“I see something special when I see SFA in action. It gives me hope that this world will be a better place, and I see us transforming it little by little, one corporate giant after another."
- Juan R., SFA
“It is our
hope that today's farmworker movement will serve as one of many points
on the horizon that inspires young people to believe in the possibility
of a better world – a world where we all have space to realize
our dreams."
- Gerardo
Reyes, CIW
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who
we are
Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) is a national network of students and youth organizing with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. We work in alliance with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a membership-led organization of mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian farmworkers and other low-wage workers based in Southwest Florida. We understand
our work - which formally began in 2000 - as part of larger movements for economic and social justice.
In 2005,
farmworkers from the CIW
and their allies scored a decisive
victory in the national Taco Bell boycott.
Yielding to growing nationwide pressure from the CIW, students, and other allies,
Taco Bell and its parent company Yum Brands - the world’s
largest restaurant corporation - conceded to all of the boycott’s
demands, agreeing to work with the CIW to improve the sub-poverty
wages and miserable working conditions of farmworkers in its tomato supply
chain. In 2007, Yum Brands expanded this agreement to cover all five of its chains (which include KFC and Pizza Hut).
Also in 2007, after two years of intense campaigning, the CIW reached a landmark agreement with
McDonald's - the world's largest single restaurant chain - to similarly take responsibility for farmworker
exploitation. Just one year later, Burger King also agreed to work with the CIW after an unsuccessful
campaign of dirty corporate tricks against SFA and CIW.
 As the "target market" of the fast-food industry, students and youth were vital in the grassroots coalitions that won these incredible victories. During the Taco Bell boycott, twenty-two high schools and universities removed or prevented Taco Bell restaurants and sponsorships as part of SFA’s “Boot the Bell” campaign. Similarly, we were able to turn McDonald's supposed marketing "sweet spot" into a well-organized sore spot and dethrone the King's entrenched resistance.
Through
tireless organizing grounded in a program of education, action, and leadership development we were part of winning three of the largest victories against corporate
greed that our generation has seen, and
we're just getting started. Alongside farmworkers, we're creating - and walking - the path to a better world.
SFA organizers facilitate educational activities through which students and farmworkers have the opportunity to come together in an exchange of knowledge and experience, cultivating a critical analysis that reveals the intersections between people on opposite ends of the corporate food industry. This includes worker- and student-led workshops, speaking tours, alternative spring breaks, and internships.
We are committed to building a base of members whose understanding of social change and injustice in the fields leads them to act in solidarity with farmworkers and simultaneously toward a broader vision of collective liberation. This includes supporting farmworker-led campaigns for better wages and working conditions and, more broadly, organizing toward a more just global economy.
In all aspects of our work, we focus heavily on developing the skills and confidence of students and youth so they can organize for social justice around a broad array of issues in their communities.
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