Slavery in Tomato Fields? "Not Our Business," Says Publix Supermarkets | Sustainable Food | Change.org

by Adriana Velez January 05, 2011 12:30 PM (PT)

2010 was a big year for tomatoes. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based organization of immigrant agriculture workers in Florida, drew national attention to the slavery conditions of Florida's tomato pickers through the non-profit's traveling Modern-Day Slavery Museum. CIW's Campaign for Fair Food won major victories, with food-service giants Compass Foods, Aramark, and Sodexo and Florida's third-largest tomato producer, East Coast Growers, agreeing to pay more for their tomatoes and abolish unfair working conditions in their supply chians. These companies join Taco Bell, Whole Foods, McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway in meeting the CIW's standards addressing farmworker wages and working conditions.

But the CIW's work is far from over. Trader Joe's and other major grocers continue to refuse to negotiate with CIW. Most recently, grocery retailer Publix not only refused to meet with CIW, but came out with a stunning statement justifying the supermarket chain's inaction.

Usually PR executives are pretty slick at skirting around awkward questions, but Publix's media and communications manager was direct and candid in his recent comments. When a reporter for Baldwin County Now asked spokesman Dwaine Stevens if Publix would meet with CIW, he said no. Then he went on to express how Publix just doesn't care about agricultural slavery in its supply chain. "If there are some atrocities going on, it’s not our business," Stevens said. "Maybe it’s something the government should get involved with.”

Not a grocery retailer's "business" to make ethical standards for its purchasing? And since when do status-quo-loving businesses think government is the answer, anyway? It's an upside-down world over at Publix.

Companies like Publix are increasingly in the minority. As more and more retailers and restaurants take the bold step toward ethical purchasing, the public is starting to take notice — and this is where we come in. Corporations may not be inclined to respond to workers' demands, but they are usually sensitive to consumers' demands.

According to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton (i.e. "the government"), ending slavery is everyone's responsibility. When she presented CIW's Laura Germino with the Trafficking in Persons Hero Award she stated, "All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end... And we can’t just blame international organized crime and rely on law enforcement... It is everyone’s responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains... all of us have to speak out and act forcefully."

As consumers it's our responsibility to help end slavery by calling on companies like Publix to come to the table with CIW. You can demand this by signing our petition to Publix telling them to only sell slavery-free tomatoes.

Source: food.change.org

Slavery in Tomato Fields? "Not Our Business," Says Publix Supermarkets | Sustainable Food | Change.org

Kansas Student Fights to Stop Slave-Picked Produce in Dillons/Kroger | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

by Amanda Kloer November 10, 2010 05:30 AM (PT)

Thanksgiving — the biggest holiday for supermarkets — is fast approaching. To make this Thanksgiving slavery-free, the Student Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are organizing the National Supermarket Week of Action, November 14-21. This series will bring you the story of how people across America are asking their local supermarkets to stand against the slavery and exploitation of agricultural workers and fight for fair food.

National Supermarket Week of Action in Kansas

When Shona Clarkson first walked into a meeting of Lawrence Fair Food as a freshman at the University of Kansas, she has no idea she would eventually end up on the forefront of a national movement to end the exploitation of farmworkers in America. Her interest was initially peaked by meetings which valued equality and true partnership, so she joined Lawrence Fair Food, a local branch of the Student Farmworker Alliance that advocates for the fair treatment of farm workers. But it wasn't just the egalitarian model that kept Clarkson involved; it was seeing her efforts result in concrete victories.

It feels good to be a part of something that you see creating real change," says Clarkson. "It's nice to see your work pay off as an organizer ... when the growers, after years of turmoil, finally sign the agreement."

Clarkson has been involved in a number of campaigns with Lawrence Fair Food, including a victorious one targeting Burger King. Now, she is leading her community in a new fight against supermarket giant Dillons/Kroger. They refuse to sign onto the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Campaign for Fair Food, which would raise farmworkers' wages for the first time in decades and create protections against slavery in commercial agriculture. So Clarkson and Lawrence Fair Food are piling on the pressure with a number of Supermarket Week of Action events. On Sunday November 14, the group is hosting a candle light vigil in front of the largest Dillons in Lawrence, Kansas, which will feature speakers from the faith community, students, and other community leaders. The following Tuesday, a delegation will make the three hour trek to Hutchinson, the regional headquarters for Dillons/Kroger. There, they'll deliver a letter addressed to David Dillon, asking him as a Kansan leader of a Kansas company to hear the demands of the people of Kansas for farmworker justice and fair food. The week of events will culminate on Friday, November 19 with a public rally and march to another Dillons.

Clarkson and Lawrence Fair Food hope to get as much media coverage of their events as possible to make sure David Dillon and his company hear their message loud and clear: It's time for Dillons/Kroger to sign the Campaign for Fair Food and refuse to sell slave-picked tomatoes in their stores. It's a message, as Clarkson points out, that affects not only farm workers, but anyone who shops in a grocery store,

"The corporations and supermarkets that are directly exploiting farmworkers are also exploiting consumers," she points out. "Supermarkets have so much power in the supply chain; they control every aspect of it, including consumer prices. Customers are being manipulated and exploited just like the farmworkers are manipulated and exploited."

If you'll be in the Lawrence, Kansas area for the National Supermarket Week of Action, you can learn more about how to get involved with these events at lawrencefairfood@gmail.com. If you'll be anywhere else, sign this petition asking Dillons/Kroger to take a stand against slave-picked produce and agree to sell fair food. And stay tuned for more updates on how you can get involved in the National Supermarket Week of Action in your area or learn more here.

Related Petition

Tell Kroger/Dillons To Stop Slave-Picked Produce And Support Farm Workers' Rights

Sign Petition

330 Signatures

Start a Petition »

Photo credit: ercwttmn

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic

Source: End Human Trafficking

Kansas Student Fights to Stop Slave-Picked Produce in Dillons/Kroger | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

Related articles

• New Jerseyans Take on Massage Parlor Ads in Asbury Park Press (humantrafficking.change.org)
• How One Woman is Fighting Trafficking in NYC ... and Winning (humantrafficking.change.org)
• Edo to partner Germany on human trafficking (vanguardngr.com)
• Ohio nail salon owner arrested in human trafficking case (dispatch.com)
• Global News Blog: Human Trafficking: When will it stop? (smudailymustang.com)
• Bill would toughen human trafficking law (chron.com)

Florida Tomato Farm Owners Sign Historic Agreement to Stop Worker Abuse | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

by Anne Keehn November 18, 2010 06:41 AM (PT)

Florida-based farm worker advocacy group the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) scored one more victory in their Fair Food campaign yesterday. After a 15 year stand off, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) — a private cooperative of farm owners — has agreed to sign CIW's code of conduct, pledging to improve working conditions and pay farm workers an extra penny-per-pound of tomatoes harvested. This is a historic victory in the fight against farmworker slavery and exploitation.

CIW has been working to end farm labor abuse and slavery since the 1990s, well before the existence of modern day slavery was widely recognized. In a 1997 landmark case, they assisted in the investigation and prosecution of two men who enslaved hundreds of farm workers in Florida and South Carolina. Miguel Flores and Sebastian Gomez forced laborers (most of whom were migrant workers from Central America) to work long hours with little pay. Armed guards beat and even shot workers who attempted to escape. Both Flores and Gomez were charged with slavery — among other offenses — and sentenced to federal prison for 15 years.

CIW is perhaps most well known for successfully pressuring major fast food chains — including Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King and Subway — to monitor their supply chains and only buy tomatoes from farms that treat its workers fairly. As with the recent agreement with FTGE, the fast food companies also agreed to pay farm workers an extra penny-per-pound for tomatoes.

The Fair Food campaign was launched in 2001, partially in response to FTGE's unwillingness to eliminate worker abuse on their farms. The fast food victories no doubt helped leverage FTGE into compliance, by exhibiting that fair treatment of workers can lead to better consumer relations. In a press release, FTGE indicated that working with CIW to end slavery and worker abuse is, in the long term, good for business: "We are confident that... working together, [we can] build a stronger, more sustainable industry that will be better equipped than ever to thrive in an increasingly competitive market place."

In the same press release, CIW representative Gerardo Reyes announced the next front on the battle for fair treatment of Florida's tomato farm workers: supermarkets. "Key players in the fast-food and food service industries have already committed their support," he said. "It is time now for supermarket industry leaders to seize this historic opportunity and help make the promise of fresh—and fair—tomatoes from Florida a reality."

Last month, Change.org blogger Amanda Kloer wrote, "so far, the $550 billion supermarket industry, with the exception of Whole Foods, has refused to step up and bring their considerable purchasing power to the plate. Why won't grocery stores agree to protect farm workers from slavery?"

Why, indeed?

Do your part to ensure that supermarkets work to eradicate slavery in the supply chain of tomatoes. Sign the petition demanding that Trader Joe's join CIW's Fair Food campaign.

Related Petition

Ask Trader Joes to Sell Slave-Free Food

Sign Petition

3,756 Signatures

Start a Petition »

Photo Credit: The Ewan

Anne Keehn was a media volunteer at the L.A.-based direct services organization the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking and is currently the Zimmerman Fellow at Free the Slaves.

Soource: End Human Trafficking

Florida Tomato Farm Owners Sign Historic Agreement to Stop Worker Abuse | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

Related articles

• D.C. Area Activists Ask Giant, Stop and Shop to Sell Slave-Free Food (humantrafficking.change.org)
• An End to Slavery in Florida? (food.change.org)

Trader Joe's Tomatoes Picked By Slave Labor In Florida? | Big News

Source: The Faster Times

September 14, 2010 Nathan Hege

Trader Joe’s Buys Tomatoes Picked With Slave Labor

Trader Joe’s is cool. It is hip. Everyone wants the store in their neighborhood.

Here at the Faster Times, we have explored the ambiguities behind the Trader Joe’s image. From an investigation by Amy Westervelt into the company’s private label business:

“You’d hear stories about it all the time, this small producer who was basically putting all their eggs in the Trader Joe’s basket and then they wouldn’t be able to shave another penny or two off their price and the order would be pulled and the company would be ruined,” says Jeff Porter, a former buyer for Andronico’s Markets [a local chain of gourmet food stores in Northern California] and current Wine Director for Mario Battali’s Osteria Mozza in L.A.

“But it’s hard for companies to sell to Trader Joe’s and anybody else,” Porter continues. “First, Trader Joe’s doesn’t like them to, and second, other stores didn’t like them to either. They know they can’t compete with Trader Joe’s prices.”

Quality food at a cheaper price is okay by me. As I’ve written in previous investigation posts, though, what doesn’t sit quite right is the lack of transparency …

But does Trader Joe’s go beyond opaqueness into real darkness? Absolutely, according to the Human Trafficking blog at Change.org:

Trader Joe’s refuses to take one very critical progressive step and join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food. And because of their refusal, you might just be buying slave-picked produce from those friendly, Hawaiian shirt-wearing joes.

Modern-day slavery is a reality for many farm workers right here in the U.S. In Florida, over 1,000 people have been identified as trafficked in fields and on farms, picking the food we eat every day.

And when you follow the links, you get to the Campaign for Fair Food website, and you find out that companies like McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Whole Foods and Subway all joined the campaign. And you get quotes like this from a federal prosecutor calling Florida “ground zero for modern day slavery.” More from the site:

Like textile workers at the turn of the last century, Florida tomato harvesters are still paid by the piece. The average piece rate today is 50 cents for every 32-lbs of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has remained virtually unchanged since 1980. As a result of that stagnation, a worker today must pick more than 2.25 tons of tomatoes to earn minimum wage in a typical 10-hour workday – nearly twice the amount a worker had to pick to earn minimum wage thirty years ago, when the rate was 40 cents per bucket. Most farmworkers today earn less than $12,000 a year.

Trader Joe’s has a decent record at caving into environmental demands. Its corporate image almost dictates it. Yes, the company is the target of a campaign here. Yes, our agricultural economy is based all around on exploiting low-paid immigrant workers. But it is a shame that they have to be pressured, that they do not live up to their image from the beginning.

Trader Joe's Tomatoes Picked By Slave Labor In Florida?