There has long been good reason to avoid the sad, pale, flavorless winter tomato, as sturdy as a softball and about as delicious. Now with the publication of TOMATOLAND by Barry Estabrook we're hearing about the involuntary servitude [yes, slavery] of the people who work many of the farms around Imokalee, Florida which produces about 90 percent of our winter tomatoes.
It's bad enough that Florida is a terrible place to grow tomatoes, no matter the season. Never mind that the fruits are bred for transport, not for flavor, and sprayed with some of the worst pesticides around. The fact that tomatoes are picked when green, then gassed in a warehouse to give them that deceptive red color, isn't even the worst of it.
The fact is that frightened, vulnerable, abused workers are indeed held in involuntary servitude to bring us those tomatoes we expect all year, no matter the quality.
The book grew out of
an excellent piece originally published in Gourmet magazine and still available online.
"One worker was held for two years in "the back of a box truck"
shared with two or three other workers. It lacked running water and a toilet, so occupants urinated and defecated in a corner" for which his pay was docked. He was charged by the boss "for two meager meals a day: eggs, beans, rice, tortillas, and, occasionally, some sort of meat.
Cold showers from a garden hose in the backyard were $5 each. Everything had a price. Lucas was soon $300 in debt. After a month of ten-hour workdays, he figured he should have paid that debt off.
But when Lucas—slightly built and standing less than five and a half feet tall—inquired about the balance, Navarrete threatened to beat him should he ever try to leave.....
and more and worse.
The U.S. District Attorney in Florida has prosecuted some of these cases, but they are the tip of the iceberg. Many victims are undocumented and afraid to come forward.
The Coalition of Immolakee Workersis working on these problems. We can help by pressuring supermarket chains like Kroger, Trader Joe's, Publix, and Giant to sign agreements that they will not sell food grown with unfair or abusive practices. [Whole Foods and some other companies have already signed Fair Food agreements with CIW.] The website has a wealth of great resources and information.
Estabrook was interviewed on NPR's FRESH AIR earlier this summer.