SAVE THE DATE!
Feb 27 to Mar 5
2011:
Major protests near corporate headquarters of Ahold (Boston) and Publix (Tampa)
Save the date flyer |
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 The 2010 Supermarket Week of Action — held in the leadup to Thanksgiving and the 50th anniversary of the original broadcast of Harvest of Shame — was unlike any other in the history of SFA and the Campaign for Fair Food as the CIW and the FTGE announced a landmark agreement to extend the CIW's Fair Food principles to over 90% of the Florida tomato industry.
As a result of this pact, the Harvest of Shame is nearing an end. As we turn the page on this chapter of Florida agricultural history, however, much work remains. The supermarket industry is now the only impediment to a future of fair wages and dignified treatment for farmworkers.
The opening lines of the next chapter in this story were etched recently as Fair Food activists across the country organized more than 30 actions and events during the Week of Action.
Don't miss the multimedia report below and the message that follows —
What part will you play in this story?
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| Publix |
Naples, FL
The week of action kicked off just 40 miles west of Immokalee with a spirited Publix action that formed part of a three-day Harvesting Hope event hosted by Interfaith Action.
Over 100 community, faith and student allies gathered to protest Publix's continued refusal to partner with the CIW, even collecting and delivering an entire wheelbarrow full of "Pennies for Publix" with the message that if Publix's customers are willing to pay just one more penny per pound to guarantee fair wages for farmworkers, why can't Publix?
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Pensacola, FL
Meanwhile, in Pensacola, members of the University of West Florida's Worker Solidarity Alliance and Progressive Student Association demonstrated that one needn't be in close proximity to Immokalee to get in on the action! (Pensacola is about as far away geographically as one can get while still remaining in Florida...)
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Jacksonville, FL
Buoyed by a two-day visit from the CIW's Modern-Day Slavery Museum, members of the brand-new Fair Food Jacksonville organized an evening march that made its way through the St. John's Town Center and directly to Publix, where they were greeted by mall security as well as a number of Publix's corporate PR and "labor relations" staff.
Photo gallery from the action
"Up with the fair food nation, down with exploitation"
(UNF Spinnaker)
A momentary digression... While we're talking about Publix — a quintissentially Florida corporation if there ever was one — we wanted to call everyone's attention to a special national news report that aired last week on the night before Thanksgiving.
The CBS Evening News report, Harvest of Shame Revisited, is an update on the groundbreaking 1960 documentary by Edward R. Murrow.
The 1960 broadcast shocked the nation with its raw depiction of farmworker poverty, echoes of which are easy to find in the conditions faced by Florida farmworkers today.
Nothing about the decades-long plight of Florida farmworkers should come as a surprise, however, to Publix, since these workers have always lived in the very communities where the company claims to be so deeply involved as a positive and active force. All the more baffling, then, that Publix chooses to so bitterly refuse becoming a part of ending this harvest of shame once and for all.
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Tampa, FL
Further south in the Sunshine State, members of Tampa Bay Fair Food took photos of themselves holding personalized "thank you" messages for farmworkers.
The photos are being compiled and will be made into a video just in time for the holidays. In the meantime, here are a few of their submissions. You can send in your own photo by visiting their Facebook event here:
   
Just two days before Thanksgiving, Tampa Bay Fair Food and Students for Social Justice at the University of South Florida organized an on-campus screening of "Harvest of Shame." Over 30 students watched the film and heard firsthand from a worker from Immokalee, and left the event committed to do all they could to make the upcoming March 5th action the biggest Tampa has ever seen! — Save the Date!
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| The Kroger Co. |
Lawrence, KS
Not to be outdone, Lawrence Fair Food organized its own series of events to call on Kroger (and Lawrence's local supermarket and Kroger brand Dillon's) to enter into an agreement with the CIW.
In the days before the candlelight vigil above, Lawrence Fair Food members traveled to Dillon's regional headquarters to hand-deliver a letter drafted by local clergy encouraging the company to work with the CIW. Their delegation received both local and widespread national coverage — from Cincinnati to New York City — after the story was picked up by the AP.
Want to organize a delegation of your own? Visit SFA's Supermarket Campaign Headquarters and click on your local supermarket chain to find a regional headquarters near you!
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Lawrence, KS
Following the delegation and vigil, Lawrence residents capped off their week of action with a march and rally
at Dillon's.
“Students are consumers,” said Lawrence Fair Food member Shona Clarkson. “Students have a voice and they have power to end farmworker and consumer exploitation.”
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Denver
In Denver, an unidentified group linked Kroger-owned King Soopers with the harsh reality of continued exploitation in the fields...
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Denver
...while at the same time members of Denver Fair Food employed a slightly different tactic by delivering a letter to King Soopers' headquarters. (So let me get this straight: King Soopers is "Colorado's homegrown grocery store" despite being one of dozens of brands owned by Cincinnati-based corporate behemoth Kroger? Hmm...)
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Houston
In Texas, members of the University of Houston's Fair Labor Action Committee set up this display to educate students about the reality of work in the fields.
"Students were very responsive, and several picked up the bucket to see what it was like," FLAC reports."When we told them about the other abuses in the fields, and how modern-day slavery is a very real threat, many students were in disbelief. Many students had never met farmworkers and had no idea that they were excluded from minimum wage laws." |
Río Grande Valley, TX
South of Houston, these CIW allies in the Río Grande Valley didn't let the fact that none of the supermarket campaign's targets operate in their area, instead dropping off a manager letter at their local Quizno's restaurant. (And that little guy in the middle isn't just along for the ride — he personally delivered the letter!) |
| Ahold USA (Stop & Shop, Giant) |
Boston
Up North, this group from the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice paid a visit to Stop & Shop's corporate headquarters in Quincy. They sought to deliver 700 postcards signed by Stop & Shop customers to corporate executives who, instead of receiving the group (who had put in several formal requests for a meeting over the past months), had them forcibly removed from the property.
"Religious leaders challenge Stop & Shop over Florida's tomato farms" (Patriot-Ledger)
But Stop & Shop and its parent company Ahold won't get off that easily. On Sunday, February 27th, the CIW and their allies will converge on Boston for a major action. Mark your calendars, and check out this save the date flyer for more.
Also: Members of the CIW and SFA will be in Boston this December 4-12 for a series of presentations, meetings and action! If you're in the area, join us for an action hosted by the 5th graders of the Workmen's Circle:
Sunday, December 12th at 1:00pm
Stop & Shop, 155 Harvard St., Brookline
For more information about the visit, or to arrange a presentation or meeting at your school, place of worship or community space, contact Meghan at meghan@sfalliance.org |
Providence
Also putting the heat on Stop & Shop were these allies just a stone's throw away in Providence, RI, whose action grew in numbers even after sundown... |
...and who captured the sentiment of the Week of Action in the wake of the CIW/FTGE agreement with this simple yet direct sign.
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Washington, D.C.
Speaking of Ahold, DC residents converged in front of the company's other major brand, Giant, in busy Columbia Heights.
And while we're talking about capturing the sentiment of the campaign — and of thousands of consumers across the country — this sign also deserves mention. You can almost read the joyful expectation in people's faces that the tide is finally turning and that, now more than ever, it's a straight line between a given supermarket chain agreeing to pay the extra penny per pound and better wages and working conditions in the fields.
In the wake of the CIW/FTGE agreement, one cent makes a GIANT difference, indeed...
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Washington, D.C.
The action in DC was joined by members of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, Just Harvest USA, the Student/Farmworker Alliance, and the Food Chain Workers Alliance.
If you're in the Northeast (DC-Philly-NYC-Boston corridor), stay tuned for more info on the upcoming Northeast Regional Encuentro in preparation for the February 27 action! |
| Trader Joe's |
Berkeley, CA
But it was something about Trader Joe's that really got peoples' creative juices flowing.
In Berkeley, Lady Gaga paid a visit to this TJ's store singing a modified version of Alejandro, appropriately titled Trader Joe's. The lyrics go something like this...
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Berkeley, CA
..."We want fair food,
we want it now, Trader Joe's.
'Cause slavery is not okay,
Trader Joe's"...
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Berkeley, CA
..."Sustainable don't come from chains,
it comes from a living wage.
We want fair food,
We want it now, Trader Joe's." |
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Stanford, CA
Just a stone's throw from Berkeley, students at Stanford University held a canvassing event at their local Trader Joe's...
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...and in the Windy City, local campus workers who are celebrating their own hard-fought victories took some time to organize their own delegation to deliver a manager letter to Trader Joe's, and send along the video message of solidarity above.
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New York City
Finally, these "renegade tomatoes" from Immokalee took to the aisles of their local Trader Joe's store to testify to the brutal conditions they've witnessed in the fields. |
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Farmworkers & consumers to supermarkets: "The world is changing; When will you?" |
The CIW's agreement with the FTGE — fruit of 15 years of struggle by farmworkers and their allies — is a landmark moment in the history of agriculture in the US. (Don't miss the media round-up below from coverage of the agreement and Week of Action.)
But the Campaign for Fair Food is far from over. The onus is now clearly on supermarket chains such as Publix, Kroger, Stop & Shop, Giant, Walmart and Trader Joe's to step up and support the higher standards and more fair wages represented by the CIW/FTGE accord with their significant purchasing power. And if the past is any guide, it will ultimately be the organized voice of conscious consumers — taking action alongside Immokalee's farmworkers — that will finally bring the supermarket industry to the table.
 Thanks to the hard work of farmworkers in Immokalee, thousands of farmworker allies across the country, nine major food corporations, and, now, almost the entire Florida tomato industry, it's never been easier to support human rights in Florida's fields.
The refusal on the part of supermarket industry leaders to participate in these changes is as indefensible as it is inexplicable.
With every additional retailer that participates, the wage increase and the support for fair standards will grow. Whether or not Publix, Stop & Shop, Kroger and other industry leaders participate makes a real difference in whether or not the men and women who work 10-14 hours a day, 6-7 days a week to harvest this country's food must continue to make the choice between paying rent or buying food; between seeking medical care for workplace injuries or losing their jobs; between supporting their families and having their dignity violated.
Publix, Ahold, Kroger: What side of history will you be on? Will you throw your weight behind the changes underway in Florida's fields today, or will you continue to stand, arms crossed, blocking the path to progress?
One thing's for certain, consumers and farmworker allies will have their say. Save the Date and get ready to join us in the Boston area February 27 and in Tampa on March 5, 2011, as we will make it plain that it's time for Ahold and Publix to be a part of the solution to the Harvest of Shame that has gone on for far too long.
CIW/FTGE accord & Week of Action media round-up:
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