The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program (FFP) is a unique partnership among farmers, farm workers, and retail food companies that ensures humane wages and working conditions for the workers who pick fruits and vegetables on participating farms. It harnesses the power of consumer demand to give farm workers a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, and to eliminate the longstanding abuses that have plagued agriculture for generations.
Because of the Program’s unique approach, farm workers can confidently report issues without fear, Participating Growers can swiftly and competently address any problems and learn to prevent them, and Participating Buyers can count on a secure and ethical supply chain.
Look for products with the Fair Food label and purchase those. Click here for a full list of participating buyers and growers.
On Fair Food Program farms, workers:
- Work free of forced labor, child labor, sexual assault, and violence.
- Make complaints without the fear of losing their job — or worse.
- Harvest according to the new visual bucket-filling standard, and so receive pay for all the pounds of produce they pick.
- Clock in and out on time clocks, controlling their own time cards, and record and receive pay for all hours they work.
- Receive Fair Food Premium in their paychecks.
- Work in an environment where sexual harassment, discrimination, and verbal abuse are not tolerated.
- Participate in Worker Health and Safety Committees.
- Do not work in dangerous conditions that most other farmworkers in the U.S. take for granted, including toxic pesticide exposure and lightning.
- Have access to shade, clean drinking water, and bathrooms as needed.
- Live in safe and secure housing where charges do not reduce wages below minimum wage.
- Are protected by the only mandatory, privately enforced COVID-19 regulations in the U.S. agricultural industry
Read more about Fair Food’s positive impact on farm workers since launching in 2011.
History of the Fair Food Program
In 2011, CIW launched the Fair Food Program, a groundbreaking model for Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) based on a unique partnership among farm workers, Florida tomato growers, and participating retail buyers, including Subway, Whole Foods, and Walmart. In 2015, the Program expanded into tomatoes in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey, as well as Florida strawberries and peppers. Now, the program includes flowers and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Fourteen major buyers have joined the program since it’s inception, and it only has plans to keep growing.
NFWM continues to organize faith-based support for the advancement of the Fair Food Program, including the national boycott of Wendy’s and advocacy with Publix supermarkets.
Additional Resources
Learn more about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
Learn more about the components of the Fair Food Program Model.
Explore Fair Food Programs awards and recognitions.