Truthout: "There are few human rights achievements that are so universally celebrated today as the farmworker-led Fair Food Program

"Civil Eats: "Created 10 years ago, the program has been credited with markedly improving conditions in agricultural fields for workers on the East Coast, including reducing the instances of sexual assault and improving wages and working conditions."

You can be a part of the movement for freedom in the fields by participating in the grand finale on March 18 in Palm Beach.

Fair Food Nation – we are just one day away from kicking off the Build a New World March!  

And already, even before we've had a chance to gather in Pahokee for the rally to launch our 5-day, 50-mile trek to Palm Beach, national media outlets are reporting on the upcoming march, highlighting its key demands and contextualizing it as an all too rare celebration of unrivaled human rights progress for farmworkers under the Fair Food Program. 

The national online journal Truthout  released a feature piece this weekend, where journalist Derek Seidman interviewed Silvia Sabanilla and Nely Rodriguez, both former farmworkers and current Coalition staff members.  They discussed the disturbing rise in forced labor throughout the US, and how Kroger, Wendy’s, and Publix could meet the gold standard for protecting human rights in corporate supply chains today by joining the Fair Food Program. 

The opening paragraphs of the Truthout piece, excerpted here below, stand out for how effectively they capture the history of the Fair Food Program, its unique success in protecting the fundamental human rights of farmworkers on FFP farms, and the reasons for our March for Farmworker Freedom (click here to read the full article).

Farmworkers Push Wendy’s, Kroger and Publix to Take Stance Against Forced Labor 

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is pushing the companies to join the Fair Food Program, which deters forced labor.

By Derek Seidman, Published March 11, 2023

There are few human rights achievements that are so universally celebrated today as the farmworker-led Fair Food Program, a partnership between agricultural growers, sellers and workers with a proven record of ensuring an “ethical supply chain” from the farms where products are harvested, to the grocery stores where they’re sold, to the kitchen tables where they’re consumed.

The program has been lauded by the United Nations as an “international benchmark” in the fight against modern-day slavery and called one of “the most important social-impact success stories of the past century” by the Harvard Business Review. Major companies, from Walmart and Trader Joe’s to McDonald’s and Burger King — which otherwise have blemished records on everything from union-busting to sexual harassment to holding down the wage floor — have all laudably joined the Fair Food Program.

For the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the main group behind the Fair Food Program, this makes it all the more disappointing that holdouts like fast food chain Wendy’s and the supermarket chains Kroger and Publix still refuse to join.

From March 14 to 18, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and its allies will march nearly 50 miles from Pahokee, Florida, to the billionaire enclave of Palm Beach to celebrate a decade of success for the Fair Food Program and to renew calls for Wendy’s, Kroger and Publix to finally join the program.

The starting and ending points for the march are symbolic. Pahokee is the site of a federally prosecuted forced labor operation that sold watermelons to Kroger, while Palm Beach is the home of Wendy’s top shareholder and chairman Nelson Peltz.

“We don’t want these kinds of forced labor cases to continue to exist,” said Nely Rodriguez, a Coalition of Immokalee Workers staff member. “That’s why we’re calling on companies like Wendy’s, Kroger and Publix to be part of the Fair Food Program.”

Civil Eats’ Lisa Held also highlighted the march in a quick shoutout, quoting CIW co-founder Lucas Benitez. Read an excerpt below or click here to read the whole article.

Pahokee to Palm Beach 

By Lisa Held, Published March 9, 2023 

Farmworkers and allies with the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW) in Florida announced that they will march across Florida for five days next week to celebrate a decade of success while also pressuring more companies to sign on to their groundbreaking Fair Food Program. “If the stark contrast between the humane conditions on Fair Food Program farms and the harsh conditions on farms beyond the Program’s protections has taught us anything, it’s that farm labor abuse is a horrible problem, but it’s a problem with a simple solution: Join the Fair Food program,” said Lucas Benitez, a Co-founder of CIW.

Created 10 years ago, the program has been credited with markedly improving conditions in agricultural fields for workers on the East Coast, including reducing the instances of sexual assault and improving wages and working conditions. Its organizers have made great strides in getting agricultural employers and policymakers to engage with their demands. Last week, CIW representative Lupe Gonzalo participated in a panel on farm labor at the USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum, marking the first time a farmworker was given the opportunity to speak to the  exploitation they often face on farms at the agency’s most important annual gathering.

Still, some companies have refused to sign on, and the group is continuing to pressure Wendy’s, one of its longest holdouts, as well as Publix and Kroger.

Even as we undertake the final preparations for the march, it’s not too late to join us! 

You can be a part of the movement for freedom in the fields by participating in the grand finale on March 18 in Palm Beach. US Congresswoman Lois Frankel as well as renowned human rights advocate Kerry Kennedy will be joining farmworkers and allies that day, speaking on the problem of forced labor and its solution in the Fair Food Program. Click here to register for the grand finale on March 18.

If you can’t make the grand finale, there are other ways to get involved!  You can donate to help us with the costs of planning and executing this march. It takes a lot of preparation and supplies to pull off a march of this magnitude! From reserving buses to purchasing food and water and a long list of necessary supplies, costs can rise steeply… which is why we need all the help we can get from generous donors like you!  If you'd like to support us, click here to make a contribution today!

And while you're at it, take a moment to send a message of solidarity the marchers' way!  Share what fighting for farmworker justice means to you, how CIW’s work fits into your vision of a world of freedom and justice for all, and what you’d like to see from the three Fair Food holdouts: Wendy’s, Publix, and Kroger.  Your messages of support will be shared every night with the marches when the day’s march is done, and will keep our spirits high as we celebrate the unprecedented success of the Fair Food Program and demand accountability from multi-billion dollar corporations refusing to join the gold standard for human rights today. 

Please send your message or video to [email protected] with “Solidarity Message” in the subject line. 

Stay tuned to this site for daily updates on the march's progress from Pahokee to Palm Beach! 

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

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