Faith Moves Mountains Background Materials
What can I do?
•Send a postcard or a prayer card to Mr. Crenshaw, CEO of Publix, to let him know you are praying for him to “do the right thing.”
•Visit the Faith Moves Mountains Materials Page to print out prayer cards and request other resources.
•Ask your congregation to regularly pray for Publix during worship, educational and social events. Join with other people of faith in praying when you shop at Publix.
•Let Publix store managers know that you are praying for the company.
•Tell us how you or your congregation are participating in the Faith Moves Mountains Campaign by writing a short testimonial here.
How is Publix involved?
•The power guaranteeing these remarkable human rights advances is that of retail corporations who are contributing at least an extra penny per pound to farmworkers wages to counter act the downward pressure their purchasing practices exert and who have agreed to purchase tomatoes only from those growers that uphold the standards of the Fair Food Program (agreeing to suspend purchasing from those who do not). The historic Fair Food Agreements—forged in a win-win-win between workers, growers and retailers—are currently taking root at 90% of Florida's tomato farms, affecting thousands of workers.
•But Publix’s refusal to participate poses a grave threat to these hard-won gains. Their resistance provides a market for exploitative operations that would otherwise answer to a monitoring body ensuring dignity and justice in the fields. With both these historic abuses and landmark changes occuring in Publix’s own Florida backyard, Publix has a responsibility to follow through with what they pledge and “do the right thing.”
What have been the working conditions faced by Florida tomato pickers?
• According to the US Department of Labor, they earn about $12,000 per year.
• They do not have the same rights as workers in other industries.
• In extreme instances, farmworkers labor in conditions of forced labor or modern slavery.
• In recent years, there have been 9 cases of slavery in Florida agriculture that have been prosecuted by the US Department of Justice.
How are conditions changing, thanks to the CIW’s Fair Food Program?
• Farmworkers have new rights including:
o Right to lodge a complaint without fear (there are toll free hotlines as well as other mechanisms that ensure confidentiality and follow-up).
o Time clocks in the field so workers can track their hours and ensure they are paid correctly (for time spent waiting to pick, that the piece rate is at least equal to what they would earn per hour with the FL minimum wage ($7.67)).
o Farmworkers do not need to overfill the buckets
o Health and safety (shade, first aid equipment, protective equipment, breaks)
o No sexual harassment
o No discrimination and verbal abuse
o Mechanism for reporting suspected instances of slavery in the fields and appropriate protection.
To read more about the new landmark changes taking root in Florida's fields thanks to the Campaign for Fair Food visit:
Change is Underway: The Code of Conduct
Please visit the Faith Moves Mountains FAQ Sheet for more questions.
The Campaign for Fair Food calls upon major food buyers to end poverty and modern slavery in the Florida fields by working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a human rights award-winning farmworker organization in Immokalee, FL. The Campaign is supported by religious, human rights, student and sustainable food organizations across the nation.
The Campaign for Fair Food has been successful in achieving landmark agreements between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and some of the largest food corporations in the world: Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and others), McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Whole Foods Market, Bon Appétit, and food service providers Compass Group, Aramark, and Sodexo. These agreements are changing the very structure of the food system so that it ensures the well-being of the men and women who harvest.
These corporations are paying a net penny per pound increase to farmworkers who harvest tomatoes for their suppliers, counteracting the downward pressure food buyers’ high volume/low cost purchasing has had on wages and working conditions. Through fair food agreements with the CIW, willing buyers and over 90 percent of the Florida growers are, right now, implementing a strict code of conduct, a cooperative complaint resolution system, a participatory health and safety program, and a worker-to-worker education process.
To learn more how the this historic and unprecedented program please read:
The Campaign for Fair Food
In 21st century America, slavery remains woven into the fabric of our daily lives. On any given day, the tomatoes in the sandwiches we eat or the oranges in the juice we drink may have been picked by workers in involuntary servitude. Captive workers are held against their will by their employers through threats, and all too often the actual use of violence.
The CIW helps fight this crime by uncovering, investigating, and assisting in the federal prosecution of slavery rings preying on hundreds of farmworkers. Through this work, the CIW has brought the abysmal state of human rights in U.S. agriculture today to public light.
The Anti-Slavery Campaign has resulted in freedom for more than a thousand tomato and orange pickers held in debt bondage, historic sentences for various agricultural employers, the development of a successful model of community-government cooperation, and the growth of an expanding base of aware and committed worker activists. The CIW employs a unique combination of outreach, investigation, and worker-to-worker counseling in order to combat already-existing slavery operations case-by-case.
To read more about the recent cases of modern-day slavery in Florida agriculture and the CIW's Anti-Slavery Campaign see:
Slavery in the Fields and the Food We Eat
