2008: Five stories that defined a momentous year in the Campaign for Fair Food...

1/6/09: Whether it was the year in national news -- from the election of the country's first African American president to the worst economic crash since the Great Depression -- or just the year in Fair Food -- from three stunning new victories in the campaign to one of the most disturbing slavery cases in recent memory -- 2008 was one for the history books.

We've sifted through the past twelve months and have identified what we consider the top five stories from a remarkably eventful year. So, sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy a look back at the highlights of a year that's going to be one hard act to follow!

And then get back up and get ready to do it all again -- 2009 is waiting...

*******************

Campaign For Fair Food victories just keep coming!... In twelve short months, we managed to add three more major retail food corporations -- Burger King, Whole Foods, and Subway -- to the growing list of companies that are now committed to the principles of Fair Food.

Burger King was first, after an intense (and at turns bizarre) year-long campaign. National media covered the odyssey, which included an historic march on Burger King headquarters in Miami, a national petition drive against modern-day slavery, and the eventual firing of two executives. In May, Burger King changed course, apologizing for negative statements it made about the CIW and forging a strong agreement to improve wages and working conditions for the workers who pick its tomatotes. Burger King executives joined CIW representatives and Senator Bernie Sanders for a signing ceremony at the US Capitol.

Whole Foods, the leading organic and natural food supermarket chain, was next (and the first to voluntarily adopt the Fair Food standards), marking the birth of a collaboration that holds great promise for establishing the principles of Fair Trade in the mainstream of US agriculture. 2009 will tell whether that promise is realized or if there is more work to be done.

Finally, Subway -- the largest fast-food purchaser of Florida tomatoes -- joined the ranks of multi-billion dollar restaurant companies agreeing to pay more for their tomatoes so that farmworkers can earn a fairer wage. Subway also took the principles of Fair Food to a new level in its own way, agreeing to extend the participatory, complaint-based code of conduct to its entire supply chain, not just tomatoes.

With Subway's signing, all four of the world's largest restaurant companies are now working to eradicate slavery and exploitation in Florida's agricultural industry. The fast-food industry has spoken (though, of course, a few stragglers remain, with Chipotle at the top of that list, joined there by companies like Wendy's and Quiznos...). The Campaign for Fair Food can now turn in 2009 to the supermarket and foodservice industries -- companies like Publix, Safeway, and WalMart, Sodexo and Aramark -- to demand the same higher standards from those major purchasers of Florida tomatoes. Stay tuned in the months ahead for news from the expanding campaign.

Slavery in the news... Since the late 1990's, Florida's fields have produced a steady stream of slavery prosecutions, and 2008 was no exception. But what made the slavery operation that came to light in the past year -- resulting in the conviction of a family of farm bosses for holding workers against their will right here in Immokalee -- stand out were the disturbing details of unmitigated brutality suffered by the workers, including being chained and locked inside uhaul trucks at night and beaten by their bosses during the day.

Even more disturbing, perhaps, was the dismissive reaction by a spokesperson for Florida's Governor Crist when asked for comment on the case by a reporter from Ft. Myers... Click here to contine reading the Five Top Stories from 2008