The Nation: Slavery at Your Table

[marmar]

Foodies Address the Slavery Issue
posted by Peter Rothberg on 03/04/2009 @ 3:07pm



At The Nation we've tried to keep up on the good work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an organization comprised chiefly of Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indian immigrants working in Immokalee, Florida as tomato pickers.

Founded in 1993 as a "community-based worker organization" by a small group of fruit pickers in low-wage agricultural jobs throughout Florida, the organization has won inspiring victories, achieved international notoriety and established fruitful collaborations with an array of grassroots groups, notably the Student-Farmworker Alliance.

CIW's most well-known triumph came in 2005 after a four-year boycott that included a 10-day hunger strike and two cross-country "Taco Bell Truth Tours" when Yum! Brands -- the corporation that owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's -- agreed to all the CIW's demands, most importantly a one penny per pound increase in the wages of tomato pickers and worker collaboration on the drafting and enforcement of a code of conduct.

This victory helped alleviate some of the worst pay injustices facing migrant workers in the region but dramatic abuses continue in Immokalee, the tomato capital of the United States. Between December and May where as much as 90 percent of the fresh domestic tomatoes are harvested. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/414149/foodies_address_the_slavery_issue?rel=hp_picks

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