Farm Workers

From Grist.com food editor Tom Philpott: "The time has come for the U.S. sustainable-food movement to develop a North American consciousness -- to foster a farmworker movement of its own, and to seek coalitions with Mexican small-farm advocates to rebuild local and regional food networks on both sides of the border." Read the full article.

From the Sacremento Bee: 17-year old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died May 16 from heat-related causes after being allowed only one water break while working in 95 degree heat. This case is just an extreme example of the kind of abuse and neglect that our industrial food economy is based on. Our thoughts go out to her family.

Earlier this year, over 70 Minnesotans drove to Chicago to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) at McDonald's Global Headquarters to demand an end to human rights violations in the fast-food giants' tomato supply chain – AND WE WON! Join participants for a Report-Back from the action, and to learn more about the continuing struggle to
end sweatshops and slavery in the fields of Florida:

Saturday, June 9, 10am
Coffee Hour
Resource Center of the Americas
3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis

BACKGROUND:
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a community-based worker organization made up of Latino, Haitian and Mayan immigrants who are working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. The work of the CIW to end human rights violations in the fields of Florida has been recognized internationally, due in large part to the historic

On April 28-30, 2007 in Owatonna, MN a historic event took place. For the first time, farmworker groups from around the U.S. met to consider their place in the growing Domestic Fair Trade movement. They came out of their meeting with a commitment to use Domestic Fair Trade as a key tool for achieving justice for farmworkers, and a demand that any group marketing U.S.-grown Fair Trade food involve farmworkers as equal partners in the definition of what is fair.

You are invited to learn more about this exciting development at the Farmworker Conference for Fair Trade Report-Back. Conference participants Ernesto Bustos of Centro Campesino, Erik Esse of the Local Fair Trade Network and Lisa Sass Zaragoza of the University of Minnesota Department of Chicano studies will talk about farmworker organizing, the history of the Domestic Fair Trade movement and how these efforts are coming together. Participants will also share ideas on how food co-ops, unions, farmers, faith groups and others can support the creation of a just food system in our region.

Twin Cities area residents are invited to a report-back about the Farmworker Conference for Fair Trade on Wednesday, June 13. Also this week is a report-back about the Twin Cities Caravan to CIW action at McDonald's HQ. And check out this new article by Chela Vazquez of Pesticide Action Network North America at Twin Cities Daily Planet.

El 28 y 29 de Abril, se reunió un grupo de 37 participantes involucrados en la agricultura, incluyendo trabajadores agrícolas y sus organizaciones respectivas, las cuales representaban varias regiones del país, para establecer los estándares de justicia social para una etiqueta de Comercio Justo Domestico.

Nos propusimos realizar lo siguiente:

• Profundizar la participación de los trabajadores agrícolas en el movimiento domestico hacia una etiqueta de Comercio Justo.

• Definir los principios de las condiciones justas de trabajo en el campo.

• Llegar a un consenso sobre los principios y archivar los acuerdos y puntos que necesitan más discusión, con el fin de hacer un reporte para los movimientos campesinos y la Asociación de Comercio Justo Domestico.

Logramos a un consenso sobre los siguientes puntos:

• Los trabajadores agrícolas y sus organizaciones representativas necesitan tener igual representación, voz y participación en la elaboración de la etiqueta de comercio justo—por ejemplo, el desarrollo de las normas, la gobernancia, la implementación de los estándares y la inspección de las granjas participantes, entre otras cosas.
• El salario justo es un requisito indispensable en la certificación del Comercio Justo.
• El derecho de organizarse sin represalia tiene que ser garantizado para todos los trabajadores/as.

Tuvimos una conversación profunda sobre el tema de ser expuesto a los pesticidas como uno de los peligros más graves tanto para el trabajador como el consumidor. La producción orgánica junto con las relaciones justas entre el trabajador y granjero representa el mejor camino para llegar a un sistema alimentario justo.

A raíz de la conferencia, nuestro grupo está comprometido para seguir adelante en la creación y utilización de la etiqueta del Comercio Justo Doméstico.

We've just wrapped up the Farmworker Conference for Fair Trade, the first national meeting of farmworkers and farmworker organizations on the topic of creating social justice by building a Fair Trade system for domestic food.

It was an exciting and inspiring conference for all involved. Read the public statement (in English and Spanish) and check back at this site for more information, pictures and updates about the continuing involvement of farmworkers in the Domestic Fair Trade movement.

How much would it cost to pay everyone on the farm a living wage?

One of Local Fair Trade Network’s primary goals is living wages for farmers and farm workers. Many new farmers have trouble figuring out what to charge for their produce, so the nuts and bolts of achieving a living wage are hard to sort out. At this year’s Upper Midwest Organic Food Conference, Greg Reynolds, the farmer behind Riverbend Farm’s luscious eggplants and sweet Russian kale, shared his perspective on the practicalities of paying, and being paid, a living wage.

“To pay $10 per hour, I would have to charge [customers] about 9% more, and to pay $12 per hour (the theoretical living wage in Minneapolis), I would have to charge about 22% more. Of course, if I am paying my farm workers $10 or $12 per hour, I would like to get paid that much too" says Reynolds. When you add in workers’ compensation and unemployment, the price tag could rise 24% at the higher wage.

April 28-29, 2007
Owatonna, Minnesota

Farmworkers and farmworker organization staff are invited to this first-of-its-kind meeting to explore how farmworkers can best use the tool of Fair Trade to empower themselves and improve their lives.

The news is full of stories about the freeze and how California’s multimillion dollar citrus crop is being hit hard. The harsh January freeze that ravaged California citrus also damaged strawberries, avocados and possibly other crops. It could also ravage the lives of an estimated 20,000 farm workers and their families in citrus alone. While growers are assessing the situation, the United Farm Workers is already hearing from citrus workers who are out of work. Workers have told us they think it will be almost a total loss.