Make a BIG difference with LITTLE effort.

Sometimes we live in these amazingly insulated boxes we have created for ourselves and our families. They are nice boxes, with pretty paint on the walls and warm blankets to rest on. They keep us safe and more importantly they keep our children safe. But...there is this great big world outside of my pretty comfortable box that I often miss.

This weekend the window was open and I saw a neighbor in pain, in poverty, in slavery...in my very own backyard. Please don't tune out the rest of this post because you think I am about to step on some God soapbox - the tragedy I want to tell you about and the amazingly simple and FREE thing you can do to help change that tragedy is nonreligious, nonChristian, nonpartisan. Just humane.

We all know that fruits and veggies no longer have a season, this can be proven true with a quick walk through your supermarket. We just transport stuff further at other times of the year! Compliments of the amazing weather here in FL we are one of those states/countries that produce vast quantities of food for vast corporations around the nation year round. We all know about the oranges and the strawberries but do you know that many national corporations also purchase tomatoes from FL farms? Yum foods (aka Taco Bell/KFC/Long John Silvers/A&W), McDonalds, Burger King, Whole Foods, Kroger and Publix are among some of the many that purchase there tomatoes from FL growers.

Did you also know that average worker in those tomato fields must pick 2 tons - 4000 LBS!!!! - to earn $50 in one day. And most can't do that many. Did you also know that this kind of farm working is one of the leading causes of modern day slavery? In 2008 HERE in FL, two brothers were charged, found guilty and sentenced for slavery. A crime we believe died years ago. 7 men were chained in a truck every night. Less than ten years before that another FLORIDA slavery case was tried, found guilty and sentenced after keeping 700+ people enslaved working - yep a tomato farm.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is asking for our help in a campaign to raise tomato prices - 1 penny per pound. Do you really think you would notice the difference when you picked up your tomato at Publix? But 1 penny per pound is a 60% increase in wages for these farm workers. Yum foods, McDonalds, and 6 other corportations have already signed on but both Kroger and Publix food stores are refusing. They state that they pay market value and should not determine market value. But let's be real retailers have been affecting the prices of all sorts of crops for decades now - both positively and negatively. And retailers change prices based on consumer demand.

So what can you do? Join in the CIW Fair Food Campaign by requesting postcards/letters for you and your friends and family members (or your church or school groups or play groups). These postcards outline their request for 3 things - the penny per pound wage increase, the purchasing of tomatoes from farms that follow a code of conduct for farm worker treatment, and allowing farm workers to have a voice. They are already addressed to Publix (store management for the letter and Mr.Crenshaw, current CEO, of Publix for the postcards) or Kroger management. All you have to do is request the cards, stamp them, put your return address on them and mail it!

Sometimes it is easy to feel that one postcard does not make a difference. But this campaign has worked EIGHT times. Let's help add to that number.

"I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
- Edward Everett Hale

To find out more about the CIW Fair Food Campaign check them out here: CIW

Postcards can be ordered from this site as well, about half way down their is a request link. If you are in the area and just need a few Todd and I will have some soon that you are welcome to pick up at your convenience.



Sometimes we need to look outside our box, sometimes we even need to step out and do something.