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 Coalition of Immokalee Workers 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.

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. You can visit the Axis of Justice site by clicking here.

Finally, here is a (still incomplete) list of the official endorsements of the Taco Bell Boycott as of September, 2004. For all 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
* Tom Morello, Audioslave (formerly, Rage Against the Machine)
* Susan Sarandon
* Noam Chomsky, professor, MIT
* 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")
* Dolores Huerta
* Julia Butterfly Hill
* Howard Zinn (author, "A People's History of the United States)
* Lalo Alcaraz, cartoonist
* Louis Andriessen, composer
* Paul Loeb (author, "Soul of a Citizen")

Labor
* American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
* Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
* United Farm Workers (UFW)
* Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noreste (PCUN)
* Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
* 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)
* South Florida Jobs with Justice
* The Garment Workers Center
* United Campus Workers (Communication Workers of America, Local 3865, Knoxville, TN) * Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA National Office, NY, NY)

Global Justice
* United for Peace and Justice
* 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 de Palomar College
* 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)
* 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

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

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)
* National Lawyers Guild
* Florida AIM (American Indian Movement)
* ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
* Florida Green Party
* LUS (Latinos Unidos Siempre), youth organization, Oregon
* Florida Coalition of Peace and Justice
* Long Beach, CA, Green Party
* The Simple Way
* Zapatista Solidarity Coalition - Sacramento, CA
* Bay Area (San Francisco) Radical Women
* Green Party of Brevard County, FL
* The Blue-Green Alliance of the Green Party of Florida
* San Francisco Day Laborers
* Marin (CA) Interfaith Task Force on Latin America
* Liberate Orange County (CA)
* Coastal Convergence Society (Huntington Beach, CA)