'Slavery, Plain and Simple' (by Jordan Buckley)

Published: January 29, 2008, 12:51 pm

Nothing has exposed the severe ethical troubles of the world s second largest burger chain quite so lucidly as a slave break in Florida s tomato country in November. Burger King, under fire for turning a blind eye to the rampant human rights abuses in the fields where they buy their tomatoes, decided to react. But in lieu of taking responsibility for the conditions, like McDonald s, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell have in recent years, Burger King opted to deny that farmworker enslavement and sub-poverty wages exist. In mid-November, Burger King led a high profile press tour through Immokalee, Fla the epicenter of our nation s fresh tomato production and home to the award-winning farmworker group, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The CIW has unearthed, investigated, and assisted federal officials in prosecuting five forced labor operations in Florida agriculture in the last decade alone resulting in the liberation of more than 1,000 people. By working together with

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