“Urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice”…

Nearly a year and a half ago, 36 leading scholars in the fields of labor law, labor studies, and social research, joined by the founding members of the Alliance for Fair Food, wrote a letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells. They began their letter:

“It has come to our attention that in response to the CIW’s requests to meet and to work together to address human rights abuses of farmworkers in your company’s tomato supply chain, Chipotle has, instead, decided to suspend purchases of Florida tomatoes and unilaterally investigate the CIW’s ‘claims.'”

The powerfully-written letter continued:

“Suspending tomato purchasing from Florida does not mitigate the problem of sweatshop conditions in Chipotle’s tomato supply chain and will not enable Chiplote to keep the public’s faith in your claim of selling “Food with Integrity.”  Nor will it satisfy the growing and committed constituency taking action in support of human rights of farmworkers.  On the contrary, it is an abdication of the very notion of corporate responsibility at the heart of your aggressively-marketed mission of ‘integrity.'”

The letter was not immediately made public, in order to allow Chipotle to respond before bringing public pressure. The signatories’ patience, however, would not be infinite:

“AFF has opted to give your company time and space to examine the issues raised by this campaign, trusting that Chipotle would choose to live up to its commitment to integrity.  Instead, with every day that passes, farmworkers in Chipotle’s supply chain continue living a nightmare of exploitation.

If Chipotle continues its current path of avoidance, however, the urgent need for reform in the fields requires us to intensify our call and actions for justice. As scholars concerned about the welfare of working people, and as endorsers of the Alliance for Fair Food, many with national membership bases, we are committed to continuing the Campaign for Fair Food until fair wages and working conditions become a reality for farmworkers.”

With the successful conclusion of the Burger King campaign and the support, now, of the three largest companies in the fast-food industry for the principles of Fair Food, the time to “intensify our call and actions for justice” in Chipotle’s supply chain has come.

You can read the scholars’ letter in its entirety by clicking here.

You can also take action yourself with these simple tools (click on the links to download the pdf’s):

• Manager’s letter – to deliver to the manager of your local Chipotle restaurant
• Chipotle flyer – coming soon!

And meanwhile, you can check out the action at a recent protest by the Denver-based Fair Food Committee outside Chipotle’s corporate headquarters. Stay tuned for more to come in the growing campaign for real integrity in Chipotle’s tomato supply chain.