wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Church bells ring in boycott

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Note #8040 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

03531
December 9, 2003

Church bells ring in boycott

Some religious leaders say efforts to ease the plight of migrant workers is
akin to Jesus reaching out to the downtrodden

by Sharon Tubbs
St. Petersburg Times
Reprinted with permission

DUNEDIN, FL - It's a five?minute walk to Taco Bell from Mitch Webb's home in
Dunedin. He used to eat there a few times a month. But he stopped going to
America's version of Mexican fast food 21/2 years ago, when he joined the
boycott.

	Many of Taco Bell's diced tomatoes are picked by farmworkers in
Immokalee who activists say are paid substandard wages. People like Webb
turned to Taco Bell, a major buyer of the tomatoes with a big name and a big
interest in public image.

	According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the median income for
farmworkers in 2001 was about $10,000. (Some statistics put it lower, at
about $7,500.) The workers have no health benefits, overtime pay or vacation
time.

	Webb and his pastor, the Rev. Joe Carey, explained this recently
inside their church, Faith Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. They pointed to
bumper stickers and posters on display in the sanctuary, a few feet from a
communion table draped in white tablecloth.
"Let Freedom Ring," the poster read. "Boycott the Bell!"

	The Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted the boycott last year,
encouraging its 2.5?million members to join in. The United Church of Christ,
with 1.4?million members, has signed on, along with the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) with 800,000 members.

	Last month, the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, with 39,000
members from Brooksville to Marco Island, called on its members to boycott.
The National Council of Churches, an ecumenical group of 36 Protestant,
Anglican and Orthodox member denominations, also joined the boycott. The
council will encourage its 50?million affiliates, including Lutherans, United
Methodists and Episcopalians, to boycott.

	The Taco Bell boycott has garnered more religious support than
perhaps any social activist cause in recent years.

	Social action is gaining steam in religious circles as believers
embrace a theology that says Jesus was a peaceful activist who fought for the
downtrodden.

	Some churches have preached "Boycott the Bell" alongside the Gospel.
A church in Minnesota took members to Immokalee for a mission trip this
summer. A class of fifth? and sixth?graders in New York studied the
farmworkers' plight. Churches in California joined farmworkers in a hunger
strike and rallied at Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine.

	At Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, students learned about the
boycott recently when a group from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the
organization that represents tomato pickers, gave a presentation on campus.
Students have since written letters to Yum Brands Inc., the company that owns
Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W All American Food.
Brian MacHarg, director of service ministry for the college, is organizing a
spring break trip to Immokalee. And he has resisted his favorite Taco Bell
burritos and beans.

	MacHarg said he was keeping up with the different religious groups
supporting the boycott. "It shows that the leadership of the churches are
concerned about this issue," he said.

	In the Gospels, you find Jesus mingling with society's outcasts, the
lepers, the despised tax collectors, the shunned woman with "the issue of
blood." Today, they would be the equivalent of people with AIDS, homosexuals
and the farmworkers in Immokalee, Webb said.

	Carey nodded. Jesus "started his ministry by proclaiming that he came
to bring good news to the poor," Carey said. "He didn't do it like Jesse
Jackson, but he said, 'You are somebody!'"

	The idea has taken hold nationally. Believers should act when they
see injustice, said the Rev. Mari Castellanos, minister for the United Church
of Christ's Justice and Peace Action Network.

	"Churches have been involved in justice work since the beginning of
church work," Castellanos said. Like Webb, she once worked with California
labor activist Cesar Chavez in support of farmworkers' rights. The United
Church of Christ once chartered a plane and flew 98 members to California for
a protest in support of farmworkers, she said.

	About three years ago, when Castellanos was ministering at a church
in Coral Gables, representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
visited. They asked for support in getting higher wages.

	Castellanos was eager to join the battle, picketing Taco Bells in
South Florida. Since then, she has changed jobs and now works at United
Church of Christ headquarters in Washington, D.C.

	The boycott is in its infancy, Castellanos said. Actor Edward James
Olmos and Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert Kennedy, recently attached their
names to the movement. But Castellanos expects the fight to last several
years. Boycotts of lettuce and grapes in the Chavez era lasted years, she
said.

	According to the farmworkers coalition, tomato pickers are paid 40
cents for a 32?pound bucket. Taco Bell could almost double that rate by
paying 1 cent more per pound for tomatoes it buys from growers, a statement
on the coalition Web site says.

	"We believe that Taco Bell . . . can easily afford to pay one penny
more. But even if they passed the cost on to YOU, the consumer, it would
still be less than 1/4 of 1 cent more for your chalupa," the statement says.

	Taco Bell and Yum Brands have met with worker representatives but
have not come to a resolution, said the Rev. Noelle Damico, who heads boycott
efforts for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Boycott supporters are asking for
higher wages and a code of conduct to ensure laborers' rights. Taco Bell and
Yum executives did not return calls from the St. Petersburg Times.

	Damico said the boycott has gained steam. She traveled to Washington,
DC, recently for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award ceremony, in which
three leaders of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers received the award and
$30,000.

	Julia Gabriel, Lucas Benitez and Romeo Ramirez helped free more than
1,000 workers held against their will by employers. The coalition's work led
to convictions on slavery charges for several farm owners and operators.

	Supporters, including Kennedy, marched outside a Taco Bell the day
after the ceremony.

	People are studying the issues and feeling compassion for the
farmworkers, Damico said. "This is such a grievous situation."

	But for many denominations, support doesn't extend beyond resolutions
issued by national headquarters. Local ministers are not obliged to tout the
boycott from pulpits. And some don't. They have other agendas, or they don't
think a boycott is the church's role.

	But Faith Presbyterian looks like part sanctuary, part social
activist hall.

	An "action table" is next to the Taco Bell boycott poster. It is
covered by newsletters and pamphlets about health care, civil rights, global
security, hunger and ecology.

	A display of $5 bags of "fairly traded" coffee stands nearby. The
church buys the coffee and sells it at cost, taking no profit. This way, a
greater percentage of the returns gets back to small coffee growers.

	Carey said his church has about 60 members. "In this area, that's
about what you get with a social action church," he said.

	Some Florida Christians are too conservative for his style of
Christianity, he said. Visitors walk into the sanctuary, see the banners, the
action table and coffee display, and some never come back.

	That's okay, Carey and Webb said.

	"These are people who are picking food that you and I and every
person eats every day of our lives in order to sustain us," Webb said. "Part
of the Gospel call is to take care of the widows and the marginalized."

Copyright 2003, St. Petersburg Times.

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