It's late on a Friday night, and hunger strikes. The first option that comes to mind for most students is, of course, Taco Bell. It stays open til 4 a.m. and offers a wide variety of cheap semi tex-mex food. What could be better?

So the hungry student goes to the Bell and gets a taco or a Chulupa, or whatever he or she desires. Problem solved, right? Perhaps not... let's examine exactly what is on that Taco Bell taco. First, we have a genetically modified corn taco shell. If that does not scare anyone, next we have meat the quality of dog-food. That's good eatin'. And then, we have tomatoes. Nothing wrong with those innocent looking tomatoes, it seems. However, this assumption is very, very wrong when one examines just how those tomatoes got on that Taco Bell taco.

Those tomatoes on that Taco Bell taco more than likely were grown in Southeast Florida at the Immokalee-based Six-L's Packing Company, Inc. Taco Bell is a major contractor with this tomato company. The owners of Six-L, like most owners of huge, industrial farms do not pick their own tomatoes. Instead, they use migrant farmworkers to harvest their tomatoes.

In Immokalee, these farm workers, mostly Mexican, Haitian, and Mayan, many of whom have the legal right to work in the United States, are paid the exact same rate for a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes that they were paid in 1978, about 40 cents.

In order to make fifty dollars a day, these workers must pick 2 tons of Taco Bell tomatoes. This is next to impossible, and according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the median annual income of one of these farmers is 7, 500 dollars. That is half the poverty rate for a family of four.

In Immokalee, these Six-L tomato pickers are denied the right by Florida State law to organize, leaving them with no leverage to fight for better wages. They receive no overtime pay, no health insurance, no sick leave, no paid holidays, and no pension.

These workers have formed the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to fight for simple justice for farm workers. Simply, they want a fair wage and the ability to hold dialogue with their employers. CIW has led three community-wide strikes, a 30-day hunger strike, and a historical 230-mile march through the state of Florida. However, the owners of the farms have refused to meet with the workers and negotiate better wages and working conditions. Because of this refusal, CIW this year has taken their demands to the company buying the tomatoes - Taco Bell.

Taco Bell benefits directly from the availability of cheap Florida tomatoes. These tomatoes help keep their costs low, but these tomatoes are bought cheaply because the workers who harvest them are paid a sub-poverty wage. Because Taco Bell is a major buyer of these tomatoes, they are directly responsible for the conditions of these workers. They have the power to bring about better wages and conditions for these workers. Until they use this power, Taco Bell will still have a direct role in the exploitation of these workers.

To persuade Taco Bell to use their influence with the growers and demand higher wages for the tomato pickers, CIW has called for a boycott of all Taco Bell stores. This will cause Taco Bell executives to take notice; as their profits fall, Taco Bell will be more likely to give in to the demands of the workers. To make life better for these workers would require a 1-cent increase in the prices of the food at Taco Bell.

Until this is done, students, pick somewhere else to eat when hunger strikes. Go to Waffle House or International House of Pancakes. You will get better food, and you will not have a direct link to the exploitation of migrant workers. Until the Immokalee workers get justice for the hard work they are doing, yo no quiero Taco Bell!
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