By John Leschak
Have you ever taken a moment to wonder where that food on your plate came from? It most likely came from a farm.
As of 1997, there were about 1.92 million farm in the U.S. A mere 8 percent of these farms-about 163,000 farms-account for 72 percent of agricultural sales and employ 77 percent of farm workers. This 8 percent consists of giant industrial farms-many owned by corporate enterprises such as Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill. This massive agri-business consists of a combination of modern technology and medieval labor relations.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, there are between three and five million farm workers in the U.S. Three-fifths of all farm workers in the U.S. are very poor, earning less than $10,000 annually. In 1998, one of the most prosperous years in recent American history, the average wage of farm workers was $5.94! These poverty wages are rooted in an antiquated piece-rate pay system. Under this system farm workers are paid by the amount of fruits and vegetables they pick. For instance, Florida tomato pickers earn only 40-45 cents for every 32 pound bucket of tomatoes that they pick. At this pay rate, a farm worker must pick over two tons of tomatoes to make $50 in a day. The average workday for farm workers is between 10 to 12 hours with no overtime pay, no health insurance, no sick days and no benefits whatsoever. These facts were confirmed in a 2001 report by the U.S. Dept. of Labor that described farm workers as “a labor force in significant economic distress.”
In the most extreme cases, farm workers are held against their will and forced to work for little or no pay. Since 1997, Federal Civil Rights officials have prosecuted seven cases of modern-day slavery involving over 1,000 farm workers in Florida.
Florida produces virtually the entire U.S. crop of fresh tomatoes. These tomatoes are sold nationwide on burgers and sandwiches at fast-food chains. The fast-food industry plays an active role in creating the human rights abuses in Florida’s fields. Massive chains are able to use their buying power to demand ever-lower prices from their tomato suppliers, which in turn puts downward pressure on farm worker wages.
Farm workers are now organizing and fighting back to stop this exploitation. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida farmworker organization comprised mostly of immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti, has launched several successful campaigns to raise the wages and improve the working conditions of tomato pickers. In 2001, CIW demanded that Taco Bell pay one more penny per pound of tomatoes. After a four year boycott, Taco Bell agreed to increase pay and monitor labor suppliers to prevent slavery in the fields. Last year, McDonalds agreed to work with CIW after a three-year protest campaign.
However, the workers’ efforts have recently collided with two big obstacles: Burger King and Subway. Both companies have rejected the CIW’s demands and claim that farm worker wages are already satisfactory.
Fast food is cheap, too, but only because farm workers are paid poverty wages-or in extreme cases, nothing. As students, we have a certain position of privilege, and with that privilege, we have responsibility. As young people, we are also the target market of fast food corporations. Our choices as consumers have a powerful affect. Every purchase we make is a political act. Are we mere obedient mouths, consuming branded products despite the unethical practices of corporations that make them? Or, are we individuals with a voice-rejecting products that profit from the exploitation of other people? I add my voice to those of countless consumers calling upon Subway and Burger King to immediately join with the CIW to end exploitation and modern day slavery in agriculture. I will boycott Subway and Burger King until they agree to work with the CIW. This movement is more than the struggle between “fast food” and “fair food.” This is a struggle between slavery and freedom.
John Leschak is a first-year law student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].
