Fair Food Program set to expand to 27 more farms, 13 more states with support from United States Department of Agriculture

USDA announcement marks latest instance of CIW/FFP innovations adopted a policy by the public sector

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack: “Improving working conditions and quality of life for farmworkers, both U.S. based workers and those that come to our country to work, is one key step in building a stronger, more resilient food supply chain.”

Cruz Salucio, CIW, Fair Food Program: “We are very happy to join with the USDA today in launching this project and providing this incentive to growers who want to bring H2-A workers with stronger protections so that workers can enjoy a safe and fair workplace as they contribute not just to their own families’ wellbeing, but to that of the country as well.”

Gwen Cameron, grower in the Fair Food Program: “The USDA took a similar approach (to the Fair Food Program) in creating the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot, providing accountability and meaningful financial support to farms working to make significant improvements in the lives of their workers.”

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Rancho Durazno, a Fair Food Program Participating Grower in Colorado, to officially announce the launch of an historic public/private collaboration to protect farmworkers’ fundamental human rights in the US agricultural industry, including the announcement of millions of dollars in grants to farms that commit to joining the FFP to protect workers brought to this country through the agricultural work visa program known as the H2-A, or “guestworker” program.  Cruz Salucio of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Judge Laura Safer Espinoza of the Fair Food Program were invited to join the Secretary for the press event, as well as for a private roundtable to discuss farm labor dynamics that preceded the public portion of the morning’s agenda.

Secretary Vilsack’s announcement comes after the USDA recognized the Fair Food Program as the highest level (“Platinum”) of human rights protection in agriculture, and offered farms willing to join the FFP a window of time to apply for grants – in effect offering financial incentives for farms to become a part of the solution to the myriad farm labor abuses that have long been endemic in the agricultural industry.

In a statement to the press, Secretary Vilsack said, “Farmworkers make an incredibly important contribution to food and agriculture and ensure we have food on our tables every day. Improving working conditions and quality of life for farmworkers, both U.S. based workers and those that come to our country to work, is one key step in building a stronger, more resilient food supply chain.”

In the department’s official press release accompanying the announcement, the USDA called the Fair Food Program “a proven model for improving workplace environments.”  A total of 27 new farms answered the call to join the FFP through the exciting new project, nearly doubling the current number of participating growers and introducing the life-saving provisions of the Program to 13 new states and thousands more farmworkers harvesting countless new crops.

The expansion comes at a crucial time for farmworkers as the H-2A, or “guestworker” program has undergone a massive expansion in recent years, while simultaneously farm labor advocates and federal prosecutors have seen a surge in forced labor rings operating on farms employing H-2A workers.  The USDA has tapped the Fair Food Program in this exciting new collaboration as a means to provide workers a voice and the proven power of the Program to protect their own rights in the fields in order to mitigate the potential impact of the continued expansion of the guestworker program on farmworkers’ working conditions and livelihoods.

At its heart, the unprecedented success of the FFP comes down to the two fundamental pillars of the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model: 1) farmworkers themselves are best situated to be the frontline monitors of their own rights, and, 2) protected from retaliation by the market power of the retail brands, workers are able to utilize the program’s complaint mechanism and comprehensive audits to identify, remedy, and ultimately prevent long-pervasive abuses with a proven effectiveness unique to the FFP and WSR model. 

Click "read more" below to learn more about the USDA’s announcement, and to see a piece of local coverage of the announcement, which profiles the owner of Rancho Durazno, Gwen Cameron. In the piece, Cameron voices the case to join the FFP from a grower’s perspective, illustrating how the rising tide of the Fair Food Program lifts all boats!

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
110 S 2nd St
Immokalee, FL 34142
United States

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