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WGCU: “Gonzalo… lived in fear of speaking up. But one day, it was just too much. She asked for some water. She was told to drink from the ditch. This is why Lupe Gonzalo marches.”
Palm Beach Post: “According to the coalition, ‘two parallel worlds exist side-by-side within the farming community: the world of freedom from abuse on farms in the program and the world of harsh exploitation outside its protections.'”
The five-day, 50 mile March to Build a New World wrapped up on March 18 with a massive turnout of nearly 600 farmworkers and their allies in Palm Beach, where marchers carried their message of farmworker freedom through the finely manicured streets of the billionaire enclave and home of Wendy’s Chair Nelson Peltz.
Beginning outside a housing complex in the small agricultural community of Pahokee, which served as the labor camp for a sprawling forced labor conspiracy case that the CIW helped to uncover, the five-day march picked up steam on its way to the coast. As marchers celebrated a decade of unparalleled success in human rights protections for the Fair Food Program and demanded Kroger, Wendy’s, and Publix finally join the Presidential Medal-winning program, media from around the nation began to pay attention. From the Associated Press [[link removed]] and Fast Company [[link removed]] to the Spanish-language Univision [[link removed]] and La Jornada [[link removed]] , coverage of the march spread quickly throughout the U.S. and beyond.
Today, we wanted to take a moment to highlight a particularly moving piece from PBS and NPR member station, WGCU Public Media. WGCU’s own Eileen Kelley and Andrea Melendez followed us along the way from Day 1 in Pahokee to Day 5 in Palm Beach, documenting this historic march for corporate accountability. On Day 5 they spent time interviewing farmworkers and community members on what the march meant for them personally. Their work was syndicated all around Florida, appearing in radio segments, TV news stations, as well as local news outlets.
Here, below, is an excerpt of their reporting. You can view their full report here, [[link removed]] which also includes a beautiful photo gallery.
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They marched to end modern day slavery in the agricultural fields
March 21, 2023 – By Eileen Kelley and Andrea Melendez/WGCU Investigative Team
They came to America in search of a better life. The work in the agricultural fields of Florida they knew would be tough. But it was much worse than that. And so they spoke out during a 50-mile march.
They gathered in Pahokee near an old inn where not too long ago people who looked like them were held captive at night behind locked gates strung with barbed wire.
It was a Tuesday when the crowd of mostly current and former farmworkers marched down the agricultural roads through the belly of Florida.
After 12 miles they stopped. Picking up where they left off the next morning.
As they got closer to the group’s final destination on the island of Palm Beach, the energy grew.
Along the way, the curious had questions, some eager to learn more about the Fair Food Program, a decade-long initiative where major retailers agree to only do business with growers who provide the farmworkers with humane working conditions.
Under the agreement the growers must allow a Fair Food worker to come to the farms and camps and inform the workers of their rights. The growers must also allow for routine inspections where workers can freely tell investigators about the working conditions. If the growers won’t adhere to these guidelines, the retailers must agree to take their business elsewhere.
The retailers must also agree to pay an additional one penny per pound for tomatoes they are buying. This money then comes back to the farmworker in the form of a bonus.
A produce truck led the way from rural roads over a bridge surrounded by yachts and mansions. Jimmy Cliff’s upbeat Reggae Song, “You can get it if you really want” plays in the background as a man blars into the a microphone that modern-day slavery still very much exists fields not associated with the fair food program.
His words are a reason they march.
See more media highlights from Day Five! [[link removed]]
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Coalition of Immokalee Workers
110 S 2nd St
Immokalee, FL 34142
United States
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