Endorsments of the CIW’s Taco Bell Boycott

ENDORSEMENTS
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Here’s what Eric Schlosser, author of the best-selling book Fast Food Nation, has to say about the Taco Bell boycott and why he chose to endorse the CIW’s campaign for “fast and fair food” (Mr. Schlosser is shown here speaking at the Feb. 28, 2003, rally in support of hunger strikers outside Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, CA):

“We all eat. But we rarely stop to think about where our food comes from, how it was made — and who makes it possible.

Most of America’s fruits and vegetables are still picked by hand. The farm workers who pick them are among the nation’s poorest. In the same way that Nike has been held accountable for the mistreatment of the Asian workers who make its sneakers, major companies like Taco Bell must be held accountable for the mistreatment of the American farm workers who pick their fruits and vegetables.

Just an extra penny a pound could make the difference between a life of poverty and a living wage. Every one of our purchases is like a vote, a vote for a particular company and its business practices. Don’t give your money to corporations who profit from the exploitation of the poor.

The are trying to bring dignity and a decent wage to American farm workers. Please give them your full support.”

Eric Schlosser, Professor Noam Chomsky, and several US family farm organizations have joined a number of well-known activists and artists in adding their voices to the call for Fair Food, including award-winning actors Edward James Olmos and Susan Sarandon, Dolores Huerta of the UFW, Barbara Ehrenreich of “Nickel and Dimed,” David Korten of “When Corporations Rule the World,” Julia Butterfly Hill, the Indigo Girls, Chumbawamba, and Naomi Klein of “No Logo.”

You, and your organization, can join the United Farm Workers, the Presbyterian Church USA, the American Postal Workers’ Union, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, United Students Against Sweatshops, ACORN, the United Church of Christ, Global Exchange, the Mexico Solidarity Network, United for a Fair Economy and MORE… by officially endorsing the boycott.


Here’s what a few of the other endorsers have said about the boycott and their decision to lend their formal support to the farmworkers’ struggle here in Immokalee:

The National Family Farm Coalition (a coalition of farm organizations), the Family Farm Defenders, and the Community Farm Alliance in Kentucky and Indiana (CFA) have all joined the growing list of endorsers. Here’s an excerpt of the CFA statement:

“… We know that as your organization and other farmworker organizations suceed, we will have begun to dismantle the sort of unfair corporate advantage such as is advanced by the corporate cheerleaders for the North American Free Trade Agreement and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. We hope to stem and reverse the now regular disappearance of small farmers from the rural landscape. Instead of giving further berth to the expansion and further empowerment of corporate agriculture such as is now systematized under NAFTA and will be developed further under the proposed FTAA, we hope to see the fair compensation for labor for all those involved in agriculture in our lifetimes…” read more of this eloquent statement

David Korten, author of “When Corporations Rule the World,” had this to say about the boycott when he endorsed the campaign:

“I strongly endorse the boycott of Taco Bell and other fast food chains that profit from the misery of underpaid workers and pose a threat to family farms and restaurants. To have a society that works we must all become more conscious of the implications of our food and other buying choices. Make it a regular habit to patronize businesses owned by local people that function as part of a responsible community and avoid patronizing global corporations like Taco Bell that care only for their profits. Taco and hamburger stands should be owned and run by local families, not global corporate predators.” David Korten, Author, “When Corporations Rule the World

And in case you haven’t seen it yet… Check out this VIDEO of Tom Morello’s speech supporting the boycott at the huge March 11, 2002, rally at Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, CA.

Click here to watch the Quicktime video!

Tom (shown here on the left during his 3/11/02 speech at the culmination of the cross-country “Taco Bell Truth Tour” outside TB’s corporate office in Irvine, CA) is Rage Against the Machine’s award-winning lead guitarist, and now leads the nationally-acclaimed new group Audioslave. He and Serj Tankian of System of a Down also have a great web site and on-going project for social justice, called Axis of Justice.

Finally, here is a near-complete list of the official endorsements of the Taco Bell Boycott as of February, 2005. For those organizations that have endorsed the campaign and don’t see your name in this list, please email us and we will get you up quickly:

Individuals
* The Honorable Mary Robinson
(former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland)
* Martin Sheen
* Bonnie Raitt
* Jeff Bridges
* Noam Chomsky,
professor, MIT
* Tom Morello,
Audioslave (formerly, Rage Against the Machine)
* Lynn Redgrave
* Alfre Woodard
* Susan Sarandon
* Dolores Huerta, co-founder, United Farm Workers (UFW)
* Kerry Kennedy,
RFK Center for Human Rights
* Van Jones,
Ella BakerCenter for Human RIghts
* Congresswoman Linda Sanchez,
D-CA
* CA State Senator Joe Dunn,
D-District 34
* Edward James Olmos
* The Indigo Girls
* Chumbawamba
* Eric Schlosser
(author, “Fast Food Nation”)
* Barbara Ehrenreich
(author, “Nickel and Dimed”)
* David Korten
(author, “When Corporations Rule the World”)
* Naomi Klein
(author, “No Logo”)
* Julia Butterfly Hill
* Howard Zinn
(author, “A People’s History of the United States”)
* Paul Loeb
(author, “Soul of a Citizen”)
* Wendell Berry
* Ka Hsaw Wa and Katie Redford
of Earth Rights International
* Sister Dianna Ortiz
of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International
* Karen Robinson and Pinor Araz
of Amnesty International
* Muriel Anderson
* Utah Phillips
* Ozomatli
* The Weakerthans
* Suheir Hammad

* Lalo Alcaraz
(cartoonist)
* Cecil Martin
(formerly, Philadelphia Eagles)
* Louis Andriessen
(composer)


Labor
* American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
*
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
* United Farm Workers (UFW)
* Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN)
* Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
* UFCW Local 227 Executive Board (Louisville, KY)
* Jefferson County Teachers Association (Louisville, KY)
* Kentucky Jobs with Justice
* United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, UE District 10
* San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC)
* Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Local 2850 (HERE)
* Coalition of University Employees Local 3 (CUE – Berkeley, CA)
* Oakland Education Association (OEA – Oakland, CA)
* Laborers International Union, District Council (Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota)
* United Campus Workers (Communication Workers of America, Local 3865, Knoxville, TN)
* South Florida Jobs with Justice
* The Garment Workers Center
* Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA National Office, NY, NY)
* Inudstrial Workers of the World (IWW), Pensacola General Membership Branch (FL)
* Workers Rights Forum (WRF, Bangladesh)


Global Justice

* United for Peace and Justice
*
CODEPINK
* Mexico Solidarity Network
* Global Exchange
* Campaign for Labor Rights
* United for a Fair Economy
* Food First
* Anti-Slavery International (London)


Student
* Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, National (MEChA)
* MEChA – Los Angeles Central
* United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
* United States Student Association (USSA)
* Student Labor Action Project (SLAP)
* Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC)
* Student/Farmworker Alliance
* Campus Greens
* Student Peace Action Network (SPAN)
* Students Transforming and Resistine Corporations (STARC)
* Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC)
* University of California Student Association (UCSA)
* University of Texas Watch
* Purdue Organization for Labor Equality (POLE)
* The Movement for Democracy for Education 180
* San Diego State University, Student Government
* Harvard Divinity School, Anti-Poverty Campaign and Equitas
* American Indian Student Union – Florida State University


Faith-based

* National Council of Churches of Christ (in the U.S.A.)
* United Methodist Church
* Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
* United Church of Christ
* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
* Alliance of Baptist Churches
* American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
* Buddhist Peace Fellowship
* Episcopal Migrant Ministry
* Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
* Unitarian Universalist Migrant Ministry
* Pax Christi USA
* Pax Christi International
* Catholic Labor Network
* Interfaith Worker Justice (Chicago)
* National Farm Worker Ministry
* Bishop John Nevins, DD, Diocese of Venice (FL)
* Peace and Justice Office, Diocese of Venice (FL)
* California Council of Churches
* New Orleans Province of the Jesuits
* Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
* Sisters of Mercy Region 2
* Ohio Council of Churches
* Florida Council of Churches Commission on Social Justice
* The Christian Church in Florida (Disciples of Christ)
* North Carolina Council of Churches Farmworker Ministry Committee
* Church Women United of Illinois
* Florida Church Women United
* Florida United Church of Christ Women
* Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida
* Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida
* Tampa Farm Worker Supporters
* Sarasota/Manatee Farm Worker Supporters
* South Florida Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice
* Orange County (CA) Interfaith Committee to Aid Farm Workers
* Apostolic Catholic Church (SW Florida)
* Fiath Presbyterian Church (Austin, TX)
* First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Findlay, OH
* The Session of Lakeview Presbyterian Church, Florida
* Religious Society of Friends, Ft. Myers Meeting

Community/other
* National Family Farm Coalition
* Family Farm Defenders
* Community Farm Alliance of Kentucky and Indiana
* National Lawyers Guild
* American Anti-Slavery Group
* School of Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
* Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
* Florida AIM (American Indian Movement)
* National Immigrant Solidarity Network
* ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
*
Florida Green Party
* Broward County Green Party, FL
* Green Party of Brevard County, FL
* Green Party of Pinellas County, FL
* Long Beach, CA, Green Party
* The Blue-Green Alliance of the Green Party of Florida
* LUS (Latinos Unidos Siempre), youth organization, Oregon
* Florida Coalition of Peace and Justice
* The Simple Way
* Zapatista Solidarity Coalition – Sacramento, CA
* Bay Area (San Francisco) Radical Women
* San Francisco Day Laborers
* Marin (CA) Interfaith Task Force on Latin America
* Liberate Orange County (CA)
* Coastal Convergence Society (Huntington Beach, CA)
* ActionLA Coalition (Los Angeles, CA)