UF Senate passes resolution calling on Publix to meet with tomato pickers | Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media

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By Brett Ader | 02.01.11 | 1:55 pm

The University of Florida Student Senate approved legislation last week calling on Publix to meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in an attempt to pressure the state’s largest supermarket chain to adhere to the labor demands many other national grocers and fast food chains have agreed to in recent years. #

The resolution addresses a number of issues, including cases of modern day slavery in Florida’s fields, and notes UF Student Senate support for a previous successful Immokalee Workers campaign against campus food provider Aramark and the fact that students make up nearly half of the population of Gainesville, which currently boasts 12 Publix locations. #

As reported by the Alligator: #

“Justice is not 50 cents for a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes,” said Senator Cassia Laham, who helped draft the resolution. #

Oscar Otzoy, a member of the coalition, shared his personal experiences with the working conditions of the immigrant farm workers. His testimony was translated by Mark Rodriguez. #

“Our basic rights are not respected,” Otzoy said. “We receive wages which are below the poverty level. All we want is for Publix to do the same thing that other companies have done.” #

In November, the Immokalee Workers celebrated a victory against The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a trade group representing 90 percent of tomato producers in the state. The group has led successful campaigns in recent years against Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Subway and Aramark, who all agreed to a penny-per-pound wage raise — amounting to a nearly 50 percent increase in earnings per bucket of tomatoes picked for the average farmworker. #

Publix currently operates 735 stores in Florida, and in 2006 was ranked the 15th largest retailer in the U.S. The company has thus far refused to meet with the Immokalee Workers, who received the State Department’s 2010 Hero Acting to End Modern-day Slavery Award. The group is set to launch its “Do the Right Thing” campaign later this month, drawing its motto from a business philosophy espoused by Publix CEO William “Ed” Crenshaw: #

Obviously, my hero in the business world has been and will always be George Jenkins, “Mr. George,” the founder of Publix and my grandfather. He was a genius with the unique ability to combine a keen business sense with his love and appreciation for people. He started Publix to make a living, but his drive for success was the result of his competitive spirit and his desire to help others. I doubt it was ever to grow his personal wealth, which is why our company is associate owned today. Much of his joy was seeing others succeed and grow.  George Jenkins set a wonderful example for me and taught me many valuable lessons, but the one that stands out, and the one I think about most often is very simply, “don’t let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing.” #

Publix has also taken criticism in recent weeks following a company spokesman’s comments in December on the issue of harsh labor standards in Florida’s tomato fields. #

Via a recent Palm Beach Post letter to the editor: #

In South Florida, deemed “ground zero for modern slavery” by a chief assistant U.S. attorney who has prosecuted multiple servitude operations, we need look no further than our local supermarket to find indifference to the plight of Floridians held against their will. Publix, a major buyer of Sunshine State produce, recently made known its lack of concern for abuse in its supply chain. When asked by The Bulletin in Alabama last month about exploitation on the farms where it buys its produce, Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens responded: “If there are some atrocities going on, it’s not our business. Maybe it’s something the government should get involved with.” #

The UF resolution ends with the following: #

The University of Florida Student Senate urges Publix to meet with the CIW and agree to improve the wages and working conditions of the Florida tomato pickers in its supply chain by agreeing to pay at least one penny more per pound for its tomatoes – to be passed directly to the workers – and, together with the CIW, implement an enforceable, human rights-based Code of Conduct for its supply chain. #

Read the resolution in full: #
Source:  floridaindependent.com
UF Senate passes resolution calling on Publix to meet with tomato pickers | Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media

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

An End to Slavery in Florida? | Sustainable Food | Change.org

by Sarah Parsons November 16, 2010 01:15 PM (PT)

History books tell us that the Emancipation Proclamation ended forced labor in the U.S. In reality, slavery has been alive and well ever since Abe Lincoln's famous speech. As Change.org previously reported, Florida's tomato workers are often subjected to extremely low wages, dangerous working conditions, violence, and even forced labor. Due to the work of one non-profit, however, the country just came a little bit closer to abolishing agricultural slavery.

As Barry Estabrook notes on his "Politics of the Plate" blog, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange announced today that it joined the Campaign for Fair Food, an initiative organized by the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW), an abolitionist non-profit. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is a tomato-production powerhouse, representing virtually all tomato growers in the state. By joining CIW's campaign, Florida Tomato Growers Exchange will ensure that the non-profit's Fair Food Principles will be extended to about 90 percent of Florida's tomato industry. "...today we are pleased to announce that we are coming together as an industry in which it is finally possible to say that real, verifiable change is not only possible, but underway," the CIW's Lucas Benitez said during the signing of the agreement today.

Those Fair Food Principles ensure some much-needed fair labor practices for farm workers. For one, they raise the price paid to tomato farmers by one penny per pound. This might seem like chump change, but as Estabrook notes, it's the difference between earning $50 and $70 per day (or, as Estabrook puts it, "the difference between poverty and a livable (though still paltry) wage"). Embracing the Principles also requires companies to establish health and safety programs for workers, as well as a mechanism to address any complaints. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is the third and biggest tomato supplier to sign on to the Fair Food Fight, joining Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L's, which partnered with CIW earlier this year.

The move represents a total about-face for Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which fewer than 10 years ago vehemently refused to join CIW's Campaign for Fair Food, arguing that paying higher wages would set suppliers at a competitive disadvantage. The tomato supplier even threatened to slap a $100,000 fine on any member tomato farmer that joined CIW's Campaign.

That was before consumers, restaurants, catering companies, and fellow tomato suppliers turned on the pressure, though. In 2005, Taco Bell became the first fast food restaurant to sign on to the Campaign for Fair Food. McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway soon joined the Mexican chain. Food distributors like Compass, Aramark, and Sodexo followed suit, and then tomato suppliers Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L's joined the cause. After pressure and intense lobbying from CIW, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange finally caved.

Not only is this development beneficial for Florida's farm workers, the victory should serve as inspiration for ethically minded consumers. Big businesses like the fast food industry, food distributors, and produce suppliers don't just care about producing meals as cheaply as possible anymore. By collectively organizing and using our purchasing power, consumers can actually push billion-dollar corporations to adopt the ethical practices we hold near and dear to our sustainable foodie hearts.

While fast food restaurants, food service providers, and tomato suppliers are all hopping on the Fair Food bandwagon, one sector of the food industry is slow to embrace slavery-free produce — supermarkets. With the exception of Whole Foods, not a single grocery store has signed onto CIW's Campaign for Fair Food. It's especially alarming that Trader Joe's — a supermarket that claims to care about environmental and social responsibility — hasn't joined the cause. Tell Trader's Joe's that Fair Food tastes better — both for workers and consumers. Sign our petition asking the grocer to join CIW's Campaign for Fair Food.

Related Petition

Ask Trader Joes to Sell Slave-Free Food

Sign Petition

3,757 Signatures

Start a Petition »

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Sarah Parsons is Change.org's Sustainable Food Editor. Her work has appeared in Popular Science, OnEarth, Audubon and Plenty.

Source: Change.Org

An End to Slavery in Florida? | Sustainable Food | Change.org

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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)