Food fight

Angela Cisneros wants you to look at a tomato - really look at it.

"Try to imagine being the person who made it possible to have that tomato on your plate, and I bet that you will never look at it the same," Cisneros said.

For Cisneros, a senior majoring in political science, a tomato is not just something she puts on a sandwich. To her, a tomato is a reminder to improve the quality of life for farm workers across the state of Florida.

Most of the tomatoes eaten in the United States come from Florida, and most of the tomatoes from Florida come from Immokalee.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 36.4 percent of the families in Immokalee lived below the poverty level in 1999, compared to a national average of 9.2 percent.

The debate on what is a "fair wage" for farm workers in the tomato industry has become a national issue. FGCU is joining the list of universities that are deciding where they stand on that issue.

Aramark, a food service corporation that is the exclusive dining provider at FGCU, uses Immokalee produce in its restaurants.

On March 9, Student Government Senators will vote whether or not to support a resolution, authored by Cisneros and several other students, that asks Aramark to pay a penny more for every pound they purchase from local growers.

The program, known as the "Campaign for Fair Food," is led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a local organization. The pennies from participating corporations will go straight to the farm workers' pockets, according to the CIW.

Farm workers' wages are based off of how many buckets they pick per day. Right now, a farm worker earns about 45 cents for every 32 pound bucket of produce he or she is able to fill. That wage has been the same since the 1980s, according to Marc Rodrigues.

Rodrigues, a 29-year-old activist who is part of the Student-Farm Worker Alliance, works closely with the CIW in Immokalee. Although he knows some people will scoff at the idea of asking corporations such as Aramark to pay more for what they buy, he believes the workers aren't asking for much. He claims that even if the penny per pound increase goes into effect, the total wage for a farm worker would be 77 cents per bucket.

"If (the wage) had kept up with inflation it would be more than 77 cents. We are just asking for immediate economic relief in order to pull people up from sub-poverty wages," Rodrigues said.

In December, the SG Senate failed a resolution about farm worker wages.

"Had the resolution said that we were against modern-day slavery, it might have been more viable at that time, instead of expressing what we expect a private corporation to pay out," said Senate President Caroline Decaire.

According to Decaire a resolution is just a "sentiment" from the Senate on behalf of the student body - it's not a binding action. Even if the resolution passes, Aramark doesn't have to comply. But, Decaire said, it does send a message.

"It just means that a group of students are willing to speak out on an issue regardless if any action is able to be taken. It's nice to have a group of individuals there that will support you," DeCaire said.

FGCU's Faculty-Senate passed the same resolution earlier this month. "It represents the expression of the faculty," said Chuck Lindsey, Faculty-Senate president.

This semester, SG is facing increased pressure from students and the CIW to do the same.

Since the start of the campaign, the CIW has signed agreements with major corporations, such as McDonalds, and two of Aramark's direct competitors: Bon Appétit Management Company and Compass Group.

"If they can do it, why can't Aramark?" Rodrigues said.

Raymond Huston, food service director at FGCU, was unavailable for comment.

Gary Jackson, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute and an assistant professor at the university, believes that the extra cost to corporations may be passed on to the consumer.

"This will raise the cost of production to the firms and, generally, some of the additional cost will be passed on to the customers of the firm in the form of higher prices," Jackson said.

As with the green movement, Jackson believes that it's possible the higher prices won't turn customers who want "fair tomatoes" away.

"This (the Campaign for Fair Food) is like green power. It may be more expensive … but if people are willing to buy it, then (workers) should be OK," he said.

Sean Sellers, an Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Fellow who worked with the CIW, doesn't think that consumers will see higher prices if more corporations participate in the Campaign for Fair Food.

"These are multi-billion dollar corporations. It's a negligible cost to them. In fact, they don't pass the price on the consumers. They absorb it," Sellers said.

Sellers said that economic "conjecture" can't trump the data collected since the first corporations joined the campaign in 2005. "There has been no drop-off in purchases of Florida tomatoes by the participating retailers," he said.

Jackson concedes economic theory "is used to help understand and predict changes in markets and is based on historical research."

"The consumer will have a say. Students are customers and their actions and business preferences will be important to the companies," Jackson said.

Although Cisneros is waiting to see how the vote turns out, she claims she will not stop pressing Aramark to join the campaign. If they don't, Aramark may lose the FGCU market to one of its competitors that already has joined.

"Talk about the free market," Cisneros said.