Do The Right Thing

Do you eat tomatoes? Then listen up———————> Publix , a super market chain across the Southeast, is a place where shopping is oppression.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) are asking Publix to pay just one cent more per pound for the tomatoes they sell in their stores. Uno centavo mas, seriously. I find pennies on the ground all the time and I’m sure Publix management has more than a few lying around. The point is that by paying just one cent more, the tomato farmworkers in Immokalee will recieve better wages and working conditions, plus the victorious example of how collective action can hold corporate profit interests accountable.

On March 5, 2011- 1,500 workers, community members, students, and allies came together to march six miles in protest against Publix. I was alongside these folks and after driving 24 hours straight in the bible belt, it was a caffeine pill that kept me lucid but, the energy of the crowd that kept everyong going. It was encouraging to have Florida drivers honk their support. Also, the faith groups who have taken on the campaign was an good example of solidarity. However it was the finale of the teatro popular that was the best part. Especially seeing all the little kids, children of immigrants and allies, be part of a struggle they have yet to fully understand. Overall, it went very well. The CIW and Student Farmworker Alliance did a great job with organizing the event, so yay for them.

Anyways, if you shop at Publix or know someone who shops at Publix. If you eat tomatoes on your nice low-cal salad. If you have any piece of human dignity in you. Then, I encourage you to stop shopping at Publix. At least until they get their morality in check, which it seems they feel they are too nice to be fair and frankly, just don’t care about the workers. By doing so, you will be supporting the path for fair food! Do the right thing.