Audio by artist mark_stansbury

“ Probably 80 percent, during the winter time, of the produce that comes to the United States comes thru those ports and from those farms (in Florida). The Immokalee workers are critical to our food chain and our food security. So we need to respect workers rights. We’re appealing to Kroger, which is a union shop, that they understand that unions are pressed ( to honor workers rights ) as well as the corporations”

The CIW (Coalition of Immokalee Workers) has been organizing since 1993.

“They’ve been on the right side of justice for that many years. So I’m here to support them.”

Stansbury said there is a downside to our food system that involves people in the US and other wealthy nations being able to buy a cornucopia of food for a relatively low price year round and at anytime of the day or night.

“Like they always say, 80 percent of all costs are labor. So, to keep the costs down, you have to keep labor down. That’s the management’s perspective.”

Stansbury said the CIW campaign connects to workers struggles around the world.

“The race to the bottom, starvation politics, or whatever you want to call it , the slave wagery that we’re in to, of only being able to make enough to make it to the next paycheck, (is bad enough but ) there are many people who are not making it to that next paycheck, and the (immigrant ) farm workers are some of them.”

Stansbury said the CIW fight for better wages and working conditions is related to the international trade of fruits and vegetables critics say hurts people in developing nations by making them dependent on global commodities markets for food, instead of using the food they are growing there.