Fair Food Austin: "Meet a Community Group": Monday 1/25

January 18, 2010

"Meet a Community Group": Monday 1/25

When: Monday, Jan. 25 at 7:30pm
Where: 110 E. North Loop, 78751

MonkeyWrench Books hosts Fair Food Austin as part of its monthly "Meet a Community Group" speaker series. This forum aims to bring together community members with local groups working on various issues in the Austin area. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the exciting developments in the Campaign for Fair Food as well as what Fair Food Austin has in store for Spring 2010!

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.