Kansas Student Fights to Stop Slave-Picked Produce in Dillons/Kroger

Thanksgiving — the biggest holiday for supermarkets — is fast approaching. To make this Thanksgiving slavery-free, the Student Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are organizing the National Supermarket Week of Action, November 14-21. This series will bring you the story of how people across America are asking their local supermarkets to stand against the slavery and exploitation of agricultural workers and fight for fair food.

National Supermarket Week of Action in Kansas

When Shona Clarkson first walked into a meeting of Lawrence Fair Food as a freshman at the University of Kansas, she has no idea she would eventually end up on the forefront of a national movement to end the exploitation of farmworkers in America. Her interest was initially peaked by meetings which valued equality and true partnership, so she joined Lawrence Fair Food, a local branch of the Student Farmworker Alliance that advocates for the fair treatment of farm workers. But it wasn't just the egalitarian model that kept Clarkson involved; it was seeing her efforts result in concrete victories.

It feels good to be a part of something that you see creating real change," says Clarkson. "It's nice to see your work pay off as an organizer ... when the growers, after years of turmoil, finally sign the agreement."

Clarkson has been involved in a number of campaigns with Lawrence Fair Food, including a victorious one targeting Burger King. Now, she is leading her community in a new fight against supermarket giant Dillons/Kroger. They refuse to sign onto the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Campaign for Fair Food, which would raise farmworkers' wages for the first time in decades and create protections against slavery in commercial agriculture. So Clarkson and Lawrence Fair Food are piling on the pressure with a number of Supermarket Week of Action events. On Sunday November 14, the group is hosting a candle light vigil in front of the largest Dillons in Lawrence, Kansas, which will feature speakers from the faith community, students, and other community leaders. The following Tuesday, a delegation will make the three hour trek to Hutchinson, the regional headquarters for Dillons/Kroger. There, they'll deliver a letter addressed to David Dillon, asking him as a Kansan leader of a Kansas company to hear the demands of the people of Kansas for farmworker justice and fair food. The week of events will culminate on Friday, November 19 with a public rally and march to another Dillons.

Clarkson and Lawrence Fair Food hope to get as much media coverage of their events as possible to make sure David Dillon and his company hear their message loud and clear: It's time for Dillons/Kroger to sign the Campaign for Fair Food and refuse to sell slave-picked tomatoes in their stores. It's a message, as Clarkson points out, that affects not only farm workers, but anyone who shops in a grocery store,

"The corporations and supermarkets that are directly exploiting farmworkers are also exploiting consumers," she points out. "Supermarkets have so much power in the supply chain; they control every aspect of it, including consumer prices. Customers are being manipulated and exploited just like the farmworkers are manipulated and exploited."

If you'll be in the Lawrence, Kansas area for the National Supermarket Week of Action, you can learn more about how to get involved with these events at lawrencefairfood@gmail.com. If you'll be anywhere else, sign this petition asking Dillons/Kroger to take a stand against slave-picked produce and agree to sell fair food. And stay tuned for more updates on how you can get involved in the National Supermarket Week of Action in your area or learn more here.

Photo credit: ercwttmn