Dive Brief:
- A new label is appearing on Florida-grown tomatoes in retail stores across the nation - the result of a two-decade fight to boost wages and living conditions for farm workers.
- The label, similar to the "cruelty free" and "non-GMO" certifications seen in grocers, designates that the tomatoes are "Fair Food," i.e., picked by farm workers who are paid a premium for their work by growers who participate in the program.
- Under the terms of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Campaign for Fair Food, workers earn an extra penny per pound for the tomatoes they pick. That's enough to push annual wages from about $10,000 per year to $16,000.
Dive Insight:
The label can be found starting this week at some Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Wal-Mart stores. That will be the first time the majority of consumers will learn the Fair Food initiative exists, and Wal-Mart has already agreed to expand the program beyond tomatoes.
Interestingly, one major retailer targeted by the workers' coalition - Publix - has declined to join the program. Activists, led by actress Eva Longoria, who produced the award-winning film "Food Chains" about the farm workers, are now leading a push to force Publix and others to join the initiative.