Take Action

• Demand Supermarket Transparency
• Demand Renegotiation of NAFTA
• Demands to Agribusiness in Sinaloa

In spite of the grave human rights situation of migrant workers in Mexico, the situation is invisible in the US. The attention of policy makers and the mass media has focused on Mexico to US migration, making this internal migration a problem that is not even on their radar.

That is why the Fair Food Across Borders campaign is so important—bringing attention to the plight of these migrant workers and raising consciousness among US consumers about the food they are eating.

As US consumers of agribusiness produced food we have a responsibility to demand that the human rights of the farmworkers be respected. As US consumers many times we don’t even know where our food comes from and this is because there are no laws forcing supermarkets and food distributors to disclose anything but the country of origin of fresh produce. That is why when there are “food scares” and salmonella outbreaks—most recently with tomatoes—it took such a long time to locate the source.

We will be asking US consumers to write letters to their elected officials and corporate owners of their local supermarket chains demanding transparency in revealing where their produce is imported from, not just by country of origin, but the state and the agribusiness camp that grew it. And if human rights violations are being committed in those camps, that they take the necessary action to demand corporate social responsibility.

You can also visit nearby supermarkets and ask them which produce they get from Mexico and if they are aware of the human rights abuses that are taking place. Ask where you can send a letter and send them some of the facts of labor conditions in northern Mexican agribusinesses.

Alliance for Fair Food
http://www.allianceforfairfood.org

Student Action with Farmworkers
http://www.saf-unite.org

The Real Food Challenge
http://realfoodchallenge.org

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has failed to enforce worker rights and instead, has been largely responsible for increasing poverty and inequality in Mexico. The FFAB campaign will have a letter writing campaign to the Commerce Secretary and the Chairs of both the Senate and Congressional committees responsible for oversight of NAFTA that will demand the re-negotiation of NAFTA – something that was often repeated by President Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. We are asking for new text to be added to the body of the agreement that sets and enforces standards for the living and working conditions for migrant workers in agribusiness in Mexico.

Here are some resources for learning more about NAFTA:

• NAFTA article in “The Nation”
• Re-negotiate NAFTA
• http://www.citizenstrade.org/
• http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/

There is a human rights crisis in the fields of Sinaloa. Because many of the fruits and vegetables harvested in agribusiness camps in Sinaloa and other Northern Mexican states are exported to the United States, it is important for consumers here to know of the abuses taking place and demand for accountability in all levels of our food supply chain.

FFAB is putting pressure on CAADES (The Confederation of Agribusiness Associations in Sinaloa), which represents the majority of agribusiness camps in Sinaloa, to take responsibility and to work with farm workers and organizations like Tlachinollan to improve farm worker wages, working and living conditions.

Under Mexican Federal Labor Law, farmworkers have many protections and rights (more than in the US!) but they are not enforced. CAADES’ stated mission is “to encourage growth and development in the agricultural sector, by providing solid infrastructure and as an agent of change.” But as long as there are human rights abuses in the agribusiness camps of Sinaloa, their industry will seen as backwards. We demand that CAADES takes a stand against the exploitation and human rights abuses in the camps of Sinaloa. Starting, by adhering to the basic laws.