[PDI] Chipotle

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Kaytee Riek, SumOfUs.org" <us@sumofus.org>
Date: May 14, 2012 10:15 AM
Subject: Chipotle
To: "Daniel A. Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>

[image: Tell Chipotle to sign the Fair Food Agreement to ensure their
tomatoes are sourced
fairly]<http://act.sumofus.org/go/396?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=1>

Chipotle is refusing to sign the Fair Food Agreement, which would ensure
that workers who pick the tomatoes used in Chipotle's salsa are treated
fairly.

*Send a message to Chipotle's CEO: Treat your tomato pickers fairly. Sign
the Fair Food Agreement now.*
[image: send a message]<http://act.sumofus.org/go/396?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=2>

Daniel,

If you believe its marketing hype, you'd think Chipotle does everything it
can to source its ingredients ethically. But you just have to unwrap the
burrito a little bit to realize *the way Chipotle purchases the tomatoes
for its salsa undercuts the advances in working conditions Florida
farmworkers have fought to win.*

Chipotle is refusing to sign the Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers, a group of farmworkers who've successfully convinced
major corporations like Burger King and Subway to participate in a program
that helps ensure that tomato pickers are treated well and paid fairly for
their work.

Send a message to Chipotle's CEO Steve Ells, calling for him to commit to
real "food with integrity" by signing the Fair Food
Agreement.<http://act.sumofus.org/go/396?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=3>

And it actually gets worse. Chipotle is misleading its customers by
trumpeting the work of the CIW on its website. In reality, *Chipotle broke
off talks with the CIW, opting instead to go it alone* -- no partnership,
no verification, no commitment for the long term. By refusing to partner
with the CIW, Chipotle is undercutting the life-changing work the CIW has
done to protect farmworkers from the often-brutal conditions workers face
at farms not participating in the Fair Food Program.

Since organizing in the mid-90s, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has
successfully pressured large corporations like Aramak, Compass Group, and
Whole Foods to sign its Fair Food Agreement, guaranteeing a fair wage and
worker protections to the men and women who pick tomatoes across Florida.
And *just this past February, SumOfUs.org members helped convince Trader
Joe's to sign the Fair Food Agreement!*

This weekend, CIW is ramping up the pressure on Chipotle by sponsoring
a *weekend
of action where people all over the US will be pressuring Chipotle* to sign
the Fair Food Agreement. Let's use our power as consumers -- the people
that, frankly, CEOs care most about -- and demand that Chipotle sign on to
the Fair Food Agreement.

Join the movement for fair food by sending a message to Chipotle's CEO,
urging him to sign the Fair Food Agreement
now.<http://act.sumofus.org/go/396?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=4>

- Kaytee, Claiborne, Taren and the rest of us



**********
*More Information:*

*What is the Fair Food Agreement?*
According to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who are negotiating Fair
Food Agreements with various corporations, "the agreements require those
companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato
suppliers (including a zero tolerance policy for slavery), to pay a price
premium for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to shift purchases to
growers who meet those higher standards. Over 90% of Florida tomato growers
have shown their early support for this effort by agreeing to pass along
the pay premium to their tomato harvesters, and to abide by a code of
conduct under which workers have a voice and slavery is not tolerated."

*Is slavery a reality for some tomato workers?*
Farm labor bosses have repeatedly been brought to court for their treatment
of workers, including most recently in 2008 for beating their workers who
refused to work or tried to leave, holding their workers in debt, and
chaining and locking workers inside U-Haul trucks as punishment. The U.S.
Attorney who prosecuted the 2008 case called the situation "slavery, plain
and simple." If Chipotle were to sign the Fair Food Agreement, it would be
guaranteeing that none of their tomatoes come from growers who treat its
workers as modern-day slaves.

*Who else signed the Agreement?*
Fair Food Agreements have been reached between the CIW and McDonald's,
Burger King, Subway, and Yum! Brands, as well as foodservice providers
Compass Group, Aramark, Sodexo, and Bon Appetit Management Company, and
grocery store chains Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

*Why hasn't Chipotle signed?*
Like many corporations before it, Chipotle has offered a number of excuses,
many demonstrably false or misleading, and has attempted to circumvent the
CIW with its own, half-hearted plan. They have said, essentially, "Trust
us, we're doing it right". But without signing the agreement, Chipotle has
no way of knowing if the growers they're purchasing from meet CIW's
standards. In fact, a recent audit by the Fair Food Standards Council
revealed Chipotle was paying a smaller premium than it should have been.

*Why does this matter for Immokalee farm workers?*
The Immokalee farm workers, a coalition of people who work on farms in the
Immokalee region of Florida (where most of the tomatoes are grown in the
US) are organizing because they are some of the lowest paid workers in the
country, often making less than $12,000 a year. They work ten-hour days
picking tomatoes in order to pick enough (nearly 2.5 tons per day) to make
minimum wage. They have no rights to collective bargaining or overtime pay.
Each penny a pound increase that they have won brings more people out of
poverty, and each buyer requiring workplace protections ensures more people
are treated fairly in their jobs and fewer farm workers are subjected to
slave-like conditions.



*Additional Reading:*

The Perennial Plate, The Other Side of the
Tomato<http://act.sumofus.org/go/397?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=5>,
25 May 2012
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Top Ten Falsehoods, Fibs, and Fabrications
in Chipotle's Answer to a Customer's Email about the Campaign for Fair
Food<http://act.sumofus.org/go/398?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=6>,
11 April 2012
<http://www.sumofus.org?akid=462.596245.wjy6Pz&t=7> SumOfUs is a
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corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable
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