Tomato pickers are changing things in Florida and elsewhere in big ways

[AllPurposeAtheist]

http://ciw-online.org/

Executively produced by Eva Longoria, Eric Schlosser and Abigail Disney, Food Chains is a ground-breaking, new documentary exposing the rampant abuses of American farm labourers.

Told through the narrative of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an intrepid group of tomato pickers in Florida who are battling the 5 trillion dollar global supermarket industry â€" and winning, the film aims to expose the businesses responsible.

We interviewed Sanjay Rawal, the Director of Food Chains, about the situation for farm workers in the US.
Most people have no idea that they are connected to this system, how did the plight of farm workers come on to your radar?

I was raised in an agricultural family. My father, Dr Kanti Rawal, was a tomato geneticist for Del Monte in California and I spent my summers on farms in the Central Valley. He and I actually had a small tomato genetics conference together and when I was at a tomato conference in Florida in 2011, it all hit home to me. I was reading a book Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook about the exploitation that existed then in the Florida tomato industry and was shocked that I hadn’t heard of it. At the same time, I was excited because the industry was beginning a rapid transformation, led by a group of workers, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and a few very conscious farmers. Now, dare I say, the Florida tomato industry is the most progressive sector in agriculture in the United States.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing farm workers in the US? How does this compare to the situation globally?
Food Chains

It’s incomprehensible that in most states in the US, farmworkers have no way to report abuse. In an environment where abuses can go unchecked, exploitation is rampant. The CIW’s Fair Food Programhas addressed this in the Florida tomato industry. Firstly, workers are trained in what their rights are. At the same time, farmers are required to implement a Code of Conduct and if they don’t, they’re barred from selling their tomatoes to 12 of the largest buyers in the world like Walmart and McDonalds.

Globally, the situation for farm workers is abysmal. In the US, farm workers might be treated worse than other workers and face low pay and poor working conditions, but farm workers globally face a much worse fate. In Mexico, for example, which supplies the US with a large proportion of our produce, workers are routinely underpaid, robbed of wages and treated horrifically. […]
[…] What are your hopes for this film and what do you see as the next steps?

I’m hoping that this film can help amplify the CIW’s existing Campaign for Fair Food and pressure retailers to join the programme. We need folks to see the film and then join the movement. Please visit www.foodchainsfilm.com for theatre info and showtimes.
What advice or action should individuals take or do to support a fair wage for farm workers?

Once the CIW’s Fair Food Program becomes ubiquitous, the flood gate will open for workers in other industries. People should join their Campaign for Fair Food…

[Solitary]

I've picked tomatoes, but I preferred picking cherries, when younger, that is. 

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I've picked tomatoes, but I preferred picking cherries, when younger, that is. 

Yeah yeah yeah... Popping them is was more fun..

[Solitary]

  Cherry Bomb!  http://youtu.be/uW_HCdU-qEY 

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You know.. I've been accused of hijacking threads and posting irrelevant things to them in the past, but those days are all gone and it's now your job and what a terrific job you're doing in my absence.