Fair Food Update and It's Good News This Time

Great news everyone, Trader Joe's, the grocery store chain, has decided to do the right thing and work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). They have agreed to sign an agreement that begins a relationship with the CIW and its fair food program. This decision comes just days before the CIW planed action to greet Trader Joe's at the opening of the it's first Florida store. Not only was this the first store though, the newest Trader Joe's is located just 30 minutes away from the tomato fields of Immokalee. This had seemed like an almost intentional form of taunting – letting the workers know that the newest guy in town is also one of your biggest enemies.

But this victory for fair food was not won overnight. Rather it is the result of a long and hard struggle by the CIW and its supporters. Trader Joe’s has been in the national spotlight for over a year, because of their refusal to pay farm workers 1 penny more per pound of tomatoes. This small amount accomplishes more than meets the eye -- it nearly doubles workers average rate of pay by bringing wages up from 50 cents per 32 lbs of tomatoes to 82 cents per 32 lbs. Consumers have repeatedly said they are more than willing to pay this small amount to help bring thousands of workers out of poverty.

Fair Food Jacksonville has been collecting pennies as a down payment on their contribution to the cause. They have already collected about $100 in pennies, or enough to cover 10,000 lbs of tomatoes. The struggle continues in the campaign to follow Trader Joe’s example and sign an agreement with the CIW. Once Publix agrees to work with the CIW, Fair Food Jacksonville will donate the money to the Coalition in the name of consumers. This continuing struggle for greater equality and justice has also been embraced by the Florida Occupy movement in recent months, with many Occupy movements joining, and sometimes even leading demonstrations at Publix supermarkets around the state.

So, congratulations to Trader Joe’s for realizing this is the right thing to do; I am sure they will quickly realize they should have done this years ago. I encourage them to work diligently with the CIW, since they are now calling Florida a new home. There is lots of buzz for Trader Joe's among the foodies and I am sure they will find greater success in the state now that the agreement has been signed. Let’s not forget to send Trader Joe's a hardy thank you, because positive feedback is important as well.

As far as Publix, it is a shame that the largest private corporations in Florida, which posted profits of $6.4 billion just a few months ago, up 5.5% from last year, can't find in their heart's to pay workers that help make their outstanding profits just a few pennies more. Rightfully the CIW has decided to now focus all of their energy on Publix. This news comes on the heels of a big campaign set to begin on March 5th, when farmworkers and a number of their allies will begin a six day fast. On March 10th, they will be met by their supporters at Publix's headquarters in Lakeland.

 For Publix, it is better late than never and I strongly encourage them to do the right thing as soon as possible.

--

In Solidarity,

James W. Taylor

More Photos!!!

Photos Courtesy of Clinton. Thank you!

Another Action Down, Another Refusal by Publix

Our December 17 Publix Action in Riverside was a smashing success! Big shout out to Occupy Jacksonville for making this action happen. This action was a lot of fun and we incorporated a lot of new chants and demonstrations to the action. One thing we did, and will continue to do, was collect pennies to bring to the Publix management. Since Publix still refuses to work with the CIW and agree to pay 1 penny more per pound, we decided we would help them out by collecting pennies. So far we have over 10,000 pennies, which is a downpayment on 10,000 pounds of tomatoes. Publix has no excuse to not work with the CIW and customers have continually told them that we are willing to pay the extra penny.

Since Publix is still refusing to be a part of the solution, that means we have to keep showing them that they have no other choice. There will be a grand opening of a new Publix in Vilano Beach in early January. Fair Food Jacksonville will be teaming up with our St. Augustine in welcoming the new Publix to the neighborhood. We don't have an exact date yet, but we will let you know the details soon. 

ATTENTION! The details for our upcoming group volunteering has changed. Second Harvest will not be sorting food on Saturday December 24 and instead is encouraging all volunteers to serve food at one of the other Jacksonville agencies, so that is exactly what we are going to do. Fair Food Jacksonville will be serving breakfast at the Clara White Mission on December 23, 2011 at 8:30. The Clara White is located at 613 W. Ashley St. Jacksonville, FL 32202. 

Fight for Fair Food Continues!

Greetings friends! There has been a lot of exciting things going on in the campaign for fair food. Over the past couple of weeks, FFJ has been going into the community and trying to get involved in other community projects. I had an opportunity over the past couple weeks to volunteer at Second Harvest and the Clara White Mission. Both experiences were great and I would like to continue to help their causes. I will be organizing monthly volunteer days through Fair Food Jax. We will try to work with local agencies to set a monthly date, such as a third saturday, that we can plan to do every month. Until then though, I will keep everyone updated on volunteer opportunities. Also, if anyone has an idea, please email me at tayj0016@gmail.com and we will try something out. To start things out, we can volunteer at Second Harvest 1502 Jessie Street Jacksonville, FL 32206 on Saturday December 24 at 9 a.m.

Also, I have exciting news that the Occupy Jax movement wants to show their support for farmworkers by organizing a Publix action on Satrurday December 17 at the Riverside Publix. Fair Food Jax will be meeting up with members of the Occupy Jax movement at Memorial Park in Riverside at noon. There will be a brief teach-in about problems farmworkers face, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the role Publix plays in this situation. I hope to see everyone out there!

Lastly, we have a meeting scheduled to discuss Fair Food Jacksonville and the programs we want to do in the 2012. The meeting will take place on Saturday January 7, 2012 at 2 p.m. at my house. The address is 3119 Albatross Cir. Jacksonville, Fl 32246. If you have anything you wish to discuss to the group, please let me know, so I can allot you time.

Upcoming Events:

• Group Volunteering at Second Harvest 1502 Jessie Street Jacksonville, FL 32206 on December 24, 2011 9 a.m.
• Publix Action with Occupy Jax, Riverside Publix 2022 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, Fl 32204, we will be meeting at Memorial Park on December 17 at noon
• Fair Food Jax meeting January 7, 2012 at 2 p.m. at 3119 Albatross Cir. Jacksonville, FL 32246

Thanks everyone!

The Path Forward...

Our last action was a great success! Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support the farmworkers and to those you missed it, don't worry there will be plenty more actions to come, because we still have a long way to go. Check out the photos and the awesome video of our fair food ally Rob making up some fair food songs at the action (thanks Rob!). We were able to rally the troops and bring our message to Publix's front door step. We spoke to a number of people, who were completely unaware of the unjust working conditions that Publix knowingly continues to support. And unsurprisingly, Publix didn't have anything new to say, in-fact, they had nothing at all to say. I don't know how much longer Publix can ignore the injustices they support everyday, but I know we can keep going until they finally choose to do the right thing!!!

Fair Food Jacksonville will continue to move forward in supporting fair and sustainable food. We will gear up for another action in early 2012 and I am thinking we should bring our message to Publix in Jacksonville Beach. We will also be working on a new campaign in Northeast Florida, which will allow nonprofits (i.e. Food Not Bombs) the ability to distribute food in public. As it stands now, it is illegal to distribute food in Jacksonville without proper permitting, which is very unattainable for many nonprofits. Currently the city extends an exemption to churches and so there no reason they can extend the same rights to secular nonprofits. More on this coming soon, but if you want to be in the planning process for this campaign, be sure to contact James Taylor at tayj0016@gmail.com.

Lastly, to better organize ourselves we will be having monthly meetings every first Saturday of the month staring in December 2011. We will set a meeting time soon and the first meeting will take place in Riverside, but may change month to month so we can reach different areas of Jacksonville.

Thanks so much everyone,

In solidarity,
james