A poll taken this week by Tampa Bay’s Channel 10 News shows that the
Campaign for Fair Food wins over Publix’s intransigence in a landslide!
Go to the Fast website to see the Photo Report and all the news and CIW media from Day Four!
The fasters celebrated International Women’s Day at the Fast site today, received still more words of support from around the country, and welcomed more friends to the Fast ahead of Saturday’s big procession and celebration of the breaking of the Fast.
Among the well wishers was Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet, who wrote:
| “You all are my heroes! Thank you, thank you for your courage and determination and the dignity you embody. You WILL succeed because your cause is just and your spirit is powerful. I want to continue to be supportive of CIW in any way that I can. May basic decency prevail and your goals be achieved NOW!” |
Arielle Rosenberg, the Rabbinical Student at Hebrew College in Boston who has been fasting in solidarity all week, sent this news:
| “Just so you know, the Taanit Esther fast being dedicated to the Fast for Fair Food was a huge success! A bunch of students dedicated their fast today, as did rabbis in Boston, a synagogue in NY, and a Jewish community in Portland, Oregon. The CIW network is so impressive, and it’s been an amazing experience to make that manifest by fasting together. It was nice to have solidarity with people today, I’ll say that!” |
And speaking of the Taanit Esther fast, 85 rabbis, cantors, and Jewish community members signed an open letter to Publix pledging their fast to be “in support of the members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers currently fasting outside of your Lakeland headquarters in the Fast for Fair Food.” Here’s the letter:
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“We, the undersigned rabbis, cantors, and Jewish community members, urge Publix to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Florida tomato industry to address the sub-poverty wages and human rights abuses faced by farmworkers who pick tomatoes sold at Publix. Today, the Jewish community observes Ta’anit Esther, the Fast of Esther. In the Torah, before Queen Esther approaches the King of Persia to ask for the safety of her people, she fasts and asks the Jewish people to fast in solidarity with her. We continue her fast today. We have pledged our fasts today to be in support of the members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers currently fasting outside of your Lakeland headquarters in the Fast for Fair Food. Jews across the country applaud this fast and urge you to begin negotiations with the CIW. By working with the CIW to enforce a code of conduct for basic rights for farmworkers, including zero tolerance for slavery, Publix can ensure that the tomatoes you sell are not the product of slave labor and exploitative working conditions. Will you be a leader in the grocery industry by agreeing to the CIW’s Fair Food Campaign.” |
So, go to the Fast for Fair Food website to see the full Photo Report and media round-up from Day Four, and check back soon for more news from the Fast site!