Publix Says: Atrocities in Our Supply Chain? None of Our Business

As one of the largest supermarket chains in the country, you'd think Publix could afford a competent PR person. But the most recent statement from Media and Community Relations Manager Dwaine Stevens suggests otherwise: he said that Publix just doesn't care if there are "atrocities" being committed against the workers who grow the food they sell.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) put together a groundbreaking deal with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to protect workers, many of them immigrants, from human rights violations, enslavement, and exploitation. Then CIW went to Publix, asking them to sign onto their Campaign for Fair Food, which would increase workers' wages by a penny per pound of tomatoes and institute safeguards against slavery and exploitation. At a recent Publix grand opening in Alabama, students and workers should up to rally and demand that Publix listen to consumer desires to buy food untainted by slavery, Amanda Kloer reports on End Human Trafficking.

Publix responded that they had no intention of meeting with CIW. Not because they think everything in their supply chain is a-okay, but because "If there are some atrocities going on, it’s not our business." That's right: they aren't saying there are no atrocities in the food they sell to consumers. They aren't even attempting to allege that they can't do anything against the atrocities that, yeah, might be there. Publix is just wants to pass the buck and say: Exploitation? Slavery? Atrocities? Not our business.

But CIW and other concerned consumers say: yes it is. It's not acceptable to simply say: Well, I'm not the one directly committing atrocities. I just buy from and thus support people who might be committing atrocities. See, can't blame me. Aren't I tricky?

That just doesn't fly. Publix makes decisions about where to spend its money, and what kind of products to sell. It can take a stand and decide not to support the exploitation or enslavement of thousands of workers over the last decade. Corporations must take responsibility for the human rights violations they fund with their dollars. But despite admitting that there might be "some atrocities" involved in the food they sell, the people at Publix aren't even willing to sit down with CIW and discuss what can be done.

Consumers must let Publix know they want their food to be slave-free. Maybe when they start losing customers over their callous stand on human rights they'll realize this is their business, even if they're only motivated by their bottom line rather than by the desire to stop atrocities from being committed.

Photo credit: liz west