Bringing its leadership position in the US food industry to the widely-acclaimed partnership for social responsibility taking root in Florida’s tomato fields, Walmart today joined with its Florida tomato suppliers and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to strengthen and expand the groundbreaking Fair Food Program.
“We are truly pleased to welcome Walmart into the Fair Food Program. No other company has the market strength and consumer reach that Walmart has,” said Cruz Salucio of the CIW. “Through this collaboration, not only will thousands of hard-working farm workers see concrete improvements to their lives, but millions of consumers will learn about the Fair Food Program and of a better way to buy fruits and vegetables grown and harvested here in the US.”
By joining forces with its Florida tomato suppliers and the CIW, Walmart’s involvement will strengthen and expand the existing Program’s impact on farmworkers, and demonstrate the company’s continued commitment to the Florida tomato industry as a whole. As part of the agreement, Walmart will work with CIW on the following objectives:
- Expand the Fair Food Program beyond Florida to its tomato purchases from participating Florida-based growers with operations outside the state during the summer harvest season;
- Reward those Florida tomato suppliers whose operations best reflect the principles of the Fair Food Program with longer term purchase commitments;
- Work over time to expand the Fair Food Program to other crops beyond tomatoes in its produce supply chain;
- Work with its Florida tomato suppliers to build the current Fair Food Premium directly into Walmart’s cost for Florida tomatoes, with the growers continuing to pass on the Fair Food bonus to their workers as part of the established, traceable payment system that is monitored by the Fair Food Standards Council;
- Support the CIW and its participating Florida tomato suppliers to eventually achieve a higher, more sustainable bucket rate paid to workers for harvesting tomatoes. This change will streamline the financial foundation of the Fair Food Program to focus resources on raising the bar for ethical farm labor conditions beyond the Florida tomato industry.
The Fair Food Program has been recognized by the White House as “one of the most successful and innovative programs” for social responsibility today. It was recently singled out for its effectiveness by the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and in October was awarded the prestigious Roosevelt Institute Freedom from Want Medal. It combines an extensive, on-the-farm worker education program with a unique set of labor standards and rigorous enforcement mechanisms to create the most advanced program of its kind in the US agricultural industry.
