Princess and the Pea, Publix and the Penny

Media covering the Fair Food Fast ask us, “How do you respond to Publix’s offer to “Put the penny in the cost and we’ll gladly pay it”? Publix’s statement is that they respond to market forces, and: “our policy is not to get involved in labor disputes.”

Just a penny per pound more would make all the difference in farmworkers' lives.

The extraordinary change in the relationship between growers and farmers at this moment is not a labor dispute. Over 90 percent of the Florida tomato growers and the Coalition of Immokolee Workers (CIW) have already agreed upon a Fair Food Code of Conduct. The corporations that have signed on have agreed to pay the Fair Food Premium, which is a small price increase that is designed to give the workers a penny wage increase for every pound of tomatoes they pick.

Ask Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw to meet with the farmworkers and sign the Fair Food Agreement.

Greg Asbed, staff with the CIW likens the Fair Food Premium to the reverse of the Princess and the Pea story. The Princess feels discomfort at the placement of a pea at the bottom of stack of many mattresses, whereas Publix could sleep soundly and never notice the discomfort of a little penny. Meanwhile, farmworkers will experience significant gain from the expenditure of a penny a pound on the part of the corporation. Yet Publix refuses to talk to the farmworkers or even consider signing the agreement. By refusing, Publix undermines the efforts of the farmworkers to labor in environments free of abuses that have characterized the system for over three decades. Publix provides an alternative, a shelter for growers that have not signed the agreement. By so doing, they participate in practices that are unjust and immoral.

As the largest corporation in Florida, Publix exerts enormous influence in the food industry. Publix has the opportunity now be a part of the healthy changes that are taking place in the industry. Or, Publix can tacitly support the continuation of a system that does not recognize the humanity of the men and women who pick the tomatoes it sells in groceries stores it lauds as offering a “pleasurable shopping experience.”

How can we enjoy buying goods when we know the farmworkers who pick them are underpaid and overworked, who labor without pension and health benefits and when some of them may have been subjected to forced labor? The scriptures of the Old and the New Testament are clear in calling for justice for the worker and the creation of each one of us in the image of God.  We stand with farmworkers as they strive for a new day in fields and a future for their children in a “Fair Food” universe.

Ask Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw to meet with the farmworkers and sign the Fair Food Agreement.

Until tomorrow,

Michael Livingston

Director, National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative

Fast for Fair Food

I love tomatoes. Many of us do. But can we eat them in good conscience when we know that the farm workers who pick them are grossly underpaid and work under conditions that most of us do not and would not tolerate?

Can we live with doing nothing when the companies (like Publix) who hire them or who benefit disproportionately from their labor refuse to acknowledge their responsibility for the plight of farm workers, and will not engage in constructive conversation about meaningful change?

We are all in this life together. We are all fed from the bounty of the earth. I am going to join farm workers and the Presbyterian Hunger Program in Lakeland, Florida in a fast as part of the Fair Food Campaign. I do not regard this fast as a hardship on my part. By God’s grace I can offer the luxury of my time to brothers and sisters whose humanity I value as much as my own. I count it a privilege, as the season of Lent begins, to, as Paul asks of us in Romans 12:1: “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Learn more about the Fast for Fair Food and join Florida clergy and congregations in praying that with God’s help, Publix’s isolation and hesitation can be transformed into communication and cooperation with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. View and share the Faith Moves Mountains video and materials and join your prayers with thousands across Florida. I’ll keep in touch next week through our Facebook page and Twitter, sharing stories of the farm workers’ struggle and the community gathering around them, fasting and speaking for justice together.

Across Florida and the southeast where Publix grocery stores are prominent, people of faith are encouraged to drop off a manager’s letter when they shop, and to support or organize events such as the Interfaith Clergy Press Conference and Open Letter to Publix on March 6 in Tallahassee which includes Presbyterian clergy: the Rev. Brant Copeland, the Rev. Tom Borland, and the Rev. Mary Vance.

Learn more about ways you can pray with and support the Fast for Fair Food.

Grace and Peace,

Michael Livingston

Director, National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative

Photo of tomato picker by Scott Robertson.

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