It was rather tasty. And then I read this book that talked about tomatoes. And I didn’t really want to eat tomatoes anymore. So I suppose this post will tell you why. It’s not to tell you to stop eating tomatoes. I hope it just makes you think about the little choices we make—and how they affect other people.
I ate my tomato in January, which is in the winter (in case you didn’t know). Most of the tomatoes that are eaten in winter months come from Florida. Florida is nice and sunny—and thus, it’s ideal for the year-round growing of tomatoes. It grows almost the entire crop of fresh tomatoes bought by restaurants and supermarkets throughout the US (aka McDonald’s).
But those very tomatoes—the ones we often seen in our homes and/or favorite fast food restaurants—are picked by workers who work in horrible conditions right in the US! In Florida, almost all tomato-pickers are workers who have immigrated from Latin American countries or Haiti. Managers of tomato-growing farms will hire these immigrants, because they’ll usually work for low wages. The workers choose tomato-picking because that’s often the only job they can get a hold of; they are scrambling to find a job, so that they can send some money back to family members in their native countries. And this is why they put up with the abuse they face as workers on tomato farms. To get a job picking tomatoes, the immigrants are required to purchase their own food from the very farm on which they work; these farms have—too often—unscrupulous supervisors who charge ridiculously exorbitant amounts of money for the food. The workers are also required to rent their lodging from the farm on which they work, and the charge for housing is also excessive and presented dishonestly.
For example, on a farm in Florida, some supervisors were charging their workers $50 dollars a week to rent a tiny trailer that they had to share with seven other men—so eight men were all crammed into a tiny trailer, and each one had to pay $50 a week. This way, managers can house huge numbers of workers in just a few buildings—and cut costs. And they end up "cutting" workers at the same time. Situations like these mean that if—or rather when—workers fall into dept, they’re indebted to the very people who employ them. This results in a cycle of debt—and it means that workers rarely see money for their labor: many farm owners manipulate systems, so that workers remain in continuous debt.
It’s situations like these that have the potential to turn into forced labor and slavery. The US government has repeatedly discovered slavery rings at farms in Florida. In 2008, five owners of farms were prosecuted for beating tomato pickers, chaining them inside U-Haul trucks and forcing them to pick tomatoes against their will (read more here). And not only harm of this type: tomato harvesters’ health is also repeatedly compromised by an unprotected exposure to toxic chemicals. They are also subject to abuse, harassment, intimidation, and, for female harvesters, sexual harassment. They endure all of this in a job that provides them under two hundred dollars a week (compare this to the average weekly incomes in the US here).
Senator Bernie Saunders, an independent from Vermont, stated in 2008, “While slavery is, of course, the most extreme situation in the tomato fields, the truth is that the average worker there is being ruthlessly exploited. Tomato pickers perform backbreaking work, make very low wages, have no benefits and virtually no labor protections.”
Measures have been taken to bring about improvement: oppositions have come about where farm workers have boycotted large fast-food chains (like Taco Bell—a major buyer of tomatoes harvested through injustice). These workers who stand up demand that the chains take responsibility for the human-rights violations in the fields where their produce grows. Boycotts like these combined with efforts from non-profits, religious and human rights groups have proved themselves to be partially successful. In 2005, Taco Bell agreed to raise the wages of workers by paying more for the tomatoes it buys. Similarly, former President Jimmy Carter helped negotiate a deal where McDonald’s agreed to pay a penny more per pound to field hands who pick the restaurant chain’s tomatoes. I guess a penny more per pound doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but that extra penny would have nearly doubled the wages earned by the workers. DOUBLED. But deals like these continued to be squashed by various groups—including the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE). The FTGE has taken legal steps to block increases in wage, calling the boycotts and efforts “un-American.”
Okay, so what to do? Just stop eating tomatoes? Boycott Taco Bell? (I know that that’s impossible for many of you.) It may not seem like it, but in the food choices we make, we define our moral character. Choosing to support certain practices, even if by default, that exploit or harm others is a moral decision.
As teenagers, I don’t think a lot of us are doing the shopping at home; our moms or pops do that. Our own money probably lands at Taco Bell or McDonald’s every once in a while if we stop off to grab something quick. But what can we do so that our choices actually do something?
1) Consider talking with your parents—or whoever does the shopping in your house—and explaining the situation. Offer alternatives. Give suggestions.
- Consider paying more. Buying organic tomatoes can be (significantly) more expensive, but they cost more because workers are being properly compensated.
- Consider eating tomatoes less. Eating them two or three times a month instead of twice a week will make the price tag less of a problem.
2) I guess, the next thing to do is to think before you buy something. When I’m not at home eating whatever my mom’s put on the table, where does my money go? What’s in the burger that I’m about to chow down on with my friends? Where am I buying it? Are they honest about where they get their tomatoes from? Do they care? Do I want to support them?
3) Consider how you can encourage others to think similarly. Many people simply don’t know what goes on. Raise awareness. (Rah rah!)
4) Consider supporting the efforts already established to bring about justice for workers. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a group of current and former workers founded in Florida that seeks everyday justice by opposing unjust practices and helping improve the lot of tomato pickers in their area. Check out there website here.
5) Research other vegetables and/or fruits you eat frequently. Where do they come from?
Finally, just think about some of those choices that seem really simple—eating a hamburger? Maybe it’s not that easy. Maybe considering this will help us see that we can't make choices without thinking about the consequences.
Camille (and Calvin too)
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