Fair Food Austin: Road trip: "Farmworker Freedom March!"

January 25, 2010

Road trip: "Farmworker Freedom March!"

Join us this spring for an intensive campaign of education and action to end modern-day slavery in Florida's fields. In addition to our ongoing local work with the Campaign for Fair Food, we will be organizing a caravan from Austin to Florida to participate in the march. Mark your calendars, and stay tuned for details in the weeks ahead!

Three-day march of farmworkers and allies
April 16-18, from Tampa to Lakeland (home of Publix)
Route details and logistics to be announced soon.

Click here to go to the march website.

Who We Are

Since 2001, Fair Food Austin has organized with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) for fair wages and dignified working conditions in the U.S. agricultural industry. The CIW is a farmworker organization headquartered in Immokalee, Florida with over 4,000 members. The CIW has aided in the prosecution by the Department of Justice of six slavery operations and the liberation of well over 1,000 workers.

We use creative methods to educate consumers about the human rights crisis farmworkers face and to promote the Campaign for Fair Food. The campaign requires large food corporations -- from Taco Bell to Whole Foods -- to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers, to pay a premium price for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to buy only from growers who meet those higher standards.

Brutal conditions in Florida's fields may seem distant to consumers deep in the heart of Texas, but many of the restaurant and supermarket chains that have helped create this crisis are present in our community and buy Florida tomatoes at some point during the year. Human rights are universal, and by working together, farmworkers and consumers can create a better world.