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Discussion
9 Years Ago
Hello to All,
I just started a petition on Moveon.org. It concerns the Fair Food Act,which is asking major consumers/buyers of tomatoes, to have the farmers/growers pay an additional penny per tomato picked. Right now, farm workers in Florida,where Publix gets 90% or more of their tomatoes, the farm workers get 1 penny per tomato picked and an average farm worker can pick, around 4,000 a day, or $40. The Fair Food Act is asking that the growers pay that additional penny and pass that on to the buyers,who agree to pass that additional penny, on to us, the consumers. This is a win-win situation and may cost us, as consumers, $.50 a year or so, but will benefit the farm workers tremendously! Even Walmart has signed on!
so please take a moment and read the petition and if you agree with it, please sign it and then pass it onto your friends,
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/boycott-publix-until.fb47?source=c.fb&r_by=1608688
Thanks,
Rich Franco
Reply Order
9 Years Ago
Sorry, Rich, but after reading "MoveOn.org Civic Action is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political committee which primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values through a variety of activities aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election. MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action are separate organizations.", and then reading details in their "About" section:
"...MoveOn members have been part of game-changing electoral victories, including the 2006 Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives, and the election and re-election of President Obama...."
"...We’ll be battling for policies that serve the 99%, resisting Republican attacks on our communities, supporting progressive candidates..."
Much too political for me. It doesn't sound very non-partisan.
9 Years Ago
It's been a pretty well known fact that MoveOn is a predominantly Democratic organization for a very, very long time now.
9 Years Ago
I'm allergic to tomatoes - another penny won't hurt - but it does illustrate everything about wages - the consumer pays the bill. increase the minimum wage - where does the money come from - whoever buys the product or uses the service - and who gets the raw end of all these deals - those on fixed incomes.
9 Years Ago
Let's leave the politics out of it.
If you think it is a great idea, sign it. If not, don't.
9 Years Ago
Greg,JH,
As JC mentioned, this isn't political. The platform may have it's existence based on politics, but helping farm workers, earn close to what people at Burger King or Walmart make and the farm workers are putting in 10 -12 hours a day to acheive this, is about treating others and not about electing people to office. Your "knee jerk" reaction is wrong and I'm upset by that reaction.
Helping the people that put the food on our tables, isn't political, just humanitarian and I hope you're not against that,
Rich
9 Years Ago
"Helping the people that put the food on our tables, isn't political, just humanitarian and I hope you're not against that, "
Against it. Not hardly. My grandfather, 4 uncles, and their sons were farmers, sun up to sun down.
9 Years Ago
Here's more info:
http://ciw-online.org/blog/2014/11/maher-eva/
http://ciw-online.org/
I posted this on my FB page:
"even Walmart" is the telling clue, that this will happen and soon. This has been going on since 2009 and Publix needs to step up and join our community! Won't cost THEM anything,which is totally wrong,just stubborn.Here is the link for the Bill Maher show,with Eva Longoria and also the website for the Farmworkers web site,down in Immokalee. Many years ago, I photographed ALL of the major Farms in South Florida, for a client, Sugar,Cattle,Citrus,and Tomato and Veggie farms. Once you got talking to the middle and upper management, the attitude was right there. "If they don't like the pay/wages, then go work someplace else or go back to your own country!" Almost the same attitude right from the movie,"Twelve Years a Slave", just a few hundred years later. http://ciw-online.org/blog/2014/11/maher-eva/ http://ciw-online.org/ http://ciw-online.org/publix/
This is a National movement,not just Florida or just Publix,please take a moment and read the petition and if you agree,sign and then pass it on to others. As Artists, I was hoping for more of a response, from FAA members,
Rich
9 Years Ago
I'll try to respond in a totally abstract way. One of the best things about free enterprise is that, done properly, nobody is forced to buy or sell anything at a price they do not agree upon. It serves to avoid the pitfalls of a "managed economy", and provide a dynamic, real-time self adjusting balance, which adjusts to new conditions without relying on artificial controls. Consider the mechanics of cotton picking. When US slavery was outlawed, forcing the cotton market to be subjected to new market conditions, the invention of the cotton gin quickly filled the new need, and actually drove down the price of cotton as markets adjusted to the new economy. Many economists have suggested that much of the migrant labor can be streamlined, with grunt labor being replaced by mechanized methods, which will become economical and practical when farm markets become more subject to free-market sources. In a truly free market, the displaced laborers benefit by economic forces which shift them to more productive enterprises, rather than subsidizing their wages, and artificially prolonging and already tenuous position. Migrant labor, when minimized by appropriate automation, also benefits the labor forces by pushing wage earners find more stable employment were education and other community support are far greater than it is for migrant workers.
In my lifetime, I remember other situations, such as firemen on diesel trains, after coal powered locomotives became less efficient than diesel. These men still had good paying union jobs, in general, but it was demeaning for these men to know that they were not really being productive. Better for each man to be retrained for another position, at company expense, than to continue in a non-productive role. (Note that this not a statement against unions, but rather a criticism against the union strategy of protecting the specific job, rather than the individual laborer.)
So this is my specific response to the question "Why not sign?". It's a matter of principle, in my case, as outlined above. You've suggest non-political reasons to sign, I've provided a counterpoint.
9 Years Ago
The cotton gin was invented and in wide use DECADES before the end of slavery in the United States. In fact, it's invention expanded the production of cotton and slavery more widely then it was happening previously.
9 Years Ago
Greg,
There are many "holes" in your statement and I'll try and answer a few.
1."When US slavery was outlawed, forcing the cotton market to be subjected to new market conditions, the invention of the cotton gin quickly filled the new need, and actually drove down the price of cotton as markets adjusted to the new economy." These farms are huge,some Multi-national. Don't you think that if they COULD use some form of technology,instead of manual labor and all the "associated" issues of having humans working on their farms,doing mostly dangerous work, they would be using "machines". As I mentioned, I had traveled and photographed these farms, years ago and where technology would work, it was there. Example: Citrus/oranges. I visited a farm that had these huge tractors that would go up and down the rows of trees and shake the oranges/grapefruit from the trees! BUT, they still needed people to pick up the fruit and later go back and pick what didn't fall off. So not a good argument.
2."In a truly free market, the displaced laborers benefit by economic forces which shift them to more productive enterprises, rather than subsidizing their wages, and artificially prolonging and already tenuous position. Migrant labor, when minimized by appropriate automation, also benefits the labor forces by pushing wage earners find more stable employment were education and other community support are far greater than it is for migrant workers."
They benefit??? Where would the progression go, from picking oranges or strawberries to building Apple computers? Working for $4 to $6 an hour now, 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, which schools of higher learning are these people going to attend, to better themselves,and when? When they get back to their shacks and hook up to their WiFi and attend some online courses with their laptops and tablets? Come on, get real...............
Coming up with reasons or excuses to NOT sign a petition, explains a lot......................
This doesn't cost any of you, money,just a few minutes to support something that is obviously wrong and has a simple solution, pay these people 1 penny more for each tomato and then WE pay a penny,every time WE buy a tomato, so I don't buy a tomato a week, but if I did, then I'm getting penalized $.50 or so for the year, is that terrible?
Rich
9 Years Ago
Royd,
Political how? Helping others only concerns one party? People hear stuff they don't want to listen to and the "political" card comes out!
In your original statement, and I'm assuming you actually read the petition, was this hurts those on fixed incomes,right? Well I'm on a fixed income and I can afford the $.50/year or so,so I assume others can too. The farmers, the huge multinational corporations will foot the bill, as they should. Just because for all these years, they've been taking advantage of these people, doesn't make this right,right?
And if you and others are concerned about people on a fixed income, well $40 a day, for 10 or 12 hours of work, is pretty fixed!
Rich
9 Years Ago
Rich,
Nothing personal against you. How many people out there across the US need to be reminded that we have military members and their families who are on food stamps. That in itself is not right.
9 Years Ago
Greg,
Now THAT is political! I won't even respond to that statement.
I'm trying to have a conversation and people keep throwing stuff and trying to bait me into talking politics and then going on vacation for a while...................
I certainly enjoy debating, but since it ain't allowed here,when politics are involved, I must pass on this.
This petition is about people being treated unfairly, not about who they vote for, if they can actually vote!
Rich
9 Years Ago
"...This petition is about people being treated unfairly, not about who they vote for..."
Hence my statement about how we treat the military families in need of better pay. Should we start a petition to increase their wages?
Rich, lets just agree to disagree, and leave it at that. :)
9 Years Ago
No, let's not!
Military families are certainly in need of better pay and better care when they return, but the reason for that IS political. Helping disadvantaged people isn't. We've used these people, for hundreds of years and maybe now, a baby step is needed.
Because one party seems to care for the downtrodden over the other party, is political and I'll pass on that discussion,unless I get a green light.
But to get back to you, yes, YOU should start a petition and I'LL SIGN IT!
Your example of military family, has no purpose in this discussion, just an attempt to change the direction and the purpose of this thread,which happens a lot, throw up a distraction and hope the thread follows..............Ain't gonna happen.................
Rich
9 Years Ago
Joshua:
I guess I had the timeline reversed. I remembered being told that there in a history class that the cotton gin was a force to put an end to slavery. I think, under the revised timeline you pointed out, and the class's content the point may have been that economics mechanization would have over time weakened the South's resistance to the abolition movement. However, that is just one instance. So here's another example: The advent of the auto industry eliminated a lot of jobs related to horse, carriages, and buggy whips. Many people found stable employment in the new industry, though jobs were lost in the old industry. We didn't need buggy whips, or street cleaners to remove manure. Automobiles, trucks, and buses made transportation cheaper for everyone, and general health was increased reduced due to less manure in the streets, fewer flies, and faster transport of fresh food, and so on.
In short, in a free market, people adapt to change, and find better ways to make a living. Subsidizing folks to stay in a substandard situation generally is not the optimal solution. This is probably exactly the reason why the Navajo Nation posts signs in the town outside Canyon de Chelley requesting that people not give money to people who beg. It likely tends to prolong a lifestyle that is harmful both to the individual, and the community.
Obviously, there's a huge difference between my last example, and the migrant workers subject to your petition. The migrant workers are (supposedly) legal residents, working very hard to make out a marginal living.
9 Years Ago
Greg,
Regardless of their legal status, we are enjoying their work and not producing any benefits to them. The penny that I'm advocating is nothing to the stores,consumers or farm corporations,yet has a tremendous effect on their lives and the quality of those lives.
You keep going back to the "good old days" of horses,cotton gins and manure. That is how weak your argument is. Nothing current because there is nothing current that you can use to object to this petition.
For ALL those that think these people, illegal or not, are just here to "steal" benefits from the United States, PLEASE take a minute and read this information. EVERYONE that gets paid on these farms,pays taxes! PERIOD!
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/high-school/top-10-myths-about-immigration
There is no legal way for these huge multi-national corporations to pay these "employees" without deducting taxes from their paychecks!
"Immigrants pay taxes, in the form of income, property, sales, and taxes at the federal and state level. As far as income tax payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between $90 and $140 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay income taxes as well, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration's "suspense file" (taxes that cannot be matched to workers' names and social security numbers), which grew by $20 billion between 1990 and 1998.
(Source: http://www.immigrationforum.org/about/articles/tax_study.htm) "
Get over this sense that they are here to steal benefits from us and not pay anything in return! Just doesn't happen.
AND REGARDLESS, they are here working, because there is no one else, legal or not, that will do this type of work!!!
We should be thankful! If we had to pay Americans to do this work, what do you think the tomatoes would cost???
THERE IS NO ARGUMENT AGAINST PAYING THESE PEOPLE A FAIR WAGE! They are doing us a favor and yet we treat these people as if they were here to steal from us!
Rich