[DenverFairFoodAnnounce] Food justice leaders to Chipotle: "The time has come to work with the CIW"!

[Denver Fair Food Committee]

"We view the CIW’s struggle for dignity as a non-negotiable part of the
struggle for a sustainable food system."

"Food, Inc." director (Robert Kenner) and co-producer (Eric Schlosser) join
more than two dozen sustainable food movement leaders in open letter to
burrito giant Chipotle!

See the letter and the complete list of signatories at the CIW site
http://www.ciw-online.org today!  And check out the Denver Fair Food blog
for more commentary:
DenverFairFood.blogspot.com<http://denverfairfood.blogspot.com/>

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6/15/09: In a strongly worded letter, more than two dozen of the country's
leading sustainable food activists are demanding that Chipotle, the fastest
growing company in fast-food, live up to its claims of "Food with Integrity"
and "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the
protection of farmworkers' rights."

Frances Moore Lappe ("Diet for a Small Planet"), Raj Patel ("Stuffed and
Starved"), Josh Viertel (President, Slow Food USA), and Robert Kenner and
Eric Schlosser (director and co-producer the critically acclaimed new
documentary on the food industry, "Food, Inc.") are just a few of the voices
for a more just food system that added their names to the open letter.
Here's an excerpt:

    "We realize that Chipotle has announced that it's paying an extra penny
per pound for tomatoes, but we have to ask: What has Chipotle done since
that announcement to identify and cultivate growers who are willing to raise
their labor standards and pass the penny along to their workers? Your
company has shown admirable leadership in working with – and incubating –
meat suppliers willing to meet your higher standards. But your failure to do
that same hard work in the Florida tomato industry – together with the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – threatens to render your announcement
an empty gesture aimed more at public relations damage control than an
effort to make real change."

The letter comes in the wake of last week's news of an important
breakthrough in the Campaign for Fair Food -- Whole Foods' announcement that
two of Florida's leading organic producers, Alderman Farms and Lady Moon
Farms, will implement the company's agreement with the CIW, including the
penny-per-pound wage increase and a strict code of conduct.

Visit the CIW site today, http://www.ciw-online.org to see the letter in its
entirety and the full list of signatories!

Thanks - Coalition of Immokalee Workers
<http://www.ciw-online.org/CIW_response_to_Chipotle.html>
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