Signs of the Times - Tomatoes and Social Justice
April 2009
Political Economy: Tomatoes and Social Justice
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Harvest of Shame, a documentary film produced by Edward R. Murrow nearly 50 years ago, roused inidgnation over the sorry treatment of migrant workers on farms across the U.S. But, at least for the tomato pickers in southwest Florida, there has not been much change. In fact, there have recently been a series of successful prosecutions there for enslavement, involving over 1,000 people--the extreme edge of a pattern of poor working conditions and abysmal pay.

Over the past 15 years the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has initiated a series of actions aimed at improving these conditions. One seeming triumph: two years ago McDonald's and Yum! Brands (Taco Bell etc.) entered into agreements to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes to the growers in Florida, to go to the pickers--which if it became universal would represent a 75% increase of their scant wages. Large buyers of tomatoes like Burger King, Subway and, first among supermarket chains, Whole Foods have also recently agreed to the higher payments.

But resistance from the growers has resulted in little of this money actually flowing through to the field hands. It is tied up in escrow. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which represents the 15 major tomato growers, says its members would face legal issues if they allowed "third parties" to dictate wages, and has prohibited its members from participating.

Fair food

Bon Appétit is a major food service company, operating cafeterias at over 400 colleges and corporate offices. They have an intriguing tagline: food services for a sustainable future. Their mission statement notes the desire to make socially responsible purchasing decisions. And demonstrating their social ethic, they are taking on the tomato growers. They will pay the additional penny a pound, but they want to make sure it goes to the workers. And they want to go further.

The company and the CIW issued a release today, outlining standards for improved working conditions and pay.

 Highlights of the agreement include:

  • A "Minimum Fair Wage" - Workers will be paid a wage premium that reflects the unique rigors and uncertainty of farm labor.
  • An end to traditional forms of wage abuse - Through standards requiring growers to implement time clocks and to reconcile wages paid with pounds harvested, workers will be paid for every hour worked and every pound picked.
  • Worker empowerment - Workers will be informed of their rights through a system jointly developed by the growers and the CIW. Growers will also collaborate with the CIW and Bon Appétit to implement and enforce a process for workers to pursue complaints without fear of retribution.
  • Worker safety - A worker-controlled health and safety committee will give farmworkers a voice in addressing potentially dangerous working conditions, including pesticide, heat, and machinery issues.
  • Third-party monitoring - Growers will permit third-party monitoring that includes worker participation.

-From the CIW announcement of the agreement

Bon Appétit also offers to pay a premium to growers willing to exceed minimums--for example, by paying overtime or providing health insurance for their workers. So the spirit of the slow-food movement, focused on ingredients and the environment, has come around to include the people at the bottom of the food-supply chain. The union understandably is working hard to make this agreement a template for other socially-conscious purchasers of tomatoes.

And after a lengthy process of denial, Florida's Governor Charlie Crist last month issued a whole-hearted endorsement of the movement. Against slavery and in favor of humane treatment. The growers are a powerful force in Florida politics and the pickers up till now negligible. And public opinion in Florida has been sharply divided by the thought that many of the workers involved are undocumented and undeserving. It may be that, at long last, shameful practices are becoming politically as well as economically inexpedient.

(Dave Sagarin, April 29, 2009)

Comments? Questions? Write me at george@loper.org.