Business leader in Miami Herald letter to the editor: “I’ve been a loyal Publix shopper for decades. But Publix doesn’t participate in the Fair Food Program…”
First up, earlier this week, Miami-based business leader Adam Snitzer took it upon himself to offer Publix some friendly advice through the pages of the Miami Herald. In an article titled “Maximizing revenue: Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Mr. Snitzer takes Publix to task for failing to join the Fair Food Program, even while some of the company’s major competitors in Florida, including The Fresh Market, have long since done so:
Maximizing revenues: Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish
BY ADAM SNITZER, revenue strategy expert and president of Peak Revenue Performance
Special to the Miami Herald
There’s an old British adage against being “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
It warns against safeguarding pennies while risking pounds, referring to British pounds sterling which are worth $1.46 at current exchange rates.
It’s good advice.
And I’ve been thinking about it in the context of corporate social responsibility while shopping in the produce sections and while at the checkout counters of my two local grocery stores.
You see, I recently became aware of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. They’re a human-rights organization that protects the Florida farm-worker community. A few years ago, the group launched the Fair Food Program to create partnerships among farm workers, Florida tomato growers and participating retail buyers.
As part of the Fair Food Program, the participating tomato growers agree to improve working conditions and participating retail sellers agree to pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes. That penny gets passed on to the farm workers and can amount to an extra $30 to $50 a week.
The improved working conditions and the extra pay make a real difference.
I’ve been a loyal Publix shopper for decades.
But Publix doesn’t participate in the Fair Food Program.
So I decided to launch my own private boycott.
As part of the Fair Food Program, the participating tomato growers agree to improve working conditions and participating retail sellers agree to pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes. That penny gets passed on to the farm workers and can amount to an extra $30 to $50 a week.
I know that sounds quixotic, but it’s not uncommon. According to a recent study, 55 percent of consumers have refused to purchase a company’s products due to concerns about corporate social responsibility.
As part of my personal protest, instead of buying tomatoes at Publix, I decided to run down the street to Fresh Market, which does participate in the Fair Food Program, and buy my tomatoes there.
“So what,” I figured. I was willing to spend extra on Fresh Market tomatoes if it meant channeling a few more pennies to the Fair Food Program.
But then something unexpected happened. I learned that Fresh Market’s tomatoes are not more expensive than Publix’s tomatoes.
The beautiful, red, vine-ripened, organic tomatoes were $3.99 per pound at both stores. The sweet, little grape tomatoes were also $3.99 per pound at both stores. Publix’s plum tomatoes and Fresh Market’s roma tomatoes were both $1.69 per pound. And the big beefsteak tomatoes were $2.99 per pound at Publix and only $1.99 per pound at Fresh Market.
So it turned out that I could support the farm workers while paying the same or less for tomatoes. […]
[…] According to the company website, Publix doesn’t participate in the Fair Food Program because it views wages and working conditions as an internal matter between Florida farmers and Florida farm workers, and compliance with labor laws is best left to the U.S. Department of Labor to enforce.
Perhaps. But because Publix doesn’t pay a penny per pound of tomatoes into the Fair Food Program, I’m on a pace to shift $3,000 of food spending per year to Fresh Market.
That’s what the British meant when they warned against being penny-wise and pound-foolish. My advice: Don’t let that happen at your business.
Fresh Fruit Portal: “Pressure is mounting against one of North America’s leading fast food chains to join the Fair Food Program…”
Publix wasn’t the only company catching some heat for its rejection of the Fair Food Program.
On May 30, the United Church of Christ’s breaking endorsement of the Wendy’s boycott caught the attention of the Fresh Fruit Portal — one of the internet’s principal monitors of news in the fresh produce industry worldwide. Here below is the article in full:
The church is now the third religious group to stand behind a campaign driven by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).
Pressure is mounting against one of North America’s leading fast food chains to join the Fair Food Program, a tomato worker support initiative with signatories including Subway, McDonald’s, Whole Foods, Chipotle, Sodexo, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Ahold USA and Whole Foods.
Spearheaded by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the program has expanded beyond Florida-grown tomatoes to include new crops and states.
Rev. Michael Livingston, Executive Minister of Manhattan’s towering Riverside Church, a part of the United Church of Christ, speaking at the launch of the Wendy’s Boycott in March 2016
The CIW has pushed for several large retailers and foodservice outlets to join the scheme, but now several external groups have come out in support of a boycott of food chain Wendy’s until the company joins.
Joining the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as well as T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, the United Church of Christ (UCC) has taken a stand alongside farmworkers and formally endorsed the Wendy’s boycott.
The church has about one million followers in the United States, and supported the CIW in a previous boycott against Taco Bell which ultimately proved successful in 2005.
“The United Church of Christ has a long history of standing with farm workers against the injustice and invisibility that often accompanies the labor that satiates our consumerism,” said the church’s Reverends John C. Dorhauer and Dr. Traci D. Blackmon in a joint statement.
“For ten years the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has asked Wendy’s to join other industry partners, by participating in the Fair Food Program in partnership with tomato growers, farm workers, and buyers, to improve the lives of farm workers.
“For 10 years the request has been simple and fair: a zero-tolerance policy for slavery and sexual harassment, an additional penny per pound of tomatoes picked, and a formal grievance policy to address worker concerns.”
The Reverends said the church’s members’ comforts could not be provided “at the expense of our neighbor’s discomfort”.
“For 10 years the request has been simple and fair: a zero-tolerance policy for slavery and sexual harassment, an additional penny per pound of tomatoes picked, and a formal grievance policy to address worker concerns,” they said.
“Ten years is long enough to simply ask a major corporation to do the right thing.”
Out of the mouths of babes: A toddler weighs in on the Wendy’s Boycott on Twitter…
Although there are many, many photos, videos and comments on the Campaign for Fair Food shared on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere in the ever-larger world of social media, there’s always one or two that stand out. Today, we leave you with this simple, sweet message from Twitter:
Explaining to 5-yr-old E why we boycott @Wendys when she wants a Frosty.
E: Mama, WE can give them money for picking the tomatoes! @ciw
