Philly Residents Demand that Chipotle Respect Farmworkers

Report from Casey Chanton, Coalition of Immokalee Workers ally in Philadelphia on the CIW's struggle and demand for respect from Chipotle Mexican Grill.

All over the country last week, Chipotle -- a company whose tagline is "Food with Integrity" -- was running a targeted promotional campaign by sponsoring a series of 32 free screenings of the new hit documentary Food, Inc. The documentary "exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers' rights," according to its website, and features a brief segment praising Chipotle's relationship with Polyface Farms, a sustainable farm in Virginia.

Ironically, undercutting Chipotle's PR stunt, both Food Inc. director, Robert Kenner, and Eric Schlosser, a co-producer of the film, recently cosigned a letter addressed to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells. The letter to Chipotle, which is signed by over twenty leaders in the food justice movement, issues a strong criticism of Chipotle's failure to cooperate with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to ensure fair working conditions and wages for the farmworkers that pick the company's tomatoes.

Just Harvest USA, that works to create a more just and sustainable food system, coordinated efforts to distribute copies of this very letter to movie-goers in Philadelphia, as well as at 29 other screenings across the country this week. Local allies of the Campaign for Fair Food rallied and demanded that "Chipotle show farmworkers the same respect they show small farmers," and "agree to work with the CIW to insure that there are no human rights abuses in the company's supply chain." You can read as well as sign the letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells here.  

Visit www.ciw-online.org for more information about the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

click for full image