Open letter to Chipotle reaches 75 signatures, including 30 small farmers and dozens of new food movement leaders!

Posted on by CIW



Open letter to Chipotle CEO: CIW’s Fair Food Program “a golden opportunity to… address historic inconsistency in your approach to social accountability.”

Two days ago, we brought you the news that in the lead up to Chipotle’s “Cultivate” festival in Denver — and to the Campaign for Fair Food’s counter festival to protest Chipotle’s exclusion of farmworkers from its vision of a sustainable food system — an open letter is circulating among leaders of the country’s food justice movement that levels a devastating critique at the fast-food industry leader for its indefensible blind spot when it comes to human rights.

Well, that letter is gathering new signatures faster than you can say “Food with Integrity,” and as of this morning it is at 75 signers and climbing! Rather than citing just a handful of the signatories, we have decided to simply list them all here, below, along with a brief excerpt from the letter. Meanwhile, you can read the letter in full here. And if you are interested in adding your name to the letter, you can contact us at workers@ciw-online.org. See you in Denver!

Open Community Letter to Chipotle on Behalf of the Sustainable Food Movement

As chefs, small and family farmers, food writers, urban gardeners, sustainable food advocates, and food sovereignty groups, we write united in the expression of our deep concern with Chipotle Mexican Grill’s current stance towards Florida farmworkers and their innovative Fair Food Program (FFP). We urge your company to enter, without further delay, into an authentic, verifiable partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) by making a binding commitment to the Fair Food Program – the first large-scale program for verifiable, durable social accountability in the domestic produce industry…

… As members of the sustainable food community, we remind you that respecting human rights is a core principle in building a sustainable food system in our country. A commitment to serving “Food with Integrity” cannot be just another marketing slogan that cashes in on a trend. It must be a holistic vision that respects the rights of farmworkers in our country… read more

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  1. Eric Schlosser, Author, Fast Food Nation, Co-Producer, Food, Inc.
  2. Raj Patel, Author, Stuffed and Starved, Food and Community Fellow
  3. Frances Moore Lappé, Author, Diet for a Small Planet
  4. Anna Lappé, Co-Founder, Small Planet Institute, Author, Diet for a Hot Planet
  5. Barry Estabrook, Author, Tomatoland
  6. Ben Burkett, President, National Family Farm Coalition, Federation of Southern Cooperatives
  7. Joshua Klein, Former Chipotle Farm Team Member
  8. Jim Harkness, Executive Director, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  9. Mark Muller, Director, Food and Justice Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  10. LaDonna Redmond, Senior Program Associate, Food and Justice Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  11. Bill Ayres, Executive Director, Why Hunger
  12. Niaz Dorry, Coordinating Director, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance
  13. Nikki Henderson, Executive Director, People’s Grocery
  14. Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director, Pesticide Action Network North America
  15. Andy Fisher, Co-founder, Former Executive Director, Community Food Security Coalition
  16. Tom Philpott, Food and Ag Blogger, Mother Jones Magazine
  17. Sanjay Rawal, Director, Food Chain
  18. Jose Duarte, Chef, Taranta Restaurant, Chefs Collaborative
  19. Hank Herrera, Founder, The Center for Popular Research, Education and Policy
  20. Joann Lo, Exective Director, Food Chain Workers Alliance
  21. Anim Steel, Director, Real Food Challenge
  22. Navina Khanna, Co-founder and Field Director, Live Real
  23. Malik Yakini, Executive Director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Food and Community Fellow
  24. Bryant Terry, Chef and Author, Food and Community Fellow
  25. Halie Johnston, Co-founder, Common Market, Food and Community Fellow
  26. Dr. Keecha Harris, President, KH & Associates, Food and Community Fellow
  27. Fred Bahnson, Director, Food, Faith, and Religious Leadership Initiative, Food and Community Fellow
  28. Nicole Betancourt, Founder, Parent Earth, Director, Before You Go, Food and Community Fellow
  29. LaVon Griffieon, Farmer, Co-founder, 1000 Friends of Iowa, Food and Community Fellow
  30. Alissa Hamilton, Author, Squeezed, Food and Community Fellow
  31. Jenga Mwendo, Founder, Backyard Gardeners Network, Food and Community Fellow
  32. Brahm Ahmadi, Founder, People’s Community Market
  33. Rebecca Wiggins-Reinhard, Farm Fresh Director, La Semilla Food Center, Food and Community Fellow
  34. Andrea Collier, Journalist, Author, Black Woman’s Guide to Black Men’s Health, Food and Community Fellow
  35. Kelvin Graddick, West Georgia Farmers Cooperative, Food and Community Fellow
  36. Kimberly Seals Allers, Author, Mocha Manual, Food and Community Fellow
  37. Nina Fallenbaum, Food and Agriculture Editor, Hyphen Magazine, Food and Community Fellow
  38. Cheryl Davida Danley, Academic Specialist, C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems, Michigan State University, Food and Community Fellow
  39. Gerardo Marin, Co-director, Rooted in Community
  40. Maya Salsedo, Youth organizer, Rooted in Community, 2012 Brower Youth Awardee
  41. Mike Moon, Family Farm Defenders, Founder, Just Coffee Cooperative
  42. Jodi Henderson, Associate Director, No Human Trafficking
  43. Bob St. Peter, Farmer, Saving Seeds Farm, Executive Director, Food for Maine’s Future
  44. Rushelle Frazier and Jerrad Hardin, Farmers, Future Farm
  45. Kathia Duran, Executive Director, Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana, Inc.
  46. Aaron Cardona, Farmer and Rancher, Arevalos Farm
  47. Maggie Martin and Jason Hurd, Farmer, Veterans for Just and Sustainable Agriculture
  48. Hai Vo, Grain Project Community Gardens
  49. Citlalic Jeffers Peña, 6th Street CSA and Community Center
  50. Tristan Call and Kate Savage, Farmers, Nashville Greenlands Farm
  51. Owen Taylor, Community Farm and Food Resource Center at Bartram’s Garden
  52. Christopher Bolden-Newsome, Farmer, Newsome Community Farm
  53. Jalal Sabur, Wassaic Community Farm
  54. Jazmin Francis, Farmer, Arise Community Farm
  55. Karen Lopez, Farmer, Brook Park Community Garden
  56. Malin Alegria Ramirez, Farmer, La Mesa Verde, Traditional Native American Farming Association
  57. Ayana Heumann, The Lucy Parson’s Community Garden
  58. Phil Retberg and Heather Retberg, Farmers, Quill’s End Farm
  59. Aaron Cardona, Farmer, Arevalos Farm
  60. Ben Schwartz, Farmer, Wassaic Community Farm
  61. Damian Parr, Farmer, La Semenza Farm
  62. Asantewaa Gail Harris, Farmer, African Zion Organic Roots Farm, Community Vision Council
  63. Sarita Daftary, Farmer, East New York Farms
  64. Yvonne Brunot, Farmer, Right Mind Farms
  65. Jonah Vitale-Wolff, Farmer, Soul Fire Farm
  66. Melvin Giles, Farmer, Aurora/St. Anthony Peace Sanctuary Garden
  67. Karen Washington, Urban Farmer, La Familia Verde Cooperative Farm
  68. Tahz Walker and Cristina Rivera Chapman, Farmers, Tierra Negra Farm
  69. Mike Mays, Founder and President, Heine Brothers Coffee
  70. Dan Bailey, Founder and CEO, Amavida Coffee and Tea
  71. Higher Grounds Trading Company
  72. Bean North Coffee Roasters
  73. Café Campesino
  74. Coop Sol
  75. Conscious Coffees