End Slavery: Ask Supermarkets to Pay Farm Workers One Penny More

If you've been concerned about the increasing price of food at the grocery store, then you're not the only one. While the price consumers pay for groceries has steadily risen over the past 30 years, the price farm workers are paid for the tomatoes they pick has stayed the same — a mere 45 cents for a 32 pound bucket of tomatoes. You can help prevent the slavery and exploitation of farm workers by asking grocery stores to pay farm workers a penny more per pound of tomatoes.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) launched their Campaign for Fair Food to combat the rampant slavery and exploitation which was taking place in the tomato industry in the U.S. They have documented farm workers being locked in trucks, forced to pick produce for long hours under the watch of armed guards, beaten and threatened with violence, and force-fed cocaine to make them work faster. So CIW has been asking some of the largest purchasers of produce, restaurants and grocery stores, to agree to a set of basic labor standards, refuse to buy tomatoes from growers who enslave workers, and increase farm worker wages by a penny per pound of tomatoes.

The four largest fast-food companies — McDonald's, Yum Brands (which own KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut), Burger King, and Subway — have signed the Fair Foods agreement. Three of the largest largest food-service providers, Compass Group, Aramark, and Sodexo, also recently agreed to take this stand against exploitation. But so far, the $550 billion supermarket industry, with the exception of Whole Foods, has refused to step up and bring their considerable purchasing power to the plate. Why won't grocery stores agree to protect farm workers from slavery?

Check out this excellent new video below, made by the CIW to inspire and inform shoppers and help encourage supermarkets to support farm worker rights. More ways to take action are after the jump.

If you want to take action to help prevent human rights abuses and slavery in the tomato industry and ensure your local grocery store is selling slave-free and fair food, here are three things you can do:

1. Email your local grocery store and ask them to quit stalling and start working with CIW to keep slavery out of the tomatoes you buy.
2. Join CIW at one of their spring protests, February 27th at Ahold's U.S. headquarters in Quincy, MA or March 5th at the Publix headquarters in Tampa, FL.
3. Sign the petition asking Trader Joe's, a company that loves to present itself as progressive, to put its money where its mouth is and sign the Fair Food agreement.

Together, with the help of the supermarket industry, we can end slavery and trafficking of farm workers in the U.S.

Photo credit: invagara