Fair Food Austin: US Social Forum Speaker Series: The Students Speak!

May 17, 2010

US Social Forum Speaker Series: The Students Speak!

When: Monday, May 17, 7pm
Where: MonkeyWrench Books

A discussion of the new student movement will proceed a dialogue of how to best utilize the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit next month to further the fight for a social justice on and off campus. Those that will be represented include student groups that are seeking to build sustainable social movements linking the campus to the community.

The Social Justice Action Coalition is based out of UT's school of social work and organizes to promote social justice work in and out of the school. Fair Food Austin, who recently won an on-campus campaign against the food service provider Aramark, has worked for years in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. ¡ella pelea! is a group that forefronts the demands of women, queer folks and people of color around the budget cuts at UT. Students Against Sweatshops, a new on-campus group at UT works to promote ethical production of clothing at UT. MEChA is a Xicana/o student collective that promotes culture, history, and resistance to oppression and is currently leading campaigns against the Texas State Board of Education textbook reforms called "Save Our History" and promoting Immigrant Rights at UT in solidarity with the Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition.

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.