Press Kit Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South
Media Contacts: Jenni Williams for Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers: [email protected] Leah Cohen for the Agricultural Justice Project: [email protected] Shelley Rogers for Little Bean Productions: [email protected]
What People Are Saying
❖ "[Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South] has been a great tool that allows us to introduce the topics of fair food and domestic fair trade to wide ranging audiences folks who are totally new to these issues, veteran food movement participants, and everyone in between. It introduces topics of fairness in the food system like workers' and farmers' rights and has helped to facilitate thoughtful discussions afterwards on these issues and the wider implications of justice in the food system. It has been a great resource!" The Farmworker Support Committee (CATA)
❖ “The film shows the importance of certifying a farm’s social justice practices so that consumers are empowered to choose more justly produced food, and encourage growth in the market expectation for just food.” Denise Aguero Operations Director for Quality Certification Services
❖ “While it has always seemed too complex a web to untangle, the film shows that it is possible to clearly untangle the system and change is possible.” Anonymous viewer from May 10, 2014 Premier
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About the Film
Organic farmers and farmworkers across the United States have historically lived and worked under conditions that are far from just. Challenges that farmers face include disproportionate market pricing, unfair contracts, and consolidation in the industrial food system that results in farmers have little control and few options. Farm workers often face low wages, lack of benefits, unsafe and hazardous work conditions (including exposure to toxic chemicals), and shantylike worker housing.
Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South provides a snapshot of the exploitation present in our current food system and the issues that farmers and farmworkers face through the story of one Southern farm’s commitment to social justice. The film raises awareness and educates the public about such injustices as well as highlights a marketbased solution, the Food Justice Certified label. Food Justice Certification, a program of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), is the first verification program of its kind in the domestic fair trade movement. It includes farmers and farmworkers in its development and governance, as well as a representative from a worker organization in the verification process. The certification program and its market label are intended to provide living wages for workers throughout the food system, a safe and fair workplace for workers and farmers, and fair pricing and agreements for farmers. The film hopes to inspire action toward a more just and transparent food system. ◑
The film is 16 minutes long and is available with Spanish subtitles. A Spanish dubbed version is also available.
Statement from the Collaborators
We have taken our lessons from our subject: the domestic fair trade movement. As a grassroots effort of multiple stakeholders over the past few decades, they have provided an example of what’s possible when citizens work together to build consensus, networks that agree upon common principles and then begin to help solve tough problems. Our goal is to be media independent and collaborate with our audience, because we know that a strong democracy is dependent upon the dialogue of wide and varied voices. We believe in the power of citizen journalism and sharing stories. Thus, we call upon you our audience to take the next steps after seeing the film to become a better Food Citizen, engage in the domestic fair trade movement and support the adequate compensation and fair treatment of organic and sustainable farmers and food workers.
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Table of Contents What People Are Saying ……………………………………………………………....…..1 About the Film ………………………………………………………...…………………. 2 Statement from the Collaborators ……………………………………………………….2 Film Release & Feeding Justice Campaign …………...…………………………...….....4 Why “Domestic Fair Trade?” …………………………………………………………….5 Aren’t farmers and workers protected by federal labor laws? ………………...6 What is “domestic fair trade”? ……………………….…………………………..6 So many labels! How do I know what they mean? ………………………………7 Food Justice Certification …….………………………………………………..…...…....9 How You Can Help ………………………………………………………………………10 Biographies ……...……………………….………………………..………………….….11 Credits …………………...……..……………………………..……………………….….13
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Film Release & Feeding Justice Campaign
Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South is set to release during National Farmworker Awareness Week (NFAW) on March 2431, 2014. A concentrated screening campaign will run throughout the country through World Fair Trade Day, May 10, 2014.
The film is also be available online at Vimeo for free as of World Fair Trade Day (May 10th), both to screen and embed on other sites, in the hopes of reaching as many individuals as possible to bring equity and transparency to the food system that brings nourishment to our tables.
Filmmakers and producers of Hungry for Justice will reach out to collaborating organizations to support screenings in local communities across the United States. A film screening toolkit for our Feeding Justice screening campaign can be found on the FLorida Organic Growers website. It includes a template press release, a downloadable flyer, a logistics checklist, an Action and Discussion Guide and audience challenges, which we have created to help make the Feeding Justice Campaign more interactive and engaging. In addition, the filmmaker and producers will host screenings themselves in Florida, the location of the farm and worker organizations featured in the film.
The Feeding Justice screening campaign focuses on social engagement through education and interaction. It’s main goal is to inform the public about the injustices in the local and national food systems that farmers and their workers face by bringing the community together in a local viewing of the film. The screenings will be arranged so that other activities that highlight the issues addressed in the film can take place and provide opportunities for communities to interact with local folks involved in the food justice movement. Through these collaborations between farmers, organizations, and volunteers, screenings of this film will help reach and engage individuals nationwide. ◑ For more information about the film or to find screening dates near you, please visit the film’s page on FOG’s website or the film Facebook page.
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Why “Domestic Fair Trade”?
❖ Nearly 4 million people in the U.S. agricultural workforce are at risk of significant occupational exposure because they handle or apply pesticides to products they work with without proper protective or preventive measures in place.*
❖ The average human life expectancy of the general population is 73 years. Life expectancy for migrant farmworkers is 49 years.*
❖ In 2005 median wages for nonmanagement farmworkers were $6.75/hr according to the USDA, with an average of $7.30/hour totally $11,000 annually for an individual and $16,000 for a family.
❖ Between 1993 and 2008 the farmer’s share of the food dollar has declined overall from 18.4 cents to 15.4 cents (USDA, ERS: “A Revised and Expanded Food Dollar Series: A Better Understanding of Our Food Costs”). This squeeze is largely due to concentration in the food sector.
❖ Concentration in the food sector means that only a few megacorporations control processing, sales, and distribution of food. When just a few companies (say 4 or fewer) control more than 40% of the market, there is generally not enough competition to prevent abuse and provide robust choices. As of 2007 the four top companies control well above 40% of the market (beef 83%, pork 66%, chicken 59%, soy beans 93%, and corn 80% [Hendrickson and Heffernan, 2007]). With concentration at both ends of the food chain, with a few companies controlling the majority of farm inputs and purchases from farms, farmers are squeezed in the middle with fewer and fewer choices.This often puts farmers in a take it or leave it situation that leads to lack of transparency, unfair agreements and terms, and unfair prices. Many smaller farms have been pushed out of farming, contributing further to concentration.
❖ The National Organic Program does not address working conditions in the organic standards. Many of the founders of the organic movement were equally committed to social justice in the food system as well as environmental stewardship and animal welfare and many consumers of organic also support these values, yet there has been a lack of transparency or mechanisms for verifying socially just work and trade practices domestically.
❖ At the same time, the market demand for ethical purchasing has grown dramatically; as a result more and more companies are making claims of ethical practices, many without any formal standard or verification or stakeholder input. “Social washing” may become the new “green washing.”
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Aren’t farm workers already included in and protected by federal labor laws?
❖ In 1935, farmworkers and domestic workers were specifically excluded from the right to collectively bargain in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).1
❖ In 1938, farmworkers were largely excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).2 It set 12 as the minimum age for farm work, not 16 as in other jobs.*
❖ In 1978, FLSA was amended to mandate minimum wage for workers on large farms only. It has never been amended to provide overtime pay for agricultural workers.*
❖ In 1983, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA)3 was passed, providing some basic protections, but it is poorly enforced and does nothing to address the most flagrant injustices faced by farm workers.
❖ As of 2013, federal laws do not adequately protect farm workers or domestic workers from exploitation.*
What is “domestic fair trade” and how is it any different from traditional fair trade?
Fair trade organizations are based on the principles of fairness, equity, solidarity and community development. International fair trade began with the idea of improving prices and trade terms for small producer groups in developing countries that produce for export. The scope of the international fair trade movement has expanded considerably from addressing prices and practices of small producer groups to including workers and larger plantations, with different groups defining fair trade in different ways.
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Domestic fair trade uses commerce as a tool to empower familyscale farmers, artisans and workers who labor in North America. This differs greatly from traditional trade in which big corporations source cheap inputs and labor at the expense of farms, workers, and the environment. Our food system (much like the textile and other industries) has become so opaque that the public is not aware of how and where their food is produced and the struggles that those who labor in our food system face here in North America.
Many fair trade, farmer, and worker advocates saw the parallels of unjust trade practices and working conditions internationally with conditions here in the U.S. The lack of transparency, coupled with demand for cheap food, consolidation of power in the food system to a few large corporations (despite the illusion of many choices in the supermarket many brands are ultimately owned by the same company), and lack of enforcement of those labor and trade laws that do exist to protect workers and farmers, allows for discrimination, unfair wages and working conditions, child labor, unfair and predatory contracts for farmers, and farmers’ loss of control over their own livelihoods. While an increasing number of consumers have heard of international fair trade, typically in relation to coffee, tea, or chocolate, most are not aware that similar power imbalances and injustices exist in the U.S.
So many labels! How do I know what they mean?
Fair trade organizations provide a model for increasing transparency and pressuring businesses to be more responsible. However, we are at a stage in the movement where there are many different definitions of fair trade and each market label has a different set of standards (such as, whether the program guarantees fair pricing or a specific minimum price to farmers and freedom of association for farmers and workers, whether it requires written contracts and work terms, establishing an understood and mutually agreed upon conflict resolution process, whether there are exemptions for different size operations, and whether environmental stewardship or animal welfare standards are included), different methods for verification (such as 3rd party certification, participatory
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guarantee systems, company verified, or no verification), and different accountability and governance structures (such as workers and farms being part of the standards and policies setting process and whether either group or other stakeholders are part of the governance structure). It can be confusing.
The Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) has created a userfriendly tool to address this label confusion and help consumers make choices about the plethora of fair claim products popping up in the market place. The DFTA is national nonprofit coalition of farmers, farmworkers, retailers, manufacturers, and NGOs united by a common vision: justice, health, and sustainability in our food and farming system. The mission of the DFTA is to promote and protect the integrity of domestic fair trade principles in support of familyscale farms, farmer cooperatives, just conditions for workers, and organic agriculture. Over the last couple of years the DFTA has been engaged in a consumer education initiative to evaluate fair and social justice market claims. The first round of evaluations examines 6 prominent fair trade and social justice certifiers and can be found on their website www.thedfta.org.◑
* statistics from the film
1 guarantees basic rights of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining for better terms and conditions at work, and take collective action including strike if necessary. also created the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts elections for labor union representation, and investigations in remedying unfair labor practices. does not apply to workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, federal, state or local government workers, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.
2 established maximum hours for sevenday workweeks and a national minimum wage, guaranteed "timeandahalf" for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor," as defined by the statute.
3 provides federal laborrelated standards with respect to the transportation and housing of agricultural workers, sets specific requirements concerning payment of wages and conditions of employment, and deals with the relationship between agricultural workers, their employers and farm labor contractors. requires certification of farm labor contractors through the United States Department of Labor.
The benefits for providing a truly just work environment for farmers and their workers in our modern agricultural industry are bountiful. Providing just wages, benefits and protections for those who work hard everyday to feed our nation is of the utmost importance if we can ever hope to prosper both economically and democratically as a unified country of colorful descents.
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Let’s help feed America’s farm workers, their families, and farm families not line corporate pockets.◑ Food Justice Certification
The Food Justice Certified (FJC) label was developed by the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), a collaboration of nonprofits working to create equity and fairness in our food system. Each of the Organizations in this unique partnership represents a key stakeholder group in agriculture, including farmers and workers.
AJP originally developed their standards over four years of stakeholder input involving farmers, farmworkers, indigenous groups, retailers and consumer groups. The standards codify in concrete terms what a legitimate claim of “social justice” in organic and sustainable agriculture means.
The AJP standards address:
❖ Fair pricing for farmers ❖ Clear conflict resolution policies for farmers, food business managers, and ❖ Fair and equitable contracts for workers farmers and buyers ❖ Workplace health and safety ❖ Workers’ and farmers’ rights to freedom of association and collective ❖ Worker housing bargaining ❖ Interns and apprentices ❖ Fair wages and benefits for workers ❖ Children on farms
Ultimately AJP’s labeling allows for individual farms and businesses to be certified independently of other links in the supply chain and ensures transparency of which links are certified through thorough and systematic labeling policies. Certifiers fieldinspect growing, processing and trading operations. Food Justice Certification is unique in that it is the first of its kind to include a worker representative on the inspection team.
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The FJC label lets people know that farms and businesses are treating workers with respect, that they pay a living wage and maintain a safe workplace. ◑
How You Can Help: Become a Fellow Advocate for Farmers and their Workers
In order to make a nationwide change in America’s food system, everyone must be well informed and get involved. It is the responsibility of the public to appropriately push for change in the industry so that as a country we are neither condoning nor supporting abuse and injustice in the lives of many individuals when making a purchase in the grocery store. Don’t worry, its easy; big movements start with small steps:
❖ Ask grocery stores and restaurants to carry Food Justice Certified (and other credibly labeled) products!
❖ Visit your local farmers market to support local growers.
❖ Be informed. Check out the Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) [http://www.thedfta.org/] to find out which labels are credible. The DFTA is currently launching an extensive, userfriendly evaluation website in which they disclose a comprehensive analysis of what is behind fair market claims. This is a great tool for anyone who has stood in the supermarket looking at all the different claims of fairness and sustainability and wondered how to choose.
❖ Get involved with locals in your community to support farms involved in the food justice movement.
❖ The Worker Protection Standards (WPS) issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which set the federal regulations aimed at protecting farm workers from hazards of working with pesticides, had not been updated in 20 year. It is being updated now and public comments are welcome...so submit your comments!
❖ Participate in our national screening campaign Feeding Justice and host a local viewing of the film in your own neighborhoods with your local organizations, farmers, store owners, officials, workers and neighbors! Visit the campaign’s section on the home website for the film.
❖ But most importantly don’t forget to express gratitude to the people who grow, prepare, and serve your food everyday!
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Biographies
Shelley Rogers documentary filmmaker Shelley Rogers' dream is to use media & video as a means to create social change and help give voice to stories that seldom get told. Shelley believes in the power of stories to humanize issues so that sharing knowledge can open pathways for understanding. Through her company, Little Bean Productions, she works to create a vision with collaborators that will be both resourceful and resonant. Shelley’s passions include sustainable food systems, social justice & public health.
Leah Cohen AJP program director Leah Cohen first became aware of working conditions within U.S. agriculture during an internship with Northwest Medical Teams International in 1995. As an intern she drove a mobile dental clinic serving migrant camps in Northwest agricultural fields. After traveling abroad as a volunteer coffee picker for a Nicaraguan cooperative, she became grounded again in the farm worker conditions in the Southeast U.S. as a moderator of the 1998 University of Florida Sowing Seeds for Change Symposium session on “Where Farmers Live.” From 20002001 Leah conducted research as a fellow of the World Agroforestry Center on the impact of illness on farming household livelihoods in rural western Kenya. From 2004 through 2009 she consulted on monitoring and evaluation assignments for USAID Title II food security programs in Africa by Africare, the American Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as well as serving as managing editor of the Africare Food Security Review. Her experience with the Agricultural Justice Project began in 2004 with development of the verification system for certification as a consultant for Quality Certification Services (QCS) and continued with development of the certifier training module and workshop that trained the Midwest Organic Services Association, Inc. From 2009 to 2013 she served as the lead on the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) grant entitled “Improving the Lives of Southern Organic Farmers and Farmworkers.” Leah currently serves as the Program Director of the Agricultural Justice Project.
Marty Mesh farmer advocate and FOG executive director Marty Mesh is the Executive Director of Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, Inc. (FOG) and its organic certification program, Quality Certificate Services (QCS). His work in the natural foods community started in 1973 and he was part of Bellevue Gardens Organic Farm for 26 years. Marty is the cofounder and current management committee member of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP). Marty Mesh serves on the boards of the Organic Trade Organization (OTA), the Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG), and the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture (NCSA). In public policy work in the US, he has worked on an national level, helping farmers and farm workers advance sustainable fairtradefriendly agriculture as well as fair trade certification. He believes
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it is part of his job to make sure the government hears the voices of farmers.
Jordan Brown owner of The Family Garden Organic Farm Jordan Brown is an organic farmer in North Central Florida. His farm, The Family Garden, grows over 30 acres of organic fruits and vegetables. His is the first farm operation in the South to seek and become Food Justice Certified under the Agricultural Justice Project. He sells to wholesale markets, direct to consumers at farmers markets and operates the largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in the region with over 175 members. Jordan's passion is growing delicious food for a fair price that's affordable for everyone to eat.
Yolanda Gomez Fellsmere Area Coordinator and Community Organizer for the Farmworker Association of Florida Yolanda Gomez is the Fellsmere Area Coordinator and Community Organizer for the Farmworker Association of Florida. She works to build leadership and advocacy and civic participation skills among lowincome communities of color who are disproportionately affected by pesticide exposure/health problems, environmental contamination, racism, exploitation, and political underrepresentation. She is actively involved in the Domestic Fair Trade Association, La Via Campesina, and is trained as an auditor for the Food Justice Certification standards of the Agricultural Justice Project. Among many other projects, Yolanda helped pioneer the Campesinos' Gardensa garden of, by and for farmworkersin Fellsmere, FL to create a place where farmworkers can grow organic food for their own families and community.
Alex Vazquez farmworker. Alex Vazquez has worked as a farmworker in conventional in organic agriculture for six years. His family in Guatamala are farmworkers as well. He enjoys working on an organic and Food Justice Certified farm because he can now provide his extended family with an education.
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Credits
Directed by Shelley Rogers
Produced by Shelley Rogers Ursula Carrasco
Executive Producer Marty Mesh Leah Cohen Production Assistants Teddy Harkin David Mesh Steven Vores
Edited by Ursula Carrasco
Archival Photography Yolanda Gomez Dianne Lowry Farmworkers Association of Florida
Camera Work by Shelley Rogers Ursula Carrasco
Additional Footage provided by Food Chains film
Interns Kimberly Klaiman Melissa Rodriguez Enrico Neira
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Original Music Composed by Bomba Estereo Elegancia Tropical Courtesy of Bomba Estereo
Original Music Performed by Bomba Estereo Elegancia Tropical Courtesy of Bomba Estereo
Sound Recording by Shelley Rogers Ursula Carrasco
Graphic Design & Animation by Georg Pedersen
Funding & Support by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SSARE) Service
Collaborators & Organizations Supports The Family Garden: Jordan, Diwa, Zake, Jed, Gabe, Abigail, Greg “GoDaddy”, Angie Brown, Alejandro Vasquez, Angela Lopez, Raymundo Sanchez, Victor Diaz
Farmworker Association of Florida; Jeannie Economos, Yolanda Gomez, Tirso Moreno
Quality Certification Services: Ramkrishnan Balasubramanian, Denise Aguero, Allan Benjamin
The Agricultural Justice Project cofounded & managed by: Nelson Carrasquillo of The Farmworkers’ Support Committee (CATA), Leah Cohen of Florida Organic Growers and Consumers, Inc. (FOG), Jessica Culley of CATA, Elizabeth Henderson of Peacework Farm & The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), Alexa Malishchak of CATA, Richard Mandelbaum member of CATA, Marty Mesh of FOG,
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Chelsie Papiez of The Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), Michael Sligh of The Rural Advancement Foundation InternationalUSA’s (RAFIUSA), Rachel Winograd of CATA
Collaboration Volunteers Organic Valley (CROPP Cooperative) and Farmer Direct Cooperative Ltd., Hoch Orchards, Bluff Country Coop, Swanton Berry Farm, Midwest Organic Services Association, Kerstin Lindgren (former director of the Domestic Trade Association)
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