fields for far too long."

For more coverage, click on the following links:

• Ft. Myers News-Press: "Governor Crist praises the Coalition of Immokalee Workers"
• Naples Daily News: "Gov. Crist supports better working conditions for farmworkers"

Food Justice delegation writers do what they do best!

Check out reports from Francis Moore Lappe, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott of Grist.org, and Eric Holt-Gimenez of Food First on March 5th visit to Immokalee...

3/15/09: Last week's visit to Immokalee by some of the leading lights of the growing Food Justice movement generated headlines.

But it did more than that. It also opened the eyes of some hardened veterans of grassroots struggles for a fairer food system, bringing many of the writers and activists from that movement into direct contact with the brutal living and working conditions faced by Florida's farmworkers for the first time. Here below are some of their reports (and click here to see the photo report from the 3/5/09 visit):

UPDATE (3/23/09): Siena Chrisman, of the food justice organization World Hunger Year (WHY), sent her own reflection on the visit along last week. Here's an excerpt, describing the community meeting observed by the Food Justice delegation: "Meeting facilitation rotates among CIW leadership; the soft-spoken Lucas Benitez ran the meeting we attended more like he was having a casual chat with a few friends than leading a meeting of 100 people just days before a major action against Governor Crist in Tallahassee." read more

• Raj Patel, "Apartheid in America," Stuffed and Starved: "It was an inspirational time, and it is clearly in everyone’s interest that the kind of apartheid that characterises American agriculture (more than other industries) come to an end. The tides of history turned against Apartheid. They will turn against the injustice in the fields." read more
  
  
• Francis Moore Lappe, "The Secret -- I Saw, Close-up, the Real Root of Global Economic Collapse," Huffington Post: "We all know that when a big tree is toppled in a storm, its roots get exposed. In today's financial hurricane, big roots are sticking out of Immokalee's sandy soils. There, this week, as part of a delegation sponsored by Just Harvest, suddenly abstract economic "forces" got very real for me -- embodied in human lives, human faces." read more
  
  
• Tom Philpott, Immokalee Diary, Part 1, Part 2, Grist.org: "Right across the street from the parking lot stands the CIW's community center, a simple, functionalist building whose very existence quietly counteracts the power represented by the wheezing, grower-owned buses. Honestly, the community center at times felt like liberated space in a war zone -- a place dedicated to improving worker lives in a place seemingly designed to destroy them." read more
  
  
• Eric Holt-Gimenez, "The Coalition of Immokalee Workers: Fighting modern day slavery in the industrial food system," Food First: "Upon my return from Immokalee I mentioned my trip to my sister-in-law, who is a rural sociologist from Guatemala. “Immokalee!” she cried, “The campesinos in the Highlands all fear that place!” Sadly, “ground zero” for modern slavery practices in the U.S. is well known—and dreaded—by indigenous people in Mesoamerica. Indeed, for some it is a “gate of no return.” read more

And for something completely different, check out this rapid-fire animation of hundreds of photos from the recent theater and press conference in Tallahassee (by none other than Mr. JJ Tiziou, of course). It's like watching two whole days unfold in two minutes!

3/9/09:Press conference, theater on steps of old Capitol in Tallahassee echo Ft. Myers News Press editorial: "Governor, meet with the Coalition"

On the right is a moment of the at the action from the CIW's theater and press conference on the steps of the old Capitol in Tallahassee

Click here for a must-see photo report from the inspirational day of action! (photos by Jacques-Jean Tiziou).

And click on the links below for a complete round-up of the media coverage:

Media Round-up:

• "We cannot continue to ignore farmworkers," Tallahassee Democrat
• "Governor, meet with the Coalition," Ft. Myers News-Press editorial
• "Charlie Crist snubs slavery foes," CBS News
• "200 Immokalee farmworkers protest at Capitol, ask governor to support end to slavery," Naples Daily News
• Picture gallery from theater, press conference, Tallahasee Democrat
• "Yes, those are slaves on the steps of the Florida Capitol today," Miami New Times
• "Immokalee farmworkers ask Crist for help," Ft. Myers News-Press
• "Governor remains silent on plague of slavery," Ft. Myers News-Press
• "Immokalee farm workers hold anti-slavery rally," Miami Herald
• "Your Tomatoes Were Picked by Slaves," Slate
• "Farmworkers headed to Tallahassee again," Naples Daily News
• Letter to Governor Crist, Melinda Hemmelgarn, member of Food Justice delegation to Immokalee