Dear Friend –
"I'm concerned about dying in the field because of heat, or getting injured," Arturo, who works on a farm in North Carolina that supplies sweet potatoes to Whole Foods, told us in August when we visited farms to survey working conditions.
This kind of human suffering should never be an ingredient in the food we eat.
Join us today and demand that giant supermarkets like Whole Foods commit to ending the human rights abuses behind the food sold on their shelves. >>
Now is the time to take a stand, and your activism is making a notable difference. Whole Foods, and its parent company Amazon, just announced a series of new commitments to tackle the human rights abuses behind its food.
You, and more than 200,000 like-minded individuals, made this happen. This news by Whole Foods is a step in the right direction, but we need to amp up the pressure because these commitments don't go far enough, as illustrated by Oxfam's recent research with workers on North Carolina sweet potato farms, Brazil orange farms, and India tea plantations. >>
Human rights violations aren't just happening in faraway places, they are happening in Whole Foods' backyard here in the US. This summer, Oxfam and its partner, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), interviewed workers on farms in North Carolina who pick sweet potatoes that end up in Whole Foods' stores. "We wanted to come to the US to work legally through a visa," says one of the workers. "We are looking for the American dream that many Mexicans hope to achieve."
Instead of the American dream, we found horrible working conditions: workers reported laboring up to 14 hours a day in oppressive heat with few rest breaks and often very limited access to toilets. Many say they are paid low wages that leave them in debt and are too scared to speak out for fear of losing their jobs or having their work visas revoked.
These new stories of workers in North Carolina illustrate the urgent need for Whole Foods to do better. As one of the biggest supermarkets in the country – and one of the worst ranked when it comes to human rights abuses according to Oxfam's research – Whole Foods has a responsibility to act.
Post on Twitter and Facebook to demand that Whole Foods do more to end the human suffering behind the food sold on their shelves. If you want to take it a step further, check out our comprehensive social media toolkit – and get to posting!
As consumers, we have the power to demand that the people behind our food are treated humanely and have their rights respected. Food producers should be fairly compensated for their work; earn enough to be able to support themselves and their families; and have a safe work environment free from abuse, harassment, and discrimination.
Like all of us, the people behind our food deserve to be treated with dignity.
Thank you for your help to draw attention to this issue on Twitter and Facebook to ensure there is no human suffering behind the food we eat.
Sincerely,
Gina Cummings
Director of Campaigns
Oxfam America
P.S. Click here to uncover more about how your supermarket ranks in human suffering and what you can do to help.
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