#194: Greg Asbed and Gerardo Reyes Chavez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers tell the story of their movement's origins, including the injustices faced by farmworkers in Florida's tomato fields that led to slavery lawsuits. As they continue to apply pressure through corporate boycotts and public campaigns, they reflect on what has worked, what has changed, and all that still needs fixing since their early win enrolling Taco Bell into the Fair Food Program

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a human and worker rights organization founded in 1993 by farmers experiencing injustice in Florida's tomato fields. In 2011, CIW launched the Fair Food Program, negotiating one penny more per pound of tomatoes sold to Taco Bell to pay for the implementation of improved conditions for farmworkers. CIW was also able to convince Taco Bell, Walmart and other large scale food system players to source from farms complying with a code of conduct. To date, their program has spread throughout the US and beyond, and they still work tirelessly to encourage more entities to stop sourcing from bad actors.

https://ciw-online.org/

To watch a video version of this podcast please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/coalition-immokalee-workers-successful-boycotts-episode-one-hundred-ninety-four

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

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We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

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