Publix Super Markets just released their latest financial results – US$7 BILLION in sales for the second quarter of this year1. Good for them, right? We guess so, except we can’t help wondering: while improving sales and promoting their range of Florida tomatoes why is Publix STILL REFUSING to join the Fair Food Program and ensure modern slavery is not in their tomato supply chain?
You and almost 300,000 other anti-slavery activists have called on Publix to come to the table and help end the exploitation of workers in the Florida fields, but they’re just not listening. Publix continues to buy tomatoes from farms where workers could be held against their will, threatened with violence and forced to haul hundreds of heavy tomato buckets a day for little to no pay.
We know what Publix is listening to – calls from customers. Publix responds when a potential shopper calls their headquarters, which is what we need every Walk Free activist in the U.S. to do RIGHT NOW!
It’s easy, free and will take 2 minutes or less:
- CALL Publix headquarters in Lakeland, Florida – 800-242-1227
- ASK to be directed to Mr Crenshaw’s office (Publix’s CEO). If they ask why, say you have a comment about the company’s tomato purchasing policies.
- Once you get someone on the line, they will probably ask you to leave a message. Feel free to offer your own personal comments, or to use our statement below:
I was disappointed to learn that Publix Super Markets has refused to join the Fair Food Program. By continuing to do business with tomato farms that do not enforce the Program’s principles, you could be supporting slavery. Please take the first steps to ensure your products are free of slave labour by signing the Fair Food Agreement.
- REPORT back and let us know how it went – click here.
We think thousands of phone calls will get their attention, don’t you?
In the past 15 years, over 1,000 people have been freed from modern slavery in Florida’s tomato fields2. The worst employers have been charged with beating workers who attempt to leave, holding employees in debt, and even chaining victims inside U-Haul style trucks as punishment.
Other leading food companies like Subway, Trader Joe’s and McDonald’s have already joined the Fair Food Program, demanding a policy of zero tolerance for human rights abuses, including slavery, on tomato farms. However, Publix Super Markets has turned a blind eye to the problem and has yet to take action.
We think Publix will make the right choice and join the fight against slavery in the U.S. tomato industry, but it won’t happen without public pressure. Please take action today and help get the message through!
Thank you,
Debra, Nick, Jessica, Hayley, Mich, Amy, Kate and the Walk Free Team