Half of all fresh tomatoes in the U.S. come from Florida farms. This region that feeds the country has a dirty secret; working conditions there are so bad it’s referred to as America’s ‘ground zero for slavery.’
End Slavery in the U.S. Tomato
Florida’s tomato farms supply 50% of all U.S. fresh tomatoes but have also been called America’s ‘ground zero for slavery.’ Countless workers are held against their will, threatened with violence and forced to haul hundreds of heavy tomato buckets a day for little to no pay.
Right now is the worst part of Florida’s tomato picking season – the days are hot and there is tremendous pressure on growers to turn a profit, making conditions ripe for worker exploitation.
Thankfully, a new solution called the Fair Food Program enforces a policy of zero tolerance for slavery on tomato farms.
But a major U.S. supermarket chain, Publix Super Markets, refuses to support the Fair Food Program. Publix continues to buy tomatoes from growers whose workers still toil beyond the reach of the Fair Food Program’s proven protection from modern slavery.
Tell Publix to make the right decision to join the Fair Food Program and fight modern slavery in the U.S. tomato industry.
Categorized | Affiliate Marketing 101
Spiritually Speaking:will You End Slavery In The U.s. Tomato Industry?
Posted on May 20, 2013.
I grow my own tomato’s….does that help?
Thanks. But it is cute coming from Australia. Cute as button. Thanks for looking after them no joke.
I’m growing my own.
And this is odd, someone in Australia worried about Florida tomato farmers.
I grow my own, and buy some others from the local farmer’s market. The guy who grows them in named Adam, and he’s really nice.
Supermarket tomatoes suck. Just another reason not to buy them I guess.
Why is it always foreigners that know us better than we do? I did not know this. We also grow our own in the part of Michigan I am from.(small farming community). Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately this happens in a lot of countries. Australia is dealing with it also.http://www.voanews.com/content/new-anti-…
I remember when farm workers in the US were campaigning for the right to unionize and be paid minimum wage. Now they just want their freedom.
I don’t know about other countries, but in the US we completely disregarded immigration laws after the 1960s. Meaning, we didn’t change the laws when they needed changing, we just didn’t enforce them. Anybody who crossed the border into the US was welcome. We needed the workers, and didn’t look beyond that.
Now, terrorists and slave traders can’t be stopped because our whole immigration system has broken down.
Well, we will just have to deal with it now.
Of course I will do my best to avoid the products of any kind of slave labor. I hate it.