News
CIW, Compass Group, East Coast announce “sweeping changes to benefit tomato harvesters” at press conference in nation’s capital
Title, picture, and quote from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) website, on September 25, 2009.

UH Students for Fair Trade is an affiliate of the Student/Farmworkers Alliance (SFA) and began working on the Dine with Dignity campaign, in solidarity with the Coalition of Imokalee Workers (CIW) in May 2009. This campaign is build off of the CIW and SFA’s previous victories in getting 4 of the 5 largest fast-food companies in the world (Yum Foods, over Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Subway), one supermarket chain (Whole Foods), a food service company (Bon Apatite) and others to reach agreements with the CIW to pay one penny per pound more to farmworkers for the tomatoes they purchase, to the food service companies on our campus (for UH that’s Aramark).
This past Friday, the largest food service company in the world, Compass Group, reached an agreement with the CIW. Also East Coast, a major tomato growing company, reached an agreement to get the extra penny per pound to the farmworkers they are intended, since previously the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange had kept this from happening.
This has been called, “the greatest victory for farmworkers since Cesar Chavez in the 1970s.” -Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation
Check out http://ciw-online.org for more info about this and the CIW’s campaigns for fair food.
More on child slave labor and chocolate
Gourmet magazine ran a nice story on the sad state of the cocoa bean story and its relation to child labor. Remember the basic facts from our last post on this topic, if its not Fair Trade Certified, then you have no assurance that child labor is not being used.
Check out that article here: Gourmet magazine article
Also everyone should be aware that Interpol (international policing agency) arrested eight people for their involvement in a child labor ring that was related to cocoa fields in the Ivory Coast. They also rescued 50 child labors.
Check out the story here: Interpol busts child labor organizers
So put down the Cadbury’s, Hersheys, Snickers, M & Ms and all the other slave labor chocolate and get some fair trade certified chocolate.




